As a regular and frequent drinker of rue + DMT containing plants for many years, I have pretty much never been purging during the experiences for years. People say the body gets accustomed to the "harmalas," but my general diet and lifestyle have been completely shaped by the requirements of these plants and this is a very important factor. I know there are many here for whom the diet is nothing but superstition, but in my lived experience it is a most concrete factor in this practice.
The reason I am sharing this post is because yesterday I had the most hardcore and thorough purging experience after eating eel 2 days after ceremony (NOT during an experience)...
My general diet for which I allow occasional exceptions (mostly to not come off as a total alien to others in a social group) is vegetarian + some fish, no dairy, a lot of nuts/seeds, and a good amount of free range organic eggs. I don't drink alcohol and I don't smoke anything. I source my food mostly from the local farmer's market or wildsource them myaelf. I don't eat anything packaged/processed or bought from the supermarket, with the exception of oatmeal.
I normally don't eat fish in the vicinity of ceremonies and the species that I usually eat are gray mullet, bonito, and anchovies. Gray mullet and eel are caught and sold locally where I've been living for almost a year and I decided to give eel a try not just because it's local but also because of it's documented high nutrient content.
The first time I tried it I ended up getting sick and purging and I thought it's most likely because the fish was not fresh. I told the seller and he said it's really surprising and unexpected for the eel he sells to not be fresh. A few months later (yesterday) I decided to give it another try, and I got sick and purged again, this time thoroughly emptying my stomach, bile, and intestines. Felt like dying, it was horrible. And then I realized it's not about the freshness, it is about the energetic character of this fish. I am carrying the plant's spirits in me and they cannot tolerate certain foods... A thorough search into what fish are allowed on the Ayahuasca diet revealed that eels are specifically, explicitly on the not allowed list... And the diet is supposed to be followed roughly a week before and a week after ceremonies...
A third time I experienced something similar was when I ate goat meat in a restaurant, just to fit in with the others in the group (it was a kind of restaurant that brings in food in a common plate for everybody at the table). It was very similar, a very heavy sick feeling and the complete emptying out of all juices from all orifices for hours and hours... It had been close to a week after an intense ceremony retreat. Nothing happened to any of the other people who ate it, and they ate a full meal while I just ate a few pieces and then could not continue because of a deep repulsion.
I would never eat these things on the day of or the days leading to a ceremony (and now I am pretty sure I will never eat eel again, and pasture raised goat meat I might at least a week later than a ceremony... We'll see how that goes, if it ever happens). It's not just what it is you're eating, it's also where it comes from, how it got raised/grown, and how it was prepared...
I can confidently say that I never experienced purging after eating certain foods and I did not feel such strong repulsion to heavy or fried meats before I started this plant practice.
The consciousness of plants is a constant source of information for medicine, alimentation, and art, and an example of the intelligence and creative imagination of nature. Much of my education I owe to the intelligence of these great teachers. Thus I consider myself to be the “representative” of plants, and for this reason I assert that if they cut down the trees and burn what’s left of the rainforests, it is the same as burning a whole library of books without ever having read them.
~ Pablo Amaringo