Clarity: Caapi Chews — 64 mg Banisteriopsis caapi Alkaloids | 10 ct

Banisteriopsis caapi is a woody vine of the western Amazon, and it is the vine — the caapi itself — that gives ayahuasca its name. In the traditional brew it is combined with a DMT-containing admixture plant, most often Psychotria viridis. On its own, without that admixture, it is not psychedelic.

Amazonian traditions have long worked with the vine alone. It is taken in dietas — extended periods of restricted diet and relationship with a single plant — and is regarded as a plant of cleansing, of steadying, and of clear seeing. Shipibo, Shuar, and other lineages each hold their own practices around it. This product is the vine alone.

Caapi's beta-carbolines are among the better-characterised compounds in this category:

• Reversible MAO-A inhibition. Harmine and harmaline are reversible inhibitors of monoamine oxidase A. Reversible is the operative word — unlike older irreversible pharmaceutical MAOIs, the binding is not permanent. The interaction cautions above still apply in full.
• The three principal alkaloids are harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine. Tetrahydroharmine additionally shows serotonin reuptake inhibition in laboratory assays.
• DYRK1A inhibition. Harmine is a potent inhibitor of the kinase DYRK1A, which is why it appears in research contexts well outside ethnobotany.
• Neural progenitor proliferation. Laboratory work has reported that harmine stimulates proliferation of human neural progenitor cells. This is cell-culture research, not clinical evidence of any outcome.
• Harmine has been of pharmaceutical interest for a long time — a synthetic version was reportedly patented in the 1920s.

This is mechanistic research describing how compounds behave. It describes pathways, not outcomes, and it is not a claim that this product treats any condition.

• 10 chews per pouch · 64 mg alkaloids each
• Vine only — no DMT-containing admixture, not psychedelic
• Sticky by nature; may cling to the wrapper
• Consult your practitioner if pregnant, nursing, or taking any medication — this one especially

No. Ayahuasca is caapi vine brewed together with a DMT-containing plant. This is the vine alone, which is not psychedelic.

MAO enzymes clear certain compounds from your system, including tyramine from aged and fermented foods and serotonin affected by many medications. Inhibiting that clearance is what creates the interaction risk. It is manageable with attention, and genuinely unsafe without it.

64 mg, from Banisteriopsis caapi vine.

No to both, without speaking to a prescriber first. Kanna acts on serotonin reuptake and caapi inhibits MAO — that is precisely the combination to avoid.

Minimal processing. Nothing is wrong with it.

A tropical fruit related to cherimoya, high in vitamin C and B vitamins. It carries the flavour here.

• How to use Banisteriopsis caapi vine chews
• Banisteriopsis caapi: the unpotentiated vine
• A month with B. caapi: a 30-day account
• The Fadiman protocol: mechanisms