Ayahuasca
Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew with emerging clinical research. It is not a conventional dietary supplement and carries significant risks.
Overview
What is Ayahuasca?
Ayahuasca is a traditional South American psychoactive brew made from the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, Psychotria viridis and Diploterys cabrerana plants. It has been used to help in the treatment of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The DMT in ayahuasca is made orally active by harmala alkaloids present in the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, which inhibit DMT breakdown and contribute to effects like altered perception, mood changes, and visions.
Dosage
Optimal dosing information unknown.
Effect graph
Effect heatmap
SupplementDEX Database
1 condition for rated at least stars. All purchase bands. No minimum star filter.
Database Snapshot
Most ayahuasca research is concentrated in a handful of conditions.
- Depression accounts for 13 of 13 studies (100%).
Safety
The active ingredients including dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and beta-carboline alkaloids in ayahuasca can cause hallucinations, increased heart rate, nausea and elevated blood pressure in some people.
Frequently Asked Questions
References
Sources13 references
SupplementDEX uses only high-quality sources to determine supplement effectiveness.
SupplementDEX Database · Depression
13 references1.SupplementDEX Database: Depression — Efficacy and safety of four psychedelic-assisted therapies for adults with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis2025
A meta-analysis of 18 psychedelic trials found psilocybin and MDMA showed large depression symptom reductions and were well tolerated, though evidence certainty was low to very low.
2.SupplementDEX Database: Depression — Effects of psychedelics in older adults: A prospective cohort study2024
A prospective cohort of 62 older and 62 matched younger adults found guided psychedelic sessions improved well-being similarly across age groups, with relational factors more predictive in older adults.
3.SupplementDEX Database: Depression — The Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT) Task Force Report: Serotonergic Psychedelic Treatments for Major Depressive Disorder2023
A CANMAT task force review rated psilocybin and ayahuasca as level 3 evidence for major depression, concluding psychedelics remain experimental and should mainly be used in clinical trials.
4.SupplementDEX Database: Depression — Assessing the effects of methodological differences on outcomes in the use of psychedelics in the treatment of anxiety and depressive disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis2022
A meta-analysis of 9 psychedelic clinical trials found large effect sizes for anxiety (d=1.26) and depression (d=1.38), with greater benefit from multiple-dose versus single-dose protocols.
5.SupplementDEX Database: Depression — Lysergic acid diethylamide, psilocybin and dimethyltryptamine in depression treatment: A systematic review2021
A systematic review of 10 studies concluded psilocybin and DMT show significant associations with reduced depression symptoms, but further controlled trials are needed.
6.SupplementDEX Database: Depression — Classic serotonergic psychedelics for mood and depressive symptoms: A meta-analysis of mood disorder patients and healthy participants2021
A meta-analysis of 12 psychedelic RCTs (257 participants) found moderate to large mood and depression improvements with psilocybin, LSD, and ayahuasca versus placebo across acute and longer-term follow-up.
7.SupplementDEX Database: Depression — Rapid and sustained decreases in suicidality following a single dose of ayahuasca among individuals with recurrent major depressive disorder: Results from an open-label trial2021
A secondary analysis of an open-label trial in 17 recurrent MDD patients found a single ayahuasca dose produced large acute and sustained suicidality reductions over 21 days in 15 patients with baseline suicidality.
8.SupplementDEX Database: Depression — Effects of ayahuasca on mental health and quality of life in naïve users: A longitudinal and cross-sectional study combination2020
In 40 first-time ayahuasca users, depression and psychopathology scores fell at 1 and 6 months, and 23 long-term users had lower depression and higher quality of life than naïve peers.
9.SupplementDEX Database: Depression — Rapid antidepressant effects of the psychedelic ayahuasca in treatment-resistant depression: A randomized placebo-controlled trial2019
A double-blind RCT of 29 treatment-resistant depression patients found single-dose ayahuasca lowered MADRS scores versus placebo at days 1, 2, and 7, with 64% response at day 7 versus 27% on placebo.
10.SupplementDEX Database: Depression — The impact of ayahuasca on suicidality: Results from a randomized controlled trial2019
Secondary analyses of an ayahuasca RCT in 29 treatment-resistant depression patients found medium between-group and large within-group effect sizes for suicidality reductions over 7 days.
11.SupplementDEX Database: Depression — Sub-acute and long-term effects of ayahuasca on affect and cognitive thinking style and their association with ego dissolution2018
In 57 ayahuasca ceremony attendants, depression and stress fell after the ceremony and remained lower at 4 weeks, with improvements linked to ego-dissolution intensity rather than prior experience.
12.SupplementDEX Database: Depression — Antidepressant effects of a single dose of ayahuasca in patients with recurrent depression: A SPECT study2016
An open-label trial of 17 recurrent depression patients given 2.2 mL/kg ayahuasca found rapid antidepressant effects through 21 days and increased perfusion in mood-related brain regions on SPECT.
13.SupplementDEX Database: Depression — Antidepressant effects of a single dose of ayahuasca in patients with recurrent depression: A preliminary report2015
A preliminary open-label study of six depression patients found a single ayahuasca dose reduced depressive scores up to 82% over 21 days without inducing mania.