PASSIONFLOWER AS A MAOI INCREASES THE EFFECT OF MUSHROOMS AND OTHER PSYCHEDELICS

Passion flower (Passiflora Incarnata) is a beautiful plant and can be recognized by its deep blue flowers. This creeper is praised not only for its beauty, but even more so for its medicinal properties. It is effective for many physical and mental ailments, such as insomnia, anxiety, inflammation, skin irritations, burns, and asthma.

In addition, passion flower is regularly used in combination with magic mushrooms and other psychedelics. In this article we explain to you what the effect of passion flower is, what an MAO-inhibitor is and why you should be careful when you combine an MAO-inhibitor with psychedelics.

How passion flower works

Passion flower is a medicinal plant whose use goes back centuries. It was mainly used as a natural sedative, but is also effective against nausea, anxiety, and insomnia. The active substances of passion flower are in the flowers, leaves, and the stem of the plant. The dried passionflower can be used as a tea in the pure shape or as extract. In addition, it is also available as tincture, of which you place a few drops under your tongue.

Active substances of the plant

The plant with its beautiful flowers is full of flavonoids. These are natural components of plants and have a detoxifying effect and provide color in the flowers. These flavonoids can also be found in fruits and vegetables and are super healthy. The active ingredients that provide the soothing effect of passion flower are harmine and harmaline. These materials provide support for a good night's sleep.

Passionflower consists of very healthy, natural ingredients that are perfect for a cup of tea before going to sleep. Nevertheless, the use of passionflower is a well-known concept among experienced users of psychedelics. Passionflower contains MAO inhibitors, of which the substance harmine is one. Because of its MAO-inhibiting qualities, passionflower plays an important role in the creation of entheogenic, psychedelic concoctions, such as Ayahuasca.

What is an MAOI?

The important neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine are broken down in our body by the enzyme MonoAmino-Oxidase. An MAO inhibitor ensures that this process of degradation is greatly slowed down. Serotonin and dopamine have a direct influence on our thoughts and therefore our behaviour.

Serotonin influences perception on reality and is responsible for regulating mood. When dopamine and serotonin are broken down too quickly and the stock is therefore too low, there can be depression. That is why MAO inhibitors are widely used in medicines such as antidepressants and tranquillizers.

MAO inhibitors and psychedelics

All psychedelic drugs have one thing in common: they act on the serotonin receptors in the brain. The substance serotonin therefore plays an important role in the course of your trip and is additionally activated by the use of psychedelics. If you combine psychedelics with an MAO inhibitor, the breakdown of serotonin and dopamine, among other things, is considerably slowed down. This results in a longer and more intense trip.

Passion flower and magic mushrooms

Most psychedelics fall under Monoaminos and are broken down by the MAO enzymes that are standard in our body. Psilocybin/psilocin, the active ingredient in truffles and magic mushrooms is broken down very slowly and has an average effect of four until six o'clock.

Due to the slow breakdown process of the active ingredient psilocybin/psilocin, it is recommended not to combine magic mushrooms with a heavy MAO inhibitor. If you want to use an MAO inhibitor, go for passion flower. This is a milder MAO-inhibitor and deepens and prolongs the trip without creating many additional risks.

When using truffles or magic mushrooms with an MAO-inhibitor, such as passion flower, becomes the expensive and intensity of the trip even longer. The combination of an MAO inhibitor and psilocybin/psilocin truffles or mushrooms is called psilohuasca.

Risks of using passionflower as an MAO-inhibitor

The dosage of the MAO inhibitor is very important. This varies per person and per situation. Read carefully about this before you start. An incorrect dosage can be life-threatening!

Short-term symptoms of an overdose of passionflower as an MAO-inhibitor are dizziness, insomnia, and headache. With prolonged, excessive use, the symptoms are more serious, and you should think more of muscle spasms and a tingling sensation in the nerves.

The combination of passion flower and psychedelics can be a very nice addition and make your trip more intense and deeper. Despite the fact that passion flower is one of the milder MAO-inhibitor, caution is strongly advised! So read carefully, be informed by experienced users, and always start with a low dose.