Dear readers, do you enjoy a good conspiracy theory? Well, have I got a good one for you! I have been getting a lot of e-mails about episode #1035 of the Joe Rogan Experience with Paul Stamets. Stamets, a celebrated mushroom expert, warned Joe Rogan about eating raw portabella mushrooms, then suddenly went silent. Here is the excerpt from the podcast:
Paul Stamets: Portabellas have a problem. All mushrooms should be cooked, and portabellas, in particular, should be cooked at high temperatures.
Joe Rogan: Why?
PS: There is an unfortunate group of compounds called agaritines. Agaritines, are hydrazines that are heat unstable, so the good news is, you should cook them, and if you cook them well, then those mushrooms are not a problem. If you don’t cook them well, then these hydrazines are potentially problematic. Now, nature’s a numbers game: so, there are beneficial compounds, that, in some balance, may outweigh the negative effects of the hydrazines, the garatines in these mushrooms, but that jury is still out so to speak.
JR: What are the negative effects of this?
PS: This is an explosive area of conversation, and that puts my life in danger, so I reserve the right not to answer your question.
JR: Woah! I didn’t expect that. It puts your life in danger talking about portabella mushrooms?
PS: [Silence]
Many listeners found this intriguing and jumped on Google to make sense of his enigmatic concern. I, too, began to research this and the only seemed to increase.
When I evaluate a compound, I like to begin by learning about its intended biological function. In this case, what gene does the portabella mushroom have that expresses enzymes leading to the synthesis of agaritine? What factors lead to its expression? (In other words, what environmental factors turn this gene on and off?) What were the likely pressures for the evolution of this gene? In the attempt to answer these questions, I discovered that the leading research on agaritine concludes that there is no de novo synthesis of agaritine by the fungus itself[1], meaning that they do not believe that the portabella mushroom is responsible for making agaritine and that its origin has yet to be identified. There are some theories, but nothing even close to proven true.
So, now, we have a compound of unknown origin, and an unknown biological role that silenced a mushroom expert when asked the basic question: “What are the negative effects of this?” This contains all the makings of a good conspiracy.
What are the documented effects of agaritine? Agaritine has been proven to form convenient bonds with DNA through enzymatic activation to form a mutagenic aganent[2] and when we see this happening, most people jump straight to one thought: cancer. With this documented property, we can now look at this compound’s ability to cause or prevent cancer. So, which is it? It turns out, that it does both, and maybe that will help us to decrypt Stamets’ “nature’s a numbers game” statement.
There is a small body of research using the mushroom Agaricus bisporus that, most often, shows a rise in tumor production.[3][4] The altered DNA seems to be concentrated mostly in the stomach, but we also see mutagenic effects in the kidneys, bladder, and lungs. Although, the doses of these raw mushrooms (or their extracts) are not realistic for a typical diet. In other words, the rats used in the study were eating the equivalent of a years’ worth of mushrooms daily. So, like the 1970s studies of saccharine, does this imply that if human beings eat raw portabella mushrooms, they are at a higher risk of developing cancers? Since most of the damage occurs in the outer layer of the stomach, even if this agaritine causes cancer in humans, the location of the tumors would have no significant biological consequence.
There is an even smaller body of research showing that agaritine has some anti-tumor effects[5] and it has also been theorized that, due to its DNA binding capabilities, agaritine could be used medicinally as an antiviral.[6] This compound has not been shown to target any specific cancers or viruses, so, in my humble opinion, if someone were to have a leukemic tumor, or HIV, injecting a known carcinogen as a form of treatment would most likely cause more harm than good, and I estimate ingesting loads of raw, portabella mushrooms to treat these conditions to have the same efficacy as crystal healing therapy, homeopathy, or KT tape.
So far, I have yet to uncover any sort of “smoking gun” that would put Paul Stamets’ life in danger. Is the portabella mushroom industry is connected to the Italian mafia? and they have issued death threats to him if he mentions one of the above studies? Unlikely. Maybe there are some undocumented, negative effects, or documented effects that have been taken down due to pressures from organized crime syndicates. Again, unlikely, because these crime groups have found something much more profitable than mushrooms: Narcotics. And they are not going to waste their time on mushrooms. Then again, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m just a shill for the mushroom industry and they have paid me millions, nay, billions of dollars to write this thousand-word blog post. Anything is possible, right?
