Preparing for the Journey

Foods To Avoid

We believe that cleansing the body of toxins is an essential part of your overall health and well being.  It gives your body a chance to prepare for deeper healing work.  As early as you are able to prepare for your retreat beginning a vegetarian whole food lifestyle is the most efficient way to detox from previous lifestyle choices.  It will help you gain the most out of your retreat as well.  It is also good to stop any alcohol intake prior to arrival.

Ayahuasca (specifically, Caapi vine, one of two principal ingredients in the ayahuasca brew) is an MAO-inhibitor, meaning it temporarily inhibits the activation of the monoamine oxidase (MAO), tyramine. This enzyme is essential to process the amino acid tyramine, so it’s important to refrain from eating foods high in this amino acid, otherwise your body could reach toxic levels that cause headaches or hypertension.

Drugs to Avoid

It can be very dangerous to combine some pharmaceutical drugs with Ayahuasca. Unlike food interactions, whose consequences are usually unlikely to be serious, interaction with pharmaceutical drugs and meds (including some over-the-counter drugs and certain herbs) can be potentially life-threatening. The combination of MAOIs and other serotonin agonists or precursors poses a particularly severe risk of a life-threatening serotonin syndrome episode.

 

Contraindicated Drugs

How long do you have to stay off contraindicated drugs before and after an Ayahuasca ceremony?

Depends on the drug. May be 24 hours, may be six months. For over the counter drugs (like antihistamines), 48 hours before and after is more than enough. For prescription drugs, two to six weeks is typical, but do not guess. Find out for sure from your doctor. Your doctor may be unfamiliar with Ayahuasca specifically, but tell him or her that you are planning to take a reversible MAOI. . Some people who plan to drink Ayahuasca in a country where it is not legal are concerned that the doctor will ask questions about the source of the MAOI and learn about an illegal activity. Doctors are bound by doctor-patient confidentiality and they would prefer to know about anything their patients are taking, legal or not. But if your doctor feels that he or she needs more information about Ayahuasca, you could refer him or her to this thread and other informational resources in this forum.

Medical consultation is especially important if you are taking Prozac, Paxil, Wellbutrin, Effexor, Zoloft or other antidepressants that affect serotonin levels, i.e. serotonin selective re-uptake inhibitors (SSRI), because these substances must be reduced gradually. Fluoxetine (Prozac) requires 8 weeks (56 days) and most other SSRIs five weeks (35 days) to clear the system.

Special note to diabetics: MAOIs may change the amount of insulin or oral antidiabetic medication that you need.


Source: ayahuascasafety.org