Is it possible to die if you eat fly agaric

Since childhood, we were taught that the fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) is a deadly poisonous mushroom, which can only be admired from afar. Fortunately, nature has endowed him with such a bright appearance that it is difficult to confuse – a bright red hat with white specks clearly signals the inedibility of a forest beauty. But how dangerous is fly agaric and what will happen if you still eat it? Mikhail Vishnevsky, a mycologist, told about the consequences of such a culinary experiment.

It turns out that the deadly danger coming from the red fly agaric is greatly exaggerated. To cause irreparable damage to your body and die, you will have to eat at least 12-14 kg of these mushrooms. Science knows few cases when such poisoning occurred. The first documented episode occurred more than 100 years ago – then a girl who got lost in a forest in the United States died after eating these mushrooms.

There have been several fatal cases in Europe today, but it is rather not the toxicity of fly agaric, but the individual reaction of the body to the substances contained in it. After all, you can die from anything – from a wasp bite, eating 500 grams of salt or a portion of rotten boiled crayfish. In general, death from eating fly agaric can happen in 1 out of 10 thousand cases, and this, you will agree, is not much.

In fact, the red fly agaric is a mildly poisonous mushroom. In the 19th century, the muscarine alkaloid was isolated from it for medical purposes, which is dangerous for humans, but its content in this mushroom does not exceed a meager 0.3%. The only toxin of fly agaric, the effect of which a person can feel is ibotenic acid. This substance blocks the GABA receptors of the human brain, causing fever and, sometimes, limb cramps.

But with proper processing of mushrooms, this acid is converted into a harmless muscimol for humans, which, however, can cause hallucinations. Knowledgeable people use fly agaric for food without the slightest consequences, subjecting the mushrooms to proper heat treatment. They are boiled twice for 10 minutes, each time draining the water. After that, the fly agaric can be fried and stewed without any problems.

Mushroom specialist Mikhail Vishnevsky says that it is difficult to describe the taste of fly agaric-it is unusual and more peculiar than that of chanterelle. Nevertheless, if you are not a fan of exotics, it is better to collect edible mushrooms that can be consumed without pre-processing. The mycologist claims that the red fly agaric is, first of all, a functional mushroom.

The content of proteins, carbohydrates and trace elements in fly agaric is the same as in other mushrooms, but unlike the same honeydew or raw food, it is considered not just a food, but also an antidepressant, psychedelic, entheogen. It is especially worth noting that the red mushroom is an excellent antibiotic and in the old days they even treated consumption, ulcers, fungi, bedsores, frostbite and burns.

Fly agaric is an excellent anthelmintic and not only scientists know about it. One of the most parasitic mammals of our forests is the elk, which gets rid of worms only during the mushroom season. The animal never misses an opportunity to eat fly agaric-we were told about this at school, but they did not say what is the reason for the love of moose for inedible mushrooms.

Have you ever wondered why this mushroom was called fly agaric and whether this traditional name is justified?