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Interesting!!! thanks for sharing that nugget about diabetes.

So Peganum harmala is wild rue and is native to Asia. I've never actually heard of it being an admixture to ayahuasca, is that linked with a particular indigenous/church tradition of ayahuasca recipe? Oh, hold on, a five second google search indicates that people use it instead of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, crazy, does that even still count as being ayahuasca? In my books anything with DMT isn't the same thing as ayahuasca.

Dmt is a primary ingredient of ayahuasca, banisteriosis caapi is a MAOI. Caapi makes dmt active in human body. Caapi contains almost the same substances as peganum harmala - harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine. So caapi can used for the same purposes as peganum harmala. Caapi by itself produces low psychoactive effect. Those magical trip reports are always about MAOI + DMT + different plants that shamen decides to add. Those additional plants are considered as spiritual guides. Almost all of them has also curative effects so it is very important to know as much as we can about them from shamens.

I'm not sure I'd say that DMT is an ingredient as such, whilst it is possible to extract it in a pure form I would say when talking about 'ingredients' for ayahuasca that it is the 'active component' of the chacruna ingredient (or other DMT-containing leaf/bark such as Mimosa tenuiflora). Banisteriopsis caapi vine is the MAOI that inhibits the MO enzyme in the stomach thus allowing the DMT in the chacruna (or other mystic leaf/bark) to do it's work. I'm aware that various admixtures can be added in and swapped about. But I guess my question is, at what stage does it cease to be "ayahuasca"? If you have completely swapped out the Banisteriopsis caapi vine for something else, and let's say teh chacruna is swapped for something else as well, is it still ayahuasca? It's an interesting question considering the big question mark over sustainable harvesting of the vine.

As far as i know the effects are quite similar but yes it is quite a reasonable question if it is still ayahuasca.

Are you in the States? Do you participate in ceremonies there? Sorry, that feels very nosy, you don't need to answer if you don't want!

No, i live in Russia))) I used to participate in ceremonies but now it's very risky.