Exploring Amanita Muscaria: The Benefits of Microdosing Ethnobotanicals with Minnesota Nice

Minnesota Nice Ethnobotanicals

Nowadays, it seems more and more people are open to the idea of microdosing. But what people don’t realize is that there are different forms of microdosing, depending on the mushroom at hand.

Introducing Minnesota Nice Ethnobotanicals, one of the country’s largest purveyors of ethnobotanicals, which includes Amanita muscaria, Blue Lotus, and a curated selection of functional mushrooms—all designed to enrich your natural lifestyle.

Ethnobotany, by definition, is the study of how people of a particular culture and region make use of indigenous (native) plants.

For Minnesota Nice Ethnobotanicals, they’re focused on the intersection of ancient wisdom and modern needs, offering products that contain a slew of medical benefits. Whether it’s gummies, chocolates, sprays, or muscle creams, ethnobotanicals have now more than ever taken center stage in the important conversations surrounding plant medicine and psychedelic-integrated therapies.

Honeysuckle spoke with MN Nice's founder, Christian Rasmussen, to discuss his background and why his company is vital in today’s day and age.

HS: Christian, where are you from and how did you get your start in all this?

I was born and raised in a suburb of Saint Paul, Minnesota, called White Bear Lake. I’ve always been extremely interested in plant medicines and psychoactive plants and compounds. I spent a lot of my teenage years studying pharmacology and the actions and effects of various psychoactive plants.

I also unfortunately dealt with a lot of addiction issues growing up, particularly in my 20s. I was getting off benzodiazepines—typical anti-anxiety drugs like Xanax, Klonopin, or Valium—in 2019, which was absolutely brutal. They say it’s the worst withdrawal one can experience, and I can absolutely attest to that, having been addicted to opiates and other substances in my 20s. Benzo withdrawal lasts an extremely long time; many times, people can be sick for years after getting off them.

A year to the day after getting off Klonopin, I found some Amanita mushrooms growing on a walk. There was this unbelievably strong heart pull, this magnetism drawing me to them.

I picked them and brought them home, did some research, and found that they affect the same receptor systems that benzodiazepines damage. There really wasn’t much data out there on Amanita at the time, but I was honestly at the end of my rope with what I was going through. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to keep going and was mentally preparing myself to check out of this reality. So when I discovered this, I decided it was worth a shot.

Within two weeks of microdosing Amanita, it felt like I had healed about 80%, which was absolutely miraculous. I had life again, and that began the journey of wanting to get this mushroom out to the world.

HS: When did you get the idea for Minnesota Nice EthnoBotanicals, and what was the reality in launching it?

MN Nice actually started as a CBD/cannabis company. My good friend from childhood brought it up in 2019, right as I was getting off Klonopin. I figured it would be nice to have a business to keep me occupied while I was dealing with withdrawal, which was a bit overambitious of me, but I’m really grateful it all worked out as it did.

When Amanita came into the picture, I bought my friend out of the company and refocused our efforts entirely on Amanita and other legal psychoactive plants that have held a dear role in my heart throughout my years.

HS: How do your mushrooms compare to psychedelic mushrooms?

Amanita is very different from psilocybin. They hit completely different receptor sites in the brain and have very different effects. Although microdosing them can be similar in many regards, Amanita seems to have an edge on psilocybin in a lot of ways, and vice versa.

Amanita is extremely good for things like anxiety and sleep, whereas psilocybin seems to be better for boosting mood.

Amanita also has very potent nootropic qualities. People note that it increases memory recall, verbal fluency, and reaction time. Psilocybin has this too, but not to the extent that Amanita does.

HS: Favorite products and why?

Definitely Amanita muscaria! It saved my life and holds a dear, dear place in my heart. I don’t use it like I used to, but I’ll go on microdose regimens every now and then. What I’ve been enjoying and learning from recently is taking Amanita with the moon cycles. I’ll take a moderate dose on new moons and a full ‘heroic’ dose on full moons. The deep healing I’ve experienced and lessons I’ve learned have been really astounding.

After Amanita, it would probably be Blue Lotus. Blue Lotus is a wonderful teacher and has many unique properties.

HS: How important are these products for your health and mental health?

Amanita quite literally saved my life. Not only did it save my life, but it brought me to myself. That said, it’s important to note that with any plant medicine or psychoactive plant/compound, the healing is really being done by the individual; the plants or compounds just help facilitate the journey and open us up to do the inner healing. It’s still been a lot of work to go through this healing journey, but it was greatly aided by the use of Amanita and some of these other plants.

These days, I don’t need the ‘allies’ as much as I did a few years ago, so I don’t take them as often. But they’ll remain tools in my toolbelt for the rest of my life, and I’m extremely grateful to have built such a strong relationship with them and to know they’re available if I need them or feel like they might be of benefit.