Psychedelic therapy Netherlands

Psilocybin and MAO inhibitors

Psilocybin from magic mushrooms and truffles is effective orally while DMT in ayahuasca is not. DMT is broken down too quickly by the enzyme monoamine oxidase (MAO), while psilocybin/psilocin does so very slowly. This makes an MAO inhibitor (MAOi) necessary for oral DMT/ayahuasca. Since a few years ago, some people also add the unnecessary MAOi of ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi) to psilocybin and that becomes psilohuasca named.

MAOis are therefore not necessary with psilocybin because psilocybin itself is quickly and efficiently converted into psilocin, leaving little psilocybin to be broken down by MAO. In addition, psilocin is relatively resistant to MAO, allowing it to remain in the body longer than other tryptamines. Therefore, adding a MAOi to psilocybin is not very useful and can even be dangerous. This is because an MAOi can increase blood pressure and cause interactions with other medicines or foods that contain tyramine, such as cheese, wine or chocolate. This can lead to a hypertensive crisis, a life-threatening condition that manifests itself in headaches, nausea, confusion and palpitations. That is why it is not recommended to combine a MAOi with psilocybin or other psychedelics.

Psiloflora is a safer alternative

The difference between psiloflora and psilohuasca is the strength of the MAOi used. Psiloflora uses passion flower (Passiflora incarnata) as a mild MAOi, while psilohuasca usually uses banisteriopsis caapi as a strong MAOi.

Psiloflora is less dangerous than psilohuasca because passion flower has a less severe influence on MAO activity than banisteriopsis caapi. Passionflower primarily inhibits the MAO-A subtype, while banisteriopsis caapi inhibits both the MAO-A and MAO-B subtypes. This means that passion flower is less likely to block the breakdown of tyramine. Passion flower also has fewer interactions with other medications or drugs than banisteriopsis caapi. Therefore, psiloflora is a safer alternative to psilohuasca when it comes to potentiating the effects of psilocybin. Psiloflora also does not require a strict diet before or after intake, as psilohuasca does. Nevertheless, with psiloflora we recommend that you still adhere to the tyramine-restricted diet that also applies to ayahuasca and psilohuasca.

Read more here the tyramine-restricted diet