Food at your iboga retreat: What to expect

In the days and weeks leading up to your experience with iboga, there is no need to follow a special diet plan.

This is one of the many ways in which iboga is different from other plant medicines such as ayahuasca.

Preparing for your iboga retreat

Before you arrive at your Root Healing retreat, our medical team will be in contact with you to help you prepare for the experience, and discuss any nutritional supplements, medications or other substances you may be taking at our screening stage to ensure that you can participate in our iboga ceremonies safely.

Food at Root Healing

These example meal breakdowns give a general flavor of what to expect nutrition-wise during your Root Healing retreat.

We aim to keep you fortified, nourished and hydrated, with a nutrient-dense, fresh and locally sourced menu which is low sugar and caffeine-free. Our chefs at Root Healing (Thailand) and Root Healing (Portugal) accommodate the individual dietary requirements of every guest.

At both locations, our chefs cultivate close relationships with the local farms and fisheries to ensure the freshest ingredients, and every meal has vegetarian and vegan-friendly options.

Our chef in Thailand brings authentic, traditional flavors from the Chiang Mai area into our meal plan designed to support your iboga experience (which means going easy on the spice at certain points in the week, but not at the expense of tastiness!).

Iboga and eating habits

We encourage you to eat as much as feels comfortable, to look after your energy levels throughout your retreat experience.

Many of our guests find that iboga offers the opportunity to rethink your dietary patterns and eating habits, and make healthier choices involving your approach to food, including how you cook and source your food. (Making these kinds of changes to your eating habits after iboga is very much in the spirit of the importance the Bwiti tradition places on connecting with the natural world, and in keeping with the commitment we make to providing iboga sustainably.)

Sustaining yourself more sustainably

Cravings for sugary foods or caffeine, impulses towards bing eating or snacking and over-attention to maintaining a particular eating plan or schedule are all aspects of your food intake which your experience with iboga has the potential to help you address.

Your integration period after iboga is the perfect time to explore what it could look like to put new, healthier and more sustainable eating patterns into practice.