Gut-Mind Interactions in Psychedelic Healing: A Case Study Assessing the Effects of Huachuma and Ayahuasca on the Mind and Microbiome.
Journal of restorative medicine January 1, 2025 Payton Follestad, Patricia Filbin, Brice Thompson et al.
A 35-year-old woman with prior psychedelic experience took Ayahuasca and Huachuma (San Pedro cactus) in separate ceremonies. Both medicines sharply reduced her depression scores (Ayahuasca: from 18 to 6; Huachuma: from 12 to 2 on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale) and increased her feelings of connectedness (Ayahuasca: from 62.3% to 95.37%; Huachuma: from 58.32% to 84.65% on the Watts Connectedness Scale). Stool samples showed that each medicine shifted the gut microbiome differently, but both reduced pro-inflammatory bacteria, normalized inflammation-linked species, and increased beneficial butyrate-producing bacteria. These microbial changes aligned with improved mood and reduced inflammation, suggesting that psychedelics may improve mental health partly through the microbiota-gut-brain axis.