Guarana 101

What is Guarana? And where does Guarana come from?

Guarana is a Brazilian plant native to the Amazon basin. Also known as Paullinia cupana, it’s a climbing plant prized for its fruit. A mature guarana fruit is about the size of a coffee berry.

How is Guarana used in many different things?

Guarana extract is processed through the grinding of guarana seeds into powder.

Tribes in the Amazon have used guarana for centuries for its therapeutic reasons.

Today, 70% of guarana produced is used by the beverage industry in soft and energy drinks, while the remaining 30% is turned into powder

It contains an impressive range of stimulants, such as caffeine, theophylline and theobromine. Guarana also boasts antioxidants, such as tannins, saponins and catechins.

Like e-cigarettes, these devices use a heating element to vaporize the ingredients to provide a stimulating hit when inhaled.

What are some cool benefits of Guarana?

Guarana comes loaded with antioxidant properties. These include theobromine, caffeine, tannins, saponins and catechins (Food and Chemical Toxicology. Editor-in-Chief: José L. Domingo).

Guarana provides qualities similar to that of green tea (Phytotherapy Research by Micael Thomsen). Antioxidants neutralize potentially harmful molecules, called free radicals. Free radicals can interact with parts of your cells and cause damage linked to aging, heart disease, cancers and other diseases (1).

Guarana can help reduce fatigue and improve focus. Guarana is rich in caffeine, which can reduce fatigue and improve focus. Caffeine blocks the effects of adenosine, which is what makes you feel drowsy and helps your brain relax.

Research has pointed to learning and remembering benefits by guarana. Low doses of guarana can help one relax, learn and remember.

Guarana is a big-time source of caffeine, which helps one boost their metabolism by 3–11% through the course of just 12 hours. What does that mean? Your body, while at rest, burns more calories (3).

Overall, guarana has just become “the new thing” that is included in energy and soft drinks nowadays. It has been linked to many health benefits according to researches and studies that have been done to back those facts up. If you want some energy booster or improve your health in general, guarana will maybe worth a try!

Citations:

1. Portella Rde L, Barcelos RP, da Rosa EJ, Ribeiro EE, da Cruz IB, Suleiman L, Soares FA. Guaraná (Paullinia cupana Kunth) effects on LDL oxidation in elderly people: an in vitro and in vivo study. Lipids Health Dis. 2013 Feb 8;12:12. doi: 10.1186/1476–511X-12–12. PMID: 23391102; PMCID: PMC3599679.
2. Haskell CF, Kennedy DO, Wesnes KA, Milne AL, Scholey AB. A double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-dose evaluation of the acute behavioural effects of guaraná in humans. J Psychopharmacol. 2007 Jan;21(1):65–70. doi: 10.1177/0269881106063815. Epub 2006 Mar 13. PMID: 16533867.
3. Dulloo AG, Geissler CA, Horton T, Collins A, Miller DS. Normal caffeine consumption: influence on thermogenesis and daily energy expenditure in lean and postobese human volunteers. Am J Clin Nutr. 1989 Jan;49(1):44–50. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/49.1.44. PMID: 2912010.