Ayahuasca can harm people in a legion of ways.
First, even if ayahuasca was medically harmless, which it is not, anyone who is outside ayahuasca's custodial nations and presumes to use it without permission is a partaker of stolen goods.
Such a person risks moral corruption by becoming involved in a web of cultural and spiritual crime. Ayahuasca has been ripped away from its custodial culture by irresponsible people.
This means becoming involved in a social scene full of lying and mythologizing. People who commit cultural crimes dont like to admit this about what they have done, so they create all sorts of stories/lies to normalize and valorize what they do. If one socializes for too long with persons living and socializing and making business connections in such a social atmosphere, one becomes uses to membership in a tribe of liars and thieves and usage of stolen cultural treasures seems more and more 'normal.'
The medical dangers ayahuasca are many and formidable.
It induces vomiting.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=ayahuasca+%22vomiting%22&btnG=Google+SearchIf the taker has fragile blood vessals in the brain or eyes (eg diabetic retinopathy), heavy vomiting can cause a hemorrhagic stroke or retinal bleeding.
If a person has cardiac arrhythmia vomiting can trigger abnormal heart rhythms. It is a possible to have heart damage and not know this.
Ayahuasca interacts with a wide variety of drugs and foods. Many persons dont realize that their favorite foods may be on the 'avoid' list.
Reactions can include dangerously high blood pressure (a hazard to anyone with fragile blood vessals--note above) and vile headaches.
Now, consider the persons who have a financial incentive to take people on ayahuasca trips. With a few brilliant exceptions, such as that one person noted who had the decency to end a session so as to take a striken person to hospital for medical attention--
How many persons, standing to gain in terms of personal power or financial gain, would have an incentive to tell people 'You cannot do a session unless you are prepared to stay away from all these substances."
Many on psychoactive medication might risk becoming destablized if they go even a full day without their prescribed medications.
There are so very many people on RX medications that conflict with Ayahuasca that an honest operator would *lose revenue* if he or she abided by these guidelines.
What foods and drugs need to be avoided?
admin
What foods need to be avoided?
Basically foods that are aged, preserved, dried, fermented, pickled, cured (meats), rancid, old, outdated, overripe, or even slightly spoiled.
The following foods are recommended to be avoided with MAOIs:
Meat that is not fresh, especially unfresh liver (fresh meat and fresh liver are safe)
Smoked, fermented, pickled (herring) and otherwise aged or dried fish, lox; any fish that is not fresh
Sausage, bologna, pepperoni, salami, corned beef
Aged cheeses (cottage cheese and cream cheese are safe)
Protein extracts
Liquid and powdered protein dietary supplements
Brewer’s yeast, yeast vitamin supplements, or yeast extracts
Fermented tofu, fermented bean curd, fermented soybean paste, soy sauce
Canned soups, or soups made with protein extracts or bouillon
Miso soup (contains fermented bean curd)
Shrimp paste
Sauerkraut
Fruits that are bruised or even slightly overripe, especially bananas and apples; raisins and other dried fruits, fig newtons, etc (banana peels also should be avoided — as though you’d eat them anyway)
Avocados, if ripe or overripe (slightly underripe avocados are fine in moderation). Guacamole should be avoided.
Red wine, especially Chianti; sherry, vermouth, champagne, brandy; beers and ales, including nonalcoholic; whiskey and liqueurs such as Drambuie and Chartreuse
Dairy products that are close to the expiration date or that have been unrefrigerated (fresh yogurt is safe)
Aspartame (Nutrasweet)
Fava beans, especially if overripe
Peanuts – in large quantities
Raspberries – in large quantities
Spinach, New Zealand prickly or hot weather – in large quantities
Chocolate – in large quantities
Caffeine in large quantities (note: in a few rare individuals, there may be a severe interaction with even small amounts of caffeine)
How long do they need to be avoided?
24 hours before and after drinking Ayahuasca should be sufficient.
Is it really important to avoid those foods?
The warnings about tyramine interaction sound very serious, because they are adapted from warnings about interactions with pharmaceutical MAOIs.
However, food interaction with Ayahuasca is frankly not as serious a matter as it is with pharmaceutical MAOIs.
http://forums.ayahuasca.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=12275
However, while there are no reports of fatalities from food interactions with Ayahuasca, food interactions could conceivably be life-threatening for a person with severe high blood pressure or serious heart disease. People with these conditions, therefore, should follow the MAOI safety diet very strictly when taking Ayahuasca.
Please note: Peganum harmala (Syrian rue) is a stronger MAOI than Banisteriopsis (Ayahuasca vine) and has potentially more serious interactions.
What can I eat?
In terms of the MAOI safety diet, basically foods that are as fresh as possible and not overripe, preserved, or spoiled in any way.
Drugs and Medications
Is it really dangerous to combine some pharmaceutical drugs with Ayahuasca?
YES. Unlike food interactions, whose consequences are unlikely to be serious, interaction with pharmaceutical drugs and meds (including some over-the-counter drugs and certain herbs) can be potentially life-threatening..
Which drugs are dangerous with Ayahuasca?
A list of meds to be careful of with MAOIs:
other MAOIs
SSRI’s (any selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor)
amphetamines (meth-, dex-, amphetamine)
antihypertensives (high blood pressure medicine)
appetite suppressants (diet pills)
medicine for asthma, bronchitis, or other breathing problems
antihistamines, medicines for colds, sinus problems, hay fever, or allergies (Actifed DM, Benadryl, Benylin, Chlor-Trimeton, Compoz, etc.)
CNS (central nervous system) depressants
antipsychotics
alcohol
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=ayahuasca+%22vomiting%22&btnG=Google+Search