ayahuasca or yage is a traditional hallucination drink that originates from the amazon region in south america it is a kind of proactive tea that causes people to experience changes in their mood thinking and behaviours this tea is used in most of the south american countries by traditional healers for treating different kinds of health ailments besides it is also an important part of some religious ceremonies in the past few years several studies have been carried out on ayahuasca which highlighted the potential health benefit of this drink this has led to an increase in the usage and popularity of tea in western countrieswhat is ayahuascathe name ayahuasca is made up of two words aya and wascaderived from the quechua language where aya means soul or ancestors and wasca huasca means vine or rope most people of south america also refer to it as vine of the soulalso known as the tea the vine and la purga ayahuasca is mostly taken in the form of tea which is made by brewing the leaves of psychotria viridis shrub and the stalks of the banisteriopsis caapi vine these two are the most important ingredients though other plants and ingredients are also used depending on the usage and preferencesthe traditional use of the drinkthe ayahuasca drink has been used by the people of south america since ancient times for spiritual and religious purposes the people of the amazonian tribes and some religious communities in brazil and north america use it for performing some religious ceremonies an experienced healer who leads ayahuasca ceremonies called shaman or curandero prepares the brew for performing the rituals the brew is boiled till the time it is reduced to the healers liking and the process is repeated until they get a highly concentrated liquidhow is it madethe traditional ayahuasca tea is prepared from two main ingredients banisteriopsis caapi and psychotria viridis both are native plants to south america and can have hallucinogenic properties psychotria viridis contains n ndimethyltryptamine dmt a psychedelic substance that occurs naturally in the plant and has strong hallucinogenic properties but it has low bioavailability and is broken down rapidly for dmt to work properly banisteriopsis caapi is used that contains mao inhibitor maois when brewed together they turn into a powerful psychedelic that has a lasting effect on the central nervous system this leads to consciousness hallucinations and euphoria people in south america have this drink to treat various physical and mental problems here are some benefits of drinking ayahuasca tea it may have mental benefitsin some studies it has been revealed that the two main active compounds in the tea dmt and carbolines can have some neuroprotective and neurorestorative qualities in a lab test it was found that dmt can protect the brain cells from damage and increase cell survival while carbolines can help to reduce inflammation in the body boost memory and can have a neuroprotective effect the research also established a link between harmine carbolines with increased levels of