(NaturalNews) As live foods, super foods, and herbs are continually researched, it is ever more apparent that all of the keys to optimum health and well-being can be found in nature. And Iboga, the root of an exotic rainforest shrub that grows in Gabon and Central West Africa, is Nature's answer to people who are searching for relief from their painful cycle of drug addiction. Ibogaine, the active ingredient contained in this root, has been used in Africa for thousands of years during the ritualistic ceremonies. It can transform a person who is totally dependent on heroin, cocaine, alcohol and other drugs into a pre-dependent state, free of physical dependence and drug craving.
Ibogaine is a psychedelic, dream creating drug. The person taking Ibogaine lies down and experiences incredible visions that are relevant to their life. It seems to go straight into the unconscious mind, bringing incredible insights into one's nature. Every person's experience is totally different. For some it is as if they are watching a movie of their life, for others it is as if they are being reorganized like a filing cabinet, and for others, the visions may have no recognisable meaning at the time it is being taken.
Ibogaine interrupts the withdrawal symptoms and drug craving so that they can detoxify and get their life in order. It is completely non-addictive, so there is no chance that the person will become dependent on Ibogaine. It is as though Ibogaine resets the brain's neurotransmitter function to a pre-addictive state.
Ibogaine is broken down in the liver and gut lining into a substance called nor-Ibogaine. This substance continues to be active on a patient's opiate receptors for several weeks to several months after a single dose, which research has shown to give addicts a window of time to become free of drugs dependency.
But beyond the physical changes that occur, there also seems to be a tremendous amount of emotional change that occurs. In the weeks that follow the Ibogaine treatment, people are suddenly able to discover answers to issues that have caused them pain and suffering throughout their lives. One encounter with Ibogaine is often likened to many years of talking therapy. It gives the person a previously lacking deep understanding of themselves. Compulsive behaviours have changed, addictions are gone, painful voids vanish, and they experience a new level of freedom. In fact, Ibogaine is not only being used for drug addicts, but also for people who want to sort out a whole range of issues that burden them.
Most addicts who find Ibogaine have already attempted to kick their habit and come to this as a last resort. Many of them have already been to a range of treatment facilities and rehabilitation programs as well as drug treatment programs. For a significant amount of serious addicts, Iboga is the only thing that works. People who have been addicts for years say that they feel happier than they have in years.
So why is this not front page news of every newspaper in the world? If the leaders of our countries are serious about the "war on drugs", then why isn't this available to those people who are crying out for an answer to their horrendously painful addiction? The answer, unfortunately is the same old story…it is not lucrative enough.
Ibogaine was made illegal in the USA in the 1960's along with other hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD and mushrooms. Despite incredible results during clinical trials, there has not been enough funding needed to get Ibogaine approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). And pharmaceutical companies do not want to see Ibogaine on the market because it is not profitable. Ibogaine is so amazingly powerful that you only need to do it once to get off drugs. This is in strong contrast to drugs such as methadone which need to be taken indefinitely. In addition, drug companies generally prefer to work with illnesses that are not so strongly stigmatised like drug dependency.
It is important for everyone, especially the addict, to remember that they can get sucked back into their behaviours. The addict must choose to not associate with those people and those situations that trigger their cravings. Ibogaine is perhaps nature's most potent tools to assist those who genuinely want to transform, but one can potentially get sucked back into old patterns. However, while the 12-Step program and other rehabilitation programs say you will always be an addict and that you can never be free from that identity, many addicts that have been helped through Iboga claim to feel completely free from their addiction and feel empowered to choose not to have a relationship with those substances. The addiction is gone because they have delt with the root causes of the addiction.
Ibogaine is currently illegal in the USA, Denmark, Belgium, Sweden and Switzerland, and may be so in other countries. There is currently legal help being given in Mexico, Vancouver, the UK, Africa, Thailand and Australia.
The clinical research on Ibogaine is slowly but surely continuing. There have been write-ups in a number of mainstream scientific publications including
Bulletin of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies and
The Lancet. It has been and is now again being studied at the University of Miami in an FDA approved Phase 1 clinical trial.
About the author
Sheryl is a kinesiologist, nutritionist and holistic practitioner.
Her website
www.younglivingguide.com provides the latest research on preventing disease, looking naturally gorgeous, and feeling emotionally and physically fabulous. You can also find some of the most powerful super foods on the planet including raw chocolate, purple corn, and many others.
Have comments on this article? Post them here:
people have commented on this article.
Email this article to a friend
Share this article on: 
Now Available from 
