Is ayahuasca dangerous?

Question

is ayahuasca dangerous?

Answer 1

in and of itself, no, the plant is not dangerous.

however, when prepared for the dmt tea as is done in the south american countries, and combined with maoi's, which are necessary for the dmt to be processed properly within the body (properly meaning so it can be used as a psychadelic), i have heard many things concerning the dangers of maoi's when used in psychadelics. for instance, combining any maoi with the wrong foods could lead to very serious illness or death.  

also, as with any psychadelic, the dangers of tripping and the lack of awareness are present, but if you're asking this question, i assume you are already aware of that.  

i can't say im an expert on the subject of dmt or MAOIs, but i too am very interested in the field.  do some research to know what your getting into.  and know that there are other methods of consumption of dmt than just ayahuasca.  

Answer 2

not physically- it's a psychedelic, and most psychedelics aare very non toxic.

concerning your mental health, though, ayahuasca (like any psychedelic) can be damaging to those already prone to mental illness (depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder).

Answer 3

It can be physically dangerous if you're not looking out for yourself, or if you're on any prescription medications that could potentially interact with MAOIs. You don't want to end up with an accidental case of serotonin syndrome, not good.

Ayahuasca is just DMT formulated for oral ingestion, and since DMT isn't active taken by mouth without a MAOI, two plants are used- one containing large amounts of naturally occurring DMT and the other containing harmine/harmaline, a naturally occurring MAOI.  It's a legal gray area right now in the US because while none of the actual plants are specifically scheduled (as far as I know, I'm going from my head here and not any specific sources so don't quote me on this) it's very illegal to traffic or prepare for human consumption any organic matter known to contain DMT.

It will almost certainly make you vomit (there's a reason it's also called La Purga), but other than that, as long as you research your formula and are very, very aware for a couple days of any potential MAOI interactions with anything you eat (grapefruit, aged cheese, any anti-depressants, etc), you should be okay. Make sure you're prepared for the intensity, I've only tried it once and didn't think it was as reality shattering as smoked DMT, but your ability to handle the trip depends on your mental preparedness, your surroundings, and to some degree, how experienced you are with psychoactives. If you've only ever smoked pot and popped some pills, this might not be your best choice and you should try a few other psychedelics first.  Go to a website like Erowid or maybe deoxy.org and read some experience reports. Make sure you know what you're getting yourself into, and be safe. :)