A compound known as kambo has recently been gaining popularity as a detox or cleanse among influencers on social media, and, in the last year or two, kambo has gained significant traction. People are traveling to areas in the Amazon and elsewhere in South America for so-called “kambo experiences.” Because the experience results in vomiting, wellness influencers are claiming it’s a detox or a cleanse of the purported toxins in your body. Specifically, they claim that the bile that you vomit is proof-positive that a collection of the toxins has been removed from your body.
So, what exactly is kambo? Basically, kambo is a derivative of a frog venom. Certain frogs are stimulated so that they, as a defense mechanism, secrete venom on their backs. This venom is scraped off of their bodies and, voila, you’ve got kambo. It should be noted that one can actually get kambo in the United States with a bit of effort.
How is kambo administered? According to Dr. Lewis Nelson, an emergency physician, toxicologist, and dean at the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University, “the most typical route is to make a break in the skin, usually by heating up a hot stick and burning a small superficial layer of the skin, and then applying the small amount of the toxin, which is extremely potent.”Kambo is then absorbed, through the skin, into the lymphatic system and the bloodstream, where it can circulate throughthe rest of the body. Dr. Nelson explains that “The vomiting is induced in the chemoreceptor trigger zone of the brain through a direct effect on the medulla. It’s not an effect on the gastrointestinal tract.”
Are there any beneficial detox results? In our research and conversations with scientists and clinicians, absolutely not. Vomiting is a protective reflex to rid the body of harmful substances, such as toxins, poisons, or bacteria, that may have been ingested. This is slightly different in that the body is not responding to a toxin that is ingested orally, but it is basically the same thing: A simple response to a toxin, with no beneficial effects whatsoever.
Doesn’t the body already have its own detox system? Our bodies are amazing in the detox department. Our livers are fantastic at eliminating substances that are foreign. We also have kidneys, a lymphatic system, a spleen, and lungs that help to detoxify via different mechanisms.
The angle here, according to Dr. Nelson, “is that this process takes something out that these organs can’t remove and/or provides an alternative pathway to enhance the removal of such toxins.” Some see this as a “bio-hacking” behavior, which is a health marketing slogan used to describe behaviors that can improve the ability of our bodies to process things better than they already do. Dr. Nelson adds that while most of these behaviors are relatively low-risk, kambo introduces a foreign and rather under-studied substance to your body, and “There’s no doubt that the vomiting associated with this ritual type of treatment carries significant risks.”
So, what are the risks? For starters, esophageal injury from vomiting is a possibility, which could result in long-term consequences. Kambo users have also reported temporary hypotension (abnormally low blood pressure) and tachycardia (fast heart rate). In addition, there are possible neuropsychiatric effects, including subsequent depression, anxiety, fatigue, all along the neuropsychiatric spectrum, akin to post-traumatic stress disorder. It should be noted that there is not a known psychoactive effect, so kambo will not likely lead to any significant long-term addiction or dependence.
Finally, there is a risk of “syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion,” commonly known as SIADH. SIADH is a condition where the body produces too much antidiuretic hormone, which causes the body to retain too much water, leading to a dangerously low level of sodium in the blood. This condition can affect brain function, as well as heart and nervous-system function….and can be life-threatening.
What about the bile that you vomit? It’s critical you understand that the bile was sititng in your GI tract prior to vomiting. In between the toxin being administered and the 20-minute vomiting session, the bile sitting in your GI tract does not magically attract all the toxins in the body. [By the way, as bad as ‘bile’ sounds, it is actually good for you, playing essential roles in fat digestion, fat-soluble vitamin absorption, and the elimination of toxins from the body. A bile deficiency can lead to digestive issues, nutrient malabsorption, and the potential formation of gallstones, highlighting its crucial importance for overall health. So, the bile is already eliminating toxins from your body, without having to throw it up!]
To sum up. Let’s be clear about what is actually happening here. The kambo experience involves a known toxin entering your body and causing 20 minutes of recurrent, serious vomiting. Think food-poisoning-type of vomiting and multiply by 10. There are no benefits to the experience, and yet there are real risks, some of which are long-term.
As such, it is easy to calculate the risk-reward benefit with this sort of activity.