Psilocybin treatment extends cellular lifespan, improves survival of aged mice

Psychedelic use, taste, and side effects

• Several comments pivot to practicalities of taking psilocybin: many dislike the mushroom taste/texture and prefer capsules, chocolate, or “lemon tek” (powder + lemon juice) to mask flavor and potentially alter onset/duration.
• Nausea is a recurring issue. Some attribute it to mushroom chitin and digestion; others think the psychedelic compounds themselves contribute, noting nausea with LSD as well. Experiences vary widely: some report no stomach issues, others severe motion-sickness-like discomfort that puts them off mushrooms entirely.
• Alternatives like 4-AcO-DMT and psilacetin (psilacetin = 4-AcO-DMT) are mentioned as “pill forms” of psilocybin, but one commenter describes widespread psychotic reactions among peers and stresses quality-control and testing.

Dosing, scaling, and interpretation

• Multiple comments challenge or clarify the reported mouse doses, doing back-of-envelope conversions and initially concluding they would be massive if applied linearly to humans.
• Others point out that allometric scaling was used and the authors explicitly tie 5 mg/kg in mice to a standard 25 mg human psychedelic dose, so simple linear shroom-weight comparisons are misleading.
• There is some confusion over mg/kg vs total mg, but the consensus settles on the study’s dosing being aligned with known high human therapeutic doses when properly scaled.

Life extension vs quality of life

• One thread compares psilocybin life extension to exercise: is the extra lifespan worth the “cost” in time or altered mental states?
• Several argue that for exercise, the main benefit is improved quality of life and reduced disability, not just extra years. They emphasize low time requirements, fun forms of movement, and immediate well-being gains.
• By analogy, some suggest the “trip” may be the point, not a side effect, while others worry about time spent mentally altered.

Study design, skepticism, and mechanisms

• Some are excited by the large life-extension effect; others are wary, noting the magnitude in the figures and pointing out that researchers were not blinded, raising concern about uncontrolled confounders.
• A commenter questions whether it’s serotonin in general (and asks why SSRIs wouldn’t have similar effects) versus specific psychedelic mechanisms; no clear answer emerges.
• Several people stress that this is a mouse/in vitro study and wish press releases would prominently label results as “in mice” to avoid over-interpretation.

Cultural and media references

• Numerous lighthearted Dune “spice” jokes appear.
• An animated series about life-extending mushrooms is recommended as thematically similar, with brief discussion of related shows.