One of the primary effects of the MAOIs in b. caapi is that they block the ability of the body's enzymes to metabolize tyramine. Tyramine can displace stored monoamines, such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine, from presynaptic vesicles. If foods high in tyramine are ingested, this can lead to strong side effects such as a hypertensive crisis.
Sticking to a low tyramine diet while microdosing with b.caapi is vital.
When using MAOIs, an intake of 6 to 10 mg of tyramine can lead to a mild reaction, while 10 to 25 mg leads to a severe reaction.
To understand how strict your diet should be, let us take the example of cheddar, a cheese that typically contains 0,24 mg of tyramine per gram. For a mild reaction, we would have to eat 25g of cheddar.
High-tyramine foodsCertain types of food have a high tyramine content, especially foods that are:
• fermented
• cured
• aged
• spoiled
Specific foods with high tyramine content include:• strong or aged cheeses like cheddar, blue cheese, or gorgonzola
• cured or smoked meats or fish, such as sausage or salami
• beers on tap or home-brews
• overripe fruits
• certain beans, such as fava or broad beans
• sauces or gravies like soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, or bouillon-based sauces
• pickled products like sauerkraut
• sourdough bread
• fermented soy products like miso soup, bean curd, or tempeh. Some forms of tofu are also fermented and should be avoided such as "stinky tofu."
Below is a list of substances that you should NOT take 12 hours before and 12 hours after taking MAOIs.
Very dangerous:- sleeping pills
- anaesthetics
- migraine medication
- allergy medication
- over the counter cold medicines
- cocaine
- amphetamines
- MDMA (XTC)
- mescaline cacti: peyote and san pedro
- alcohol
- ephedra and ephedrine for example in products such as Ephedra Super caps, Super stacker, Ultra Boost
- pseudoephedrine
- macromerine
- phentermine
Can cause headaches or sickness:- cultured dairy products: buttermilk, yogurt, and sour cream
- all aged and mature cheeses. Exceptions: cottage cheese and cream cheese
- dry and fermented sausage: bologna, salami, pepperoni, corned beef, and liver
- all meat, fish and eggs that are not fresh
- pickled herring and salted dried fish
- meat extracts
- yeast and extracts such as Marmite
- sauerkraut
- fruits: bananas, avocados, canned figs, raisins, red plums, pineapple, raspberries, peanuts
- broad beans and pods: lima beans, fava beans, lentils, snow peas, and soy beans
- LSA: morning glory and baby hawaiian woodrose seeds
- MDA related herbs: nutmeg, sweet flag
- chocolate
- caffeine: coffee, tea, cola, guarana, energy drinks
- ginseng
- St Johns wort
- nasal sprays: Vicks Sinex, Prevalin or Otrivin
- other MAO inhibitors.