Ayahuasca , also known as yage, is a traditional South American medicine brewed from a combination blend of several two plants that are legally available. Ayahuasca - the ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) and a shrub called chacruna (Psychotria viridis), which contains the potent hallucinogen hallucinogenic drug dimethyltryptamine (DMT as well as harmaline, an alkaloid that allows ). DMT to quickly cross the blood-brain barrierand therefore ayahuasca - is illegal in the UK, the US and many other countries.
==Special Precautions of Ayahuasca==
Ayahuasca could have serious implications for somebody who has a history of mental health problems, warns the UK's Talk To Frank website. The drug could be responsible for triggering such a problem in those who are predisposed but unaware of it. Ayahuasca contains the potent hallucinogen DMT as well as harmaline, an alkaloid that allows DMT to quickly cross the blood-brain barrier. Unlike the short-lived effects of ingesting DMT in a pure form, ayahuasca intoxication can last up to 10 hours. While many take ayahuasca for its vivid and realistic hallucinations and the promise of insight into the mysteries of the mind, some are unprepared for the negative side effects of ayahuasca. These intense side effects virtually guarantee that ayahuasca will never be a popular psychedelic drug.
* Nausea and Vomiting : The most reported side-effect of ayahuasca is nausea, followed by intense repetitive vomiting. For some, the vomiting comes early, while for others it occurs during the hallucinations. In ritual settings in South America, vomit buckets are often close at hand for this certainty, according to National Geographic writer Kira Salak in her 2004 article "Peru: To Hell and Back." Some users experience diarrhea as well. In the shamanic cultures where ayahuasca originated, these gastro-intestinal events are considered signs that the medicine is cleansing the body, mind and soul of impurities and toxins.
* Some users experience profuse sweating, tremors, increased blood pressure and heart rate, according to Peter Strafford, author of the "Psychedelics Encyclopedia." These effects are most likely due to DMT intoxication, which is also known in a pure state to cause hypertension, agitation, dilated pupils, dizziness and muscular incoordination. Neither ayahuasca, nor DMT, are addictive.