Well, friends, like most conspiracies, this one turns out to be interesting, but it doesn’t have a lot of backing. According to Stamets, we should start eating lion’s mane mushrooms instead of portabellas, but when is the last time you’ve seen lion’s mane in your local grocery store? Maybe some of you will be brave enough to run around in the woods and try to find your own, but not me. So, I guess I’ll call it a day and cook up some basil and mozzarella (grass-fed, of course) stuffed portabella mushrooms. As long as I bake them long enough, I should be okay, right?
What do you think about the portabella mushroom conspiracy? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
References:
[1] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031942298002507?via%3Dihub
[2] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691598000763
[3] http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/46/8/4007.short
[4] http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/38/1/177.short
[5] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304416510000905
[6] http://www.eurekaselect.com/66329/article
It would be interesting to sample wild and cultivated mushrooms to look for a rise in concentration in one. This could lead to the source. Since it is only found in certain species it could be that it is playing host to another organism that produces it. It could aid in the rapid growth and spread of mushrooms and their mycelium. Lots of things effect our dna a lot more than a few mushrooms at dinner. Every night is over kill but once a month is perfect for me.
You can eat all the shrooms your heart desire I ain’t going to eat a one as long as I live. Fungi ain’t food to me.
A reply above touches on his involvement with Military, that has to be taken in full context with the entire interview. I’d add that saying the Mafia doesn’t need veggies when it can do narcotics the doco about Avocados is eye popping!! Seems the Mafia DOES get involved in other forms of farming!
Well I’d say it’s the fact that they could very well possibly help fight cancer. Without the medical field putting literal passion into the human body. Microdosing with Psychedelic mushrooms have been known to completely eliminate tumors far quicker than chemo etc, why not other mushrooms? Many mushrooms have different healing abilities and Lions mane is one of them and of course it’s not readily available all over! Our government can’t have their people healing themselves bc then big pharma would be out of business! This is why the government has their satanic claws in literally everything we do, say and believe! I say heed Stamet’s warning bc of the possibility that raw or undercooked Portabella mushrooms can have negative effects on the human body but also be aware that he wouldn’t say why and if cutting or lessening cancer is in question than I would absolutely say that’s the ticket. Bc cancer has been caused by the chemicals and heavy metals in our food/drinks, meds and in the air for years due to our government distributing it all to keep us weak and sick physically and weak minded so we will need and depends on them more and more. I’m no professional but I do a lot of reading, listening and thinking of my own and judging from this article and the video which I watched before reading this, it’s why I’m here right now…cancer is my assumption of why he wouldn’t say anything further and wanted to move on from the subject. And rogen being a conservative actor and comedian KNOWS what the elites can do if crossed.
No. Sorry you’re so off that it’s shameful. Big pharma would not be out of business. Take a look at the drugs marketed on TV, by your doctor and by the sheer numbers of what medical problems affect how many people. Cancer and high blood pressure are not equal. Think things through before you dive right into non sensical conspiracy
Recall that Opra Winfrey once said, “I will never eat meat again!”
She faced severe legal challenges from beef processing and cattle interests in court because of her influential popularity.
Buddy you are nuttier than squirrel shit in the winter
Paul Stamet said there was a PROBLEM with Portobellos. I would heed his advice and not eat them entirely. They cause cancer and the bug pharma wants to keep people sick. Many mushrooms are poisonous and so key factors is that there is a problem with Portobellos that the government (which is the biggest mafia in the world) doesn’t want you to know about to make you sick not better. I would listen to the expert. Paul Stamet ROCKS
The Biology and Cultivation of Edible Mushrooms
Book • 1978
Edited by: S.T. Chang and W.A. Hayes
Follow the $$
It’s obvious, the mushroom can be converted into hydrazine which can be used as a fuel source. If we did this, it would put the oil industry out of business
Hello yes the reason he’s scared is because we are realizing as humans what causes cancer and what doesn’t. So in return we are slowing teaching the human race how to cure cancer. Everyone will go crazy. My name is Dr. Baba Steve Bedi and My associates’ name is Chad. Please contact him and we can set up an interview and you can make millions of dollars sir! We are loaded. Have a great day!
