Kambo has gained increasing notoriety as a “frog poison detox” that people burn into their skin to induce vomiting. With headlines like that, it’s easy to see that kambo can be great click-bait, but in reality, that description is inaccurate and neglects to mention all of kambo’s amazing benefits, rampant versatility, and fascinating history.

Phyllomedusa Bicolor, also known as the Kambo Frog.

Kambo is a purification method for the mind, body, and spirit. It has been used for centuries by Amazonian tribes as a way to prepare for hunting, treat illness, and to cleanse panema, or “low vibration” mind dis-eases such as lethargy and jealousy. Some Pajes (the local word comparable to “shaman”) see kambo as a “heart medicine”, as it is said to cleanse the heart-space of negativity and bring more goodness into life.

Kambo has been on the scientific radar since the late-20th century. Vittorio Erspamer, the twice-Nobel Prize nominated scientist credited for discovering the neuro-chemical serotonin, historically wrote that kambo contains a “fantastic chemical cocktail with potential medical applications, unequalled by any other amphibian”. A high regard, given that many modern-day pharmaceuticals are derived from amphibians.

Kambo contains a mixture of bio-active and neuro-active peptides that host a wide-range of treatment potential for modern day ailments including autoimmune diseases such as Lyme, migraines, cancer, depression, addiction, and more. Given that the components in kambo are all bio-active, it is by definition not a poison, and there is nothing in kambo that is known to be harmful to mammals. Phyllomedusa bicolor, or the kambo frog, produces the secretion as environmental protection, and kambo is safe for the vast majority of the population to receive under proper care.

The Matses Tribe (pictured here) is one of 7 tribes that has worked with kambo for centuries.

In addition to the aforementioned issues, people receive kambo today to prepare for psychedelic ceremonies. As a deep cleanse, kambo ensures that a person is less likely to be physically ill during a psychedelic experience. Kambo is also deeply grounding, and can cleanse a lot of the typical fear, anxiety, or control issues that can prevent someone's consciousness from fully journeying, leading to smoother and more blissful experiences.

But, what is it like to receive kambo? Kambo can be a deeply somatic and cathartic experience. Outside of the Amazon, Kambo Practitioners largely apply it ceremonially to align intention and best prepare the recipient for its inherent intensity. Nausea & vomiting (after fasting a certain number of hours) is almost unavoidable during a kambo ceremony, but to say that’s all that happens would be to ignore the research on it components, delegitimize thousands of people’s claims to successfully healing myriad issues through kambo, and to disregard the tribes who continue to utilize kambo as a traditional medicine after centuries.

Kambo travels in the lymph, and is applied subdermally, lasting about 20 minutes. It takes effect quickly and is accompanied by tachycardia, vasodilatation, and undulations in blood pressure. Kambo’s peptides are highly anti-viral and anti-fungal. It causes smooth muscle contractions to cleanse the digestive system through purging while also detoxing the liver and gallbladder. Simultaneously, it delivers neuropeptides that can treat depression, anxiety, and chronic pain. It works on the pituitary axis and is said to reset the endocrine system and balance hormones. At the same time, kambo is able to cross the cell membrane and cleanse the body of irregular cells and possibly first-hand or ancestral trauma stored in the body. In the days following a kambo experience, people typically report feeling light, free of brain fog, and energized. People with substance abuse issues commonly say that kambo takes away their impulse to use, and others say that they are able to break patterns around triggers or loops that were largely unconscious prior to the experience.

Kambo is said to be a “smart medicine”, as it is believed to give people exactly what they need as individuals. It is common for several people to receive kambo at once and have completely different experiences mentally and physically. Some claim they can feel kambo “scanning” their bodies in order to cleanse them of anything stuck physically or energetically.

Kambo is not psychedelic and is legal in almost every country in the world. It is important to find a Kambo Practitioner that is trained and certified to work with it in your culture of origin due to modern day complications from diet, medications, and trauma, and to ensure ethical sourcing.

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