You’ll likely be asked to fast for at least ten to twelve hours before the ceremony, with no recreational drugs and alcohol for at least 24 hours before hand. Read more about Matses Kambo Training here. Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.

The first observations of Kambo use were made by a French priest, Father Constantin Tastevin in 1925 whilst he was staying with the Kaxinawá tribe in the upper Juruá River in Brazil. In the 1980’s an American Anthropologist, Katherine Milton described Kambo use among the Mayoruna tribe in Brazil and in the 1980s Peter Gorman wrote about his experiences taking Kambo with the Matses tribe in Peru. Peptides are natural occurring biological molecules that contain two or more amino acids. Kambo is not a hallucinogenic experience, it is a deeply detoxifying physical experience.

Risks and side effects

Here are three things we learned about biohacking with Kambo, aka frog medicine. There are reports of people falling seriously ill after participating in cleanses. That being said, scientists and researchers have studied kambo as a substance for many years.

The Danger Of Kambo

Kambo’s spiritual power is that he can also remove dark/ dense energies, entities, or as the shaman’s call it Panema. Another way to describe the removal of “Panema,” is “clearing the pain body,” “realigning the chakras,” or reorganizing personal psychology so you may reach your full potential and expression. The administration of Kambo produces a cathartic psychosomatic and psychospiritual response in which the participant experiences a deep physical, energetic, emotional, and spiritual release and cleanse. Peptides affect gastrointestinal muscles and blood circulation as well as stimulate the adrenal cortex and pituitary gland in the brain. The kambo secretion is placed on the skin, and is received for holistic healing. Kambo is a secretion from one of the largest Hylid frogs known as the Giant Green Monkey Tree Frog.

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Once the Kambo is applied to the skin, it kicks in almost instantly, as some of the bioactive peptides acutely increase the heart rate, causing you to feel really hot, followed by the nausea and purging for minutes. “It is a very vulnerable, sensitive, and intense experience,” Todd says of the Kambo ceremony. “There can be physical releases as well as emotional releases,” he adds, noting that it is an excellent bonding experience for those who go through the ritual together. The bioactive peptides and molecules found in the Kambo excretion facilitates deep cleansing and detoxification of the blood cells, organs,  and body. These benefits address infections, depression, blood circulation, chronic pain, and to boost the immune system. Kambo also acts as an intense detoxification process and helps clear the body of energy blockages and negative Panama (bad luck). Kambo is a South American Indigenous ritual that calls upon frog medicine — aka the poisonous secretion from the giant monkey frog — to detoxify the body through an intense cleansing experience.