Better get on it because the offer ends quickly. We will teach you for free while you tell the world sir
Also anyone reading this please do the same. We are not fucking around and existence is crying and we are serious. Go to the YouTube and website ashcfoundation.org
I tried to open link and page couldn’t be found…
Come on with it
I mean i dont know who this guy is writing the article but id bet my house stamets knows more than him lol
It is true that the gourmet ingredient world is full of dodgy stuff and sometimes organised crime, I would recommend people look up food libel laws.
If Stamets said “That stuff is carcinogenic and is used for making rocket fuel” he could be sued to kingdom come by mushroom farmers who will now be hurt because they’ll definitely have less customers.
think binary agent. thats what he cant talk about – something CIA or otherwise MIC.
That’s true, ONLY, if they can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that what he said is false. However, “libel” isn’t relevant to anything that he “said”. That’s called “slander”. Libel only pertains to false information of a derogatory nature that’s put into written form.
Yep it’s all about money as per usual.
I don’t think it’s the mafia he fears but the big pharmaceutical companies that may not want a affordable cure for cancer just yet. They are a greedy bunch ya know
What about the elephant in the room. Paul was talking about working with US bio defense program. And he mentioned being openly harassed as a result of his open source medicinal convictions, in the form of blackhawk choppers over his lab. I feel like he is alluding to something with his deafening silence when asked a direct question by joe. He will tell you how to heal yourself as he is an expert in the mycological field, he will tell you how to use certain species to expand your conciousness. But as he himself is a healer he would never tell us how to harm ourselves or others. And as a business owner he would not divulge possible military secrets gleaned during extensive personal research. Isn’t ricin made from castor beans? Hmm a toxin that riddled the body with tumors yet is untraceable. RIP Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
I have 2 “theories” 1) he stressed the word “explosive”, could be an explosive compound in portabella the government does want the average person to know about and 2) and this one is a reach, but I think there’s a compound in portabella that big pharma doesn’t want leaked to the public. Just a theory.
I’d like to add a tidbit of info that the govt & big farma(sp purposeful) doesn’t want people to know. The big “C” is NOT a disease. It IS a lack of vitamin B17 in the human body. The FDA banned B17 in the USA in 1980. Facts
Research for yourself. FYI it’s natural compound is called Amygdalin not the synthetic version- Laetrile
Amygdalin is found in many fruit kernels(seeds) most concentrated is found in apricot seeds.
What makes it a problem I clearly don’t understand
The clue is in the words “potentially explosive effect”. The resulting chemical is highly explosive and combustible and can be a good way to make something we should not be doing?
Well you got me interested in it for sure. I stumbled on this page because I like doing my own research. I actually bought 3 pounds of baby portabellas today because I use to love snacking on them raw as a child. I do not recall any negative affects then and I am one of the healthiest people I’ve seen now so I will continue to eat them raw. Only time will tell.
I think baby portabellas would be the desirable type for raw consumption
Very interesting indeed!
Just last year my 83 year old inlaws cooked themselves up a couple of Portabella mushrooms for breakfast (possibly not well enough) and found themselves in hospital for a week. The effects of disphoria took hold very quickly with the both of them causing them both to fall . My mother-in-law rang for an ambulance. They were unable to even string a sentence together. Unfortuately as a result my father inlaw had a heart attack. He was in hospital for quite some time on uv fluids to flush the toxins from his body also apparently with this sort of poisoning the body retains fluid and you are unable to urinate causing all sorts of trouble. To this day they both have never been the same. Prior to the incident they were very healthy both physically and mentally. They tried to take legal action for the horrible experience and had Coles Australia come back with a proven it statement. I would really love to know.
what mushrooms can I you eat from the super market. I love mushrooms.
Oyster mushrooms, lions mane
Great article, I was also intrigued…thank you!!!
Portobello mushrooms contain a large amount of agaritine, which can be made in to hydrazine. Two parts hydrazine mixed with one part NH4NO3, creates a powerful chemical explosive, making this a National Security Issue. Paul’s hint was when he referred to this as an “Explosive Issue”.
