What is Kambo?

What is Kambo? 

Kambo is “one of the strongest natural antibiotics and anesthetics found in the world and one of the strongest, natural ways to empower our immune system.”

Kambo is a secretion from one of the largest Hylid frogs known as the Giant Green Monkey Tree Frog. Its scientific name is Phyllomedusa Bicolor. The frog is nocturnal and arboreal and due to the fact that it has no natural predators is found in abundance across the Upper Amazon rainforest areas of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, French Guiana, Suriname and Venezuela.  

They are large frogs, the male bodies being between 9-10 cm and the females 11-12cm. The dorsum is a vibrant green and the belly a creamy white. They have dark spots on the chest, flank and legs. Reproduction occurs throughout the year, peaking between November and May. They construct hanging nests from folded leaves 1-3metres above ponds and streams. The females deposit a gelatinous mass containing their eggs into these nests. Theirs is the largest spawn found amongst arboreal frogs of the Amazon. A single spawn contains on average 1000 eggs from which tadpoles emerge within 11-14 days. The IUCN database lists them in the ‘Least Concern’ category in view of their wide distribution and large population. The only known threats to this species of frog at the moment are spawn predation and the potential destruction of their habitat.

An Italian scientist, Vittorio Erspamer of the University of Rome was the first person to analyse Kambo in a laboratory. In 1986, he wrote that it contains a ‘fantastic chemical cocktail with potential medical applications, unequalled by any other amphibian’. The chemicals that he referred to were Peptides. The peptides studied by Erspamer have become essential to characterize the functional role of opioid receptors. He was twice nominated for a Nobel Prize and was also the person who first discovered Serotonin. Several peptides have since been isolated from the secretion and several have been synthesised. Currently there are over 70 Kambo patents lodged, mainly in the USA.

Now, the popularity and use of Kambo as a natural medicine is spreading worldwide.  As the scientific and medical research into the secretion of the Phyllomedusa Bicolor grows, skilled practitioners are also developing new ways to work with this powerful substance from the Amazonian Rain Forest which allows it to be accessible to almost everyone in a safe and manageable way. Not only do we now have a number of different traditional ways to take Kambo but we can also work with the Meridians, the Chakras, Nadis and Marma Points and even the ears – Auricular Kambo. Added to this, there are also techniques to allow people to take Kambo in a way that is gentler on their system but still allows them to enjoy the maximum benefits.

Contraindications

Kambo is totally safe when given by a properly trained practitioner however there are some conditions for which Kambo is contraindicated, including:

* aneurism

* blood clots

* brain hemorrhage

* recent users of diuretics

* persons under the age of 18;

* pregnant or breastfeeding women with babies under 1 year old;

* stroke

* those with serious heart problems or heart transplant 

* people taking medication for very low blood pressure;

* serious wounds externally or internally that have not yet healed such as a very recent surgery;

* persons with severe cognitive disorders who are unable to understand the physical processes involved;

* persons taking immune system suppressants;

* if you had organ transplant

* have current and severe epilepsy

* if you are undergoing chemo- and radiotherapy, including those planning to start treatment within 4 weeks

* chemotherapy or radiation treatments of less than 4 weeks prior

* animals

* serious mental health conditions, except depression. 

For  women during their menstruation Kambo is not traditionally recommended because it can increase the blood flow and weaken the body. Also it is more likely for women to faint if they take Kambo during their period. However in some situations i have given Kambo also during the menstruation and i usually leave the choice up to the individual.