The diet is the pre-ceremony food restriction protocol. The dieta is a separate, older Amazonian healing practice used by healers and initiates. The dieta involves extended isolation, strict dietary restriction, sexual abstinence, and a sustained relationship with a plant teacher over weeks or months. The cure in the dieta resides in the whole complex of conditions, not in any single compound (O’Shaughnessy and Berlowitz, 2019). Most participants preparing for a retreat need to understand the diet. The dieta is a separate, deeper conversation.