EXACTLY. Thank you
“Explosive Issue” is such an incredible way to summarize and move on!
Bought portabella mushrooms for dinner the size of hamburger buns and cooked 10minutes my finance was sick next day hospital 3 days later. Lost serious weight dry heaves for eight days no diaheria. It’s been since April 8 and still he isn’t better. I was sick also but had different symptoms. Is it too late to be tested to see what poison is left or is there an antidote.
This is awesome. When he was on the podcast I was more than interested and a little frightened. I need to know, we all do!!! I bet it’s so much deeper. Think about it, if he even hinted about explosion I’d be paranoid if I were him for letting out anything or choosing my words carefully.. idk.. So tip or not, WE NEED TO FIND OUT ! haha, this will forever drive me mad.
The amount of agartine in portabello mushrooms is so infinitesimally minute that it wouldn’t be worth harvesting for that purpose. Furthermore, you could make the same argument about anything. Almost every food has carbon in it which can be used to produce explosives when combined with other elements.
Earlier in the Rogan video, paul mentions that his company produces and sells lions mane mushrooms and other types as well for health benefits. I believe what he was getting at was that the large companies that market portabello mushrooms aren’t pleased with him badmouthing their product. Capitalism can make companies do very bad things in pursuit of more profit. Who is to say that these companies may be willing to cause harm to him or his own buisness in retaliation to him exposing portabello as a harmful substance when not properly prepared.
I like your research except for the part that assumes maffia is only in drugs. In Europe the maffia has been in food fraud for ages, they mix beef with other meat or waste meat and sell it as 100%, they change labeling dates, sell fake caviar etc. Basically anything they can flip for a buck they will.
Exact ! Mafia has been all around for thousand of years. Not only the Italian, there´s japonese, Russian, list goes on. Narcotics is a modern thins, wine, food, olive oil (most italian extravirgin olive oil is fake because of the Mafia). So who wrote the article is ignorant, don´t know the history of mafia all around the world. So Stamets is not crazy at all !
That’s way harsh.
not harsh. true
Remember the horse meat scandal in EU well
A video of where Paul explains:
https://youtu.be/2C-QlPb3J74?t=387
There was nothing in that video that explains anything.
At 6:50, yes there is.
At 6:50 there is nothing explicitly said regarding why he thinks his life is at stake, but it could fit the puzzle. Portobello in every major grocery store, so the publicity of the fact that their negative effects are akin to those of cigarettes could wreck their entire business. Based on Stamet’s experience with the black helicopter, I could see why he might be paranoid. Idk if anyone is gonna call a hit out on him over this, but they probably could if they wanted to. If I were Stamets, I would want to be as careful as possible too.
That too. Yes..
Thanks for watching it for me. 2023, I’m a bit late to the game dying of my 5th cancer. Kidney, renal cell carcinoma. Because dr House in Chattanooga, Tn fuctup the surgery last year. Only kidney left and he didn’t get clean margins, lied about it and tampered with MRI. I mention it to ask that if any of ya’ll mushroom folks know of one to fight that, uh, this particular cancer i would like to try it. rick.
Hi. I found info about GCMAF that is helping very much in treating any cancer and not only.
Institute for Functional Medicine has referrals for all types of qualified holistic practitioners.
https://www.ifm.org/find-a-practitioner/
Everything else in the podcast was interesting
Small Button and Portabellas are mostly grown by Mob Controlled companies in Pennsylvania. They’ve threatened his life once before over these remarks-so he keeps quiet now.
one of the chemicals they give rats in labs to encourage faster cancer cells? FDA knows but does not regulate? Lawsuits, deaths, rabbit holes. Curiouser and curiouser.
My first thought after watching this podcast and looking more deeply into agaritines was that given Paul worked for defense programs in the United States, would it be far fetched to say the government became interested in developing a carcinogenic biological weapon using mushroom-derived agaritines, or at least recognizing it as a potential bio-terror threat?
I haven’t seen many of Stamets articles but i did watch that Rogan episode. I’m guessing he said it for a reason, and just because we haven’t figured out what that reason is doesn’t mean there isn’t one.
