Do you know something that contains caffeine even more than beans of coffee, a drink that is one of the most popular stimulant and energy booster? What is one of the key ingredients in more than 100 soft and energetic drinks? If you think that we mean guarana, you are completely right.
So what is guarana? It’s a climbing plant in the Sapindaceae family. It is native to the regions of Brasil and is popular for its fruit, which remind coffee beans. Guarana fruit contain seeds, which are rich in caffeine two times more than coffee beans. The name of the plant comes from Tupi-Guarani and means “fruit that reminds people’s eyes”. In ancient times people made herbal teas from dried seeds of guarana. Still it is used in teas, soft and energetic drinks, in producing sweets. Guarana also can be consumed in capsules.
Benefits of guarana: it is used to improve memory, alertness, mood, athletic performance; helps to lose weight and also is effective in such cases:
- fatigue;
- dysentery;
- malaria;
- low blood pressure;
- slow urine flow;
- diarrhea;
- headache;
- heart problems;
- heat stress;
- fever;
- joint pain;
- backache.
Using guarana in food and medicinal amount is safe for most adults. Taking it in large doses for a long term is unsafe and may cause insomnia, nausea, nervousness, stomach irritation, high blood pressure, headache, vomiting and even death. Use no more than 200 milligrams a day while pregnancy or breast feeding. Remember that guarana contains caffeine and may worsen certain health conditions, for instance, heart disease, high blood pressure, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, osteoporosis, glaucoma.