Review Fix chats with founder & CEO of premium mushroom product company Mycroboost, who discusses his company and much more.
About Robert Johnson:
Robert Johnson is the founder & CEO of premium mushroom product company Mycroboost and supplements manufacturer Custom Capsule Consultants. He’s a cannabis and hemp industry veteran, health product expert, psychedelic advocate and seasoned entrepreneur with a 20-year track record of launching successful startup businesses in new and emerging markets. His pioneering product innovations and keen insights into the future of the health marketplace have made him a sought-after consultant, conference speaker, and op-ed contributor. His bylines have appeared in Rolling Stone, Cannabis Industry Daily, MG Magazine, Natural Products Insider, Nutraceuticals World, Nutritional Outlook, and Green Entrepreneur.
Prior to founding Custom Capsule Consultants in 2019, Robert was Co-Founder and Head of Sales at TetraLabs. During his seven-year tenure at TetraLabs, he helped pioneer the development of the industry’s first premium pharmaceutical-grade cannabinoid products, as well as the use of fractional distillation to clarify and isolate THC oil, and the first softgels on the market. He also served as co-owner and CEO at CannaCatering, which he grew from a bootstrapped start-up to a California industry leader in two years.
Links to all of Bob’s bylines can be found here.
Review Fix: Why are people so obsessed with mushrooms lately?
Robert Johnson: Mushrooms are everywhere recently. I think there’s a few major contributing factors that have helped mushrooms burst into the mainstream. In 2018 NY Times best-selling author Michael Pollan published How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence. The next year the documentary Fantastic Fungi was released.
These two pieces of media reached a large audience, especially when Fantastic Fungi came to Netflix in 2021. (How to Change Your Mind later became a Netflix series, as well.) Meanwhile everyone from Gwyneth Paltrow to Joe Rogan to Aaron Rodgers is talking psychedelics, mushrooms and microdosing.
The concept of microdosing psilocybin mushrooms, I think, appeals to people because it takes away the fear of “losing your mind on drugs.” Rather than diving head-first into a mushroom experience, microdosing allows people to comfortably stick their toe in and test the waters.
In the spring of 2019 Denver, Colorado became the first city in the US to decriminalize mushrooms and many cities and states have followed since. News coverage of these law changes has gotten much attention.
Maybe the biggest reason why people are interested in mushrooms was the COVID-19 pandemic. The entire world is arguably recovering from PTSD after spending two years indoors. I think this has made people more open minded to alternatives for their mental health.
Review Fix: How has Hollywood followed the trend?
Johnson: Hollywood has both reflected the world’s growing interest in mushrooms and propelled it. When medical institutes like John Hopkins and colleges like Yale, NYU, and UC Berkley have doctors, scientists and mental health experts studying the benefits of mushrooms for mental health, the world (including Hollywood) takes notice.
Nicole Kidman played the leader of Hawaiian wellness retreat in the show 9 Perfect Strangers, serving various psychedelics in smoothies to her guests. Retreats like these have been happening for years and have recently increased thanks to decriminalization and, I’m sure in part, by fictional depictions like this HULU miniseries.
But psychedelic mushrooms are not the only mushrooms appearing on the silver screen. HBO’s The Last of Us chronicles a post-apocalyptic landscape ravaged by a fictional strain of cordyceps mushrooms that turn humans into flesh-eating zombies. Cordyceps sinesis and cordyceps militaris are two strains used in health supplements for energy as well as heart and respiratory health. Studies show cordyceps may also contain anti-aging and anti-tumor properties.
There are over 400 species of cordyceps. While the mutated strain in The Last of Us comes from the mind of video game creators, its zombie origins are not completely made up. There’s a strain of cordyceps primarily found in the Amazon forest that takes control of ants and can dictate their every move like a remote control car. Ultimately the fungus will grow spores out of the ant’s head and infect the any colony!
In this example the jury’s still out whether “all publicity is good publicity” for mushrooms or if the HBO hit will increase a long-held “mycophobia” in the west.
Review Fix: When did your fascination with them begin?
Johnson: My fascination with mushrooms began in high school. I studied many religions and cultures and was enthralled by tales of mushrooms used in religious ceremony to better connect with nature and help discover one’s true self.
A couple years ago I founded the functional mushroom brand, Mycroboost, and have thrown myself into the world of mycology. I attend every conference I can and meet with people who’ve made the study of mushrooms their life. The more I research the more I’m blown away by the transformative powers of mushrooms both in nature and on the human body and mind.
The root system of mushrooms is known as mycelium and trillions of miles of these spindly fibers are under our feet basically anywhere on the planet. They have the ability to send information and nutrients within the ecosystem of a forest and functionally act similar to nature’s version of the world wide web.
My theory is mushrooms effect people in different ways because each of us has our own needs. Mushrooms are an intelligent being. They read their host environment and deliver nutrients to the parts of our brain and body most in need of their help.
Review Fix: What do you think is next for them?
Johnson: The popularity of mushrooms will only continue to spread. Between 1950 and 1965 over 1,000 papers were published on the use of psychedelics for mental health and spawned six international conferences. As laws change and more investment is made into studying the benefits of mushrooms, both psychedelic and functional, the more we’ll discover how they can help us.
I predict psychedelics will follow the same path as cannabis in the United States. The first step is decriminalization, followed by legal use for medical purposes. Psychedelic assisted therapy has already passed into law in Oregon and Colorado, with many more states to come.
As more research becomes available and the stigma surrounding psychedelics is lifted, law makers will eventually accept that all adults 21+ should have the freedom to experiment with mushrooms.
Pharmaceuticals are made to mimic nature and the ground-breaking potential for mental breakthroughs have companies salivating at the possibilities for profit. But natural mushrooms are easy and very inexpensive to grow. Once people get over the fear of magical fungi, more will turn to options that cost a fraction of the proposed medical models.
Demand for safe access to mushrooms, as well as the need for more tax revenue, will continue to put pressure on state governments to open their minds to an all-out legal mushroom marketplace.
Review Fix: Where can people find out more?
Johnson: At mycroboost.com we write about all things mushrooms on a weekly basis. To learn more about functional mushrooms such as lion’s mane, cordyceps, turkey tail, chaga and reishi check out our blog. You can find my writing on psychedelic mushrooms at Rollingstone.com.
If you haven’t already read How to Change Your Mind or seen Fantastic Fungi those are cornerstone texts for the experienced and beginners alike.
The best advice I have is not to be afraid and try them for yourself. You can learn a tremendous amount from others, but there’s no substitute for personal experience because the experience is truly personal.
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