Call me a conspiracy theorist, but if portabellas aren’t a staple in my diet, and if they don’t have the benefits that other mushrooms have, I can do without them
I’m thinking when eaten raw it can produce the cancer causing effects, but when properly cooked will kill cancer cells?
Stuff Bella mushrooms bake, how long does it take to bake?
I think, you nailed it! Or “Hit the nail, right on its head.
Perhaps as a way of generating interest in his writings and products he targeted a widely used product to generate curiosity and action without bringing himself into disrepute because if he simply shuts up after only hinting that there may be an issue it is like a match on tinder and he can’t be liable or discounted for making a false claim.
The defence agency makes explosives out the mushrooms 🍄 I think he was going to say that but he has been warned just incase any Muslims try. And do the same
Hey White knght,
Just wondering why you singling out all the Muslims as explosive experts?
don’t you thing its racist to assume that all Muslims are up to no good?
there are currently close to 2 Billion Muslims world wide, 20% of the world! trust me if they were all up to no good, do you think anyone will live in peace? the fact of the matter is there are a very low percentage of tourists who claim to be Muslims, but the vast majority of Muslims are not, and do not consider those terrorist to even be Muslims, simply because the teachings of Islam forbid such acts of killing of innocent individuals.
looking the the USA for example. most of the domestic terror acts were carried by non-Muslims (even 911 investigations are showing evidence of an inside job) not related to Muslims, but lets look at all the mass shootings that took place after 911 and are still taking place in the USA today they are committed by non-Muslims, like the Buffalo shooting, the Vegas shooting, all the school shootings in Texas, Florida and more! as a matter of fact you cannot name one mass shooting done by a Muslim in the USA, while white men are responsible for 50% of all mass shootings in the USA (which I assume you are a white man from your nickname), and the media does not label mass shootings as terroirs (which they should because they fit the description) but if it was Muslim guy they will use that label all over the news, which in other words could explain how they brain washed you among a lot of uninformed people to believe that Muslims are terrorist’s… here is a link for some facts and statistics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_shootings_in_the_United_States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_shootings_in_the_United_States
I seen Paul Stamets go silent when asks these basic questions after elaborate and intriguing answers on many other Mushroom related theories that were very controversial. This is obviously something to do with threats from the production teams and sales teams of these household ingredients. The people whom profit from these Portabella Mushrooms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C-QlPb3J74
check his comment at 6:30 . This mushrooms are highly carcinogenic an can cause cancer everywhere
you solved it ! thanks for posting this
“I seen” is not correct English.
Not entirely sure you got a thousand words there bub… you were right about one thing, being a shill for the mushroom. Ha ha!
Think about it.
At first, I thought it was about the cancer, but when I read this article, you mentioned DNA binding. To me, that’s not something to gloss over. So, I looked into that, the dna binding effects of agaratine. I only found studies done on mice, which caused bladder cancer, and also in some instances, affected the stomach, lungs, kidneys, and liver. I should say here, that i have no background in any of this…-So that brought me back to cancer again. He’s talking about cancer folks. Just google the key words Stamets is talking about. St
Great article as always Jason, I do love good medical conspiracy theories. Some include:
H. pylori as the cause of gastrointestinal ulcers and MS.
Klebsiella as the cause of RA and AS.
Staph as the cause of Lupus.
Fluoride is safe and useful in drinking water.
The generic version of Wellbutrin being the same as the name brand medication.
Known HIV contaminated hemophiliac blood-based medications being sold tainted in Europe, but were banned in the United States.
The flu vaccine is safe and effective.
Mercury amalgams being safe.
The MRI contrast gadolinium being safe.
There are more that exist, more that I know of, and more that none of us probably do know. Just this small list itself is disheartening. The portabella mushroom conspiracy is bull, but my list is certainly sadly not.
https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidmaris/2012/10/10/fda-recall-points-to-serious-problems-at-the-fda/&refURL=&referrer=
http://www.noamalgam.com/
https://gadoliniumtoxicity.com/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bayer-sold-hiv-risky-meds/
came here to read about portabellas. All you had to say was on the topic that it is “bull”