In a thoughtful episode of the Ayahuasca Podcast, host Sam Believ speaks with health practitioner and integrative-health coach JoQueta Handy about an often overlooked but deeply important topic: how the traditional plant medicine Ayahuasca may interact with gut health, digestion, microbiome balance — and by extension, overall wellness and even neuro-immune function.
The Gut, the Body, and Early Medicine Wisdom
The discussion begins from a simple but powerful premise: many indigenous healing traditions have long recognized that healing begins from the inside — the gut. In these traditions, purgative plants, dietary cleansing, and ritual cleansing of the digestive tract are common. Ayahuasca, with its traditional purging effect, often functions within this framework — as a medicine that cleanses not just the mind or spirit, but the body from within. JoQueta suggests that this “inner cleansing” may resonate far beyond the ceremony: resetting the gut ecology, detoxifying the system, and potentially reducing burdens on immunity or inflammation.
For those familiar with modern medicine’s growing interest in the “gut-brain axis,” this bridging between ancient and contemporary ideas feels especially relevant: what happens inside the gut, many believe, can ripple outward — to mood, cognition, immune response, even chronic conditions.
Gut Integrity, Microbiome & Early Environment
During the conversation, JoQueta touches on a provocative hypothesis: that gut integrity and microbiome balance are major factors shaping overall health — and that disturbances in these systems may contribute to a wide array of chronic issues. Conditions like immune dysregulation, inflammation, even neurodevelopmental challenges in children could be linked to poor gut health.
She suggests that in traditional settings — where diets are clean, the environment less polluted, and lifestyles more connected to nature — the baseline for gut health may already be better. When combined with occasional ceremonial cleansing (like purgative medicines, fasting or plant-medicine rituals), this may create resilience across generations: healthier microbiome, less toxicity, lower systemic burden.
This may offer a partial explanation for observations (though anecdotal) among some indigenous communities: lower prevalence of certain autoimmune or chronic conditions, and a different baseline of health than in heavily industrialized societies. In her view, if parents maintain gut integrity — even before conception — this could positively influence the fetus, and reduce early-life health stressors that sometimes manifest later.
Ayahuasca as Medicine — Not Just Psychedelic
For many Western seekers, ayahuasca arrives first as a “visionary tool,” a way to journey psychologically or spiritually. But this conversation reframes the brew as also having a physiological function — as a purgative, detoxifying, potentially microbiome-modulating medicine. The purging (vomit, purge) often described in ceremony may be more than symbolic: it may reflect actual clearing of toxins, inflammatory compounds, or microbial imbalances from the body.
JoQueta notes that the body — when given the proper support and context — has “a capacity to heal.” The right “environment” — clean diet, conscious lifestyle, supportive community — combined with occasional deep reset (via medicine or ritual) may help restore balance at levels modern medicine often overlooks.
Potential Implications — From Wellness to Healing
If ayahuasca (or similar traditional purging medicines) can indeed influence gut health and microbiome balance, the implications are broad:
For people suffering chronic inflammation, gut-related disorders, allergies, autoimmune issues — a ritual medicine + lifestyle reset may serve as a complement to conventional treatment.
For mental-health challenges — depression, anxiety, trauma — considering the gut-brain axis may deepen understanding of the body-mind interplay. Healing may require not only therapy of the psyche, but care for the digestive system, microbiome, diet, environment.
For parents and future generations — conscious preparation (diet, gut health, low toxicity) before conception could influence developmental health outcomes, especially given emerging research linking maternal health and microbiome to children’s long-term wellbeing.
Why Context & Integration Matter More Than Hype
But JoQueta and Sam both emphasize: ayahuasca is not a universal “microbiome cure.” The medicine does not override everything — it works within a context. The benefits often depend on lifestyle, diet, environment, psychological state, and integration.
If someone returns to a lifestyle full of toxins, poor diet, stress, inflammation — the resetting effect of any single ceremony may fade. The gut microbiome is dynamic, and continuously influenced by what we eat, drink, inhale, think, and feel. So the true healing arises not just from the medicine, but from ongoing care: conscious eating, healthy habits, mindful living, and periodic resets when needed.
Moreover, individuals differ — gut microbiomes, histories, sensitivities. What works for one might not for another. As with any powerful medicine, personal readiness, clear intention, and responsible facilitation are crucial.
A Vision for Holistic Health — Body, Mind, Spirit
The broader message of the episode feels like an invitation: to expand how we think about healing. Instead of compartmentalizing “physical health,” “mental health,” “spiritual healing,” imagine a holistic system where gut, brain, emotion, environment, lifestyle — and even ancestral patterns — interconnect.
Ayahuasca, in this view, is more than a psychedelic — it becomes a tool of reconnection: reconnecting body and mind, healing old wounds, detoxifying the system, and opening space for deeper balance. But only if used with respect, humility, and follow-through.
Closing Reflection
If you’ve ever thought of ayahuasca only in terms of visions, ego dissolution, or spiritual exploration — this conversation invites you to also see it as medicine for the body. A clearing of internal baggage, a reset of inner ecology, a honoring of the body’s capacity to heal — from the gut outward.
Whether or not science fully corroborates these gut-microbiome claims in the future, the perspective remains powerful. It asks us to treat our bodies as living ecosystems, to care for our inner terrain, and to approach healing with holistic mindfulness.
For those curious — or searching — maybe the journey doesn’t start with a “trip,” but with listening: to your digestion, your rhythms, your inner signals. And maybe, under the right conditions, ayahuasca becomes a tool, a mirror, and a medicine that helps you realign — with your body, your health, your life.
Based on the Ayahuasca Podcast episode “Ayahuasca and gut health” with Sam Believ and JoQueta.
Sam Believ is the founder and CEO of LaWayra Ayahuasca Retreat, the best-rated Ayahuasca retreat in South America, with over 520 five-star Google reviews and an overall rating of 5 stars. After his life was transformed by Ayahuasca, he dedicated himself to spreading awareness about this ancestral medicine to help address the mental health crisis. Sam is committed to making Ayahuasca retreats affordable, accessible, and authentic, with a focus on care, integration, and the involvement of indigenous shamans. He is also the host of the Ayahuasca Podcast.