Hello,

I'm interested in trying to eat 5g of P. harmala seeds, but I've been reading about what foods to avoid while on MAOIs, and the articles basically list everything I eat.

I understand P. harmala seeds don't contain true MAOIs but rather RIMAs, which means that one doesn't have to follow nearly as strict a diet as with proper MAOIs.

I guess it would be more helpful for me to read lists of what people eat as opposed to what they don't eat before and after ingesting P. harmala. Seriously, can you only eat raw vegetables, or is it possible to somehow get protein safely?

One specific area of concern I had is that I eat a lot of quinoa, and I noticed that tryptophan was on the MAOI no-no list.

Would eating black beans with salsa and corn tortilla chips be OK?
What are the main no-no foods specifically for P. harmala?

Yeah, it would be great to see the foods that are OK to eat.

tyramine is not metabolized by mao-A. RIMA's like harmine and harmaline only inhibit mao-A and only mao-B at high doses..and even then tyramine will easily outcompete harmine or harmaline for the mao-B..the whole tyramine thing is not to worry about really..so yeah you can eat meat etc.

What you have to worry about is other stimulants like caffine etc..many other psychoactive substances interact with harmalas..and many foods contain stimulants etc so be aware of what spices and herbs you are eating durring that time.

Beans and salsa are fine for me.

Avoid cured/smoked meats etc if you are worried about tyramine still..some chicken/fish has been fine for me.

Avoid caffine directly before and after..might want to hold off on cannabis also for your first few times at least.

Fruits and veggies are fine..grapefruit may have some kind of interaction going on I am not entirely sure about that one..same with pomegranite juice..they wont hurt you though, they might just have some weird synergy.

Rice, fruits, veggies, beans, some chicken etc..thats all okay.

Thanks for you input. I was sure it wasn't that big of a deal, as the experiences I read, people consumed the seeds nonchalantly.

What are the major foods to avoid?

avoid processed and preserved foods etc..cus they might sit weird and make you feel sick..

Avoid foods that are stimulants..and alcohol.

Dont overeat on aged foods. The tyramine thing as you know is not such a big deal..but if you overeat tons of tyramine it is still possible it could give you a headache when mixed with harmalas. So dont worry about avoiding it 100%..but dont stuff yourself full of it either..

You will probly want to avoid spices also..they tend to not sit too well with a stomach full of harmalas in my experience.

The only time I had any food reaction it was due to eating a lot of salami, red wine and aged cheese earlier that day as an experiment. Not a full serotonin "storm" but a good bit of headache and a positive neural tension test for several hours.

I neglected to check my bp, (if I ignore my symptoms they can't scare me, right?). I normally eat pretty healthy and fresh, this was a deliberate experiment to see what my threshold for 'bad' foods were.

Don't do what I did; eat healthy and you will feel good.

..avoid Lentils and un-soaked Chick Peas..
and Honey Soy Seasame Fried Chicken!!

I pretty much eat lentils/beans/rice for dinners-meal every day for the last 6 months. No problems yet, at least with harmalas...

It seems that the tyramine in legumes effects me much less than the tyramines in processed/aged foods. I dunno, be safe regardless.