Long ago, a small village nestled in the dense forests of the Amazon. Living there was a kind and gentle couple, but they were childless. The Good Spirit took pity on them, and they had a boy—handsome and smiling, helpful to all, and hospitable. The whole village came to love him. However, the Evil Spirit envied the love that surrounded him, transformed into a venomous snake, and fatally bit him. All mourned. Once again, the Good Spirit came to their aid. He planted the left eye of the universally beloved boy in the forest, and gave the right eye to his parents and told them to bury it on the plot next to their hut. An amazing plant grew from it. Its fruits resembled the wide-open, black eyes of the deceased, and its beneficial properties were reminiscent of his kind soul.
A beautiful legend of the South American Maué, Tupinambá, and Guarani tribes tells the story of how an amazing plant—guarana—appeared on their land. Not everything in it is fiction—there are also real moments. The fruits really do look so much like human eyes that looking at them is creepy. And thanks to its beneficial properties, the plant has recently been consistently included in the TOP-10 superfoods. However, official medicine is in no hurry to classify it as medicinal. Why?
What is it
Guarana is an evergreen climbing vine or shrub that can climb up to 10 meters high. Its growing area is the Amazonian lowland in South America.
Description
It is distinguished by dark branches, large oblong leaves with carved edges, and large reddish-white flowers that grow in whole clusters (inflorescences). In the third year, it begins to bear fruit the size of hazelnuts, covered with a thin skin of bright yellow or gray-green color with a blood-red tip. After ripening, it opens and exposes a seed (black or dark purple) the size of a large grape, which resembles an eye. It bears fruit in the winter months. After 5 years, up to 3 kg of crop is harvested from one bush.
The fruits successfully compete with coffee beans. After all, they contain twice as much caffeine. Thus, the plant protected itself from pathogenic microbes, because in such a high concentration this substance becomes a toxin.
Seed processing
The fruits are collected and soaked to separate the seeds from the pulp (otherwise it starts to ferment and quickly promotes mold growth). They are washed, dried, and roasted to remove the peel. The final stage is grinding into a fine powder. This is the extract that is added to dietary supplements and food products. Local people dilute it with water or milk—you get a drink that is similar in taste and properties to coffee or cocoa.
Production
Guarana was first mentioned in the chronicles of the 16th century by Spanish writers. Brazilian doctor Luis Pereira Barreto began to use the fruits for commercial purposes. In 1906, he launched the production of soda water based on it, and then the famous brand of champagne “Guarana Champagne Antarctica”.
In the middle of the 20th century, the fruits began to be used in the food industry in large volumes. Based on them, they produce not only energy drinks, but also tea, chocolate, pasta, candy, lollipops, and chewing gum. In Brazil, it is generally difficult to find a product that does not contain guarana extract, from breakfast muesli to toothpaste. In South America, it is the main source of caffeine.
Today, guarana is most often promoted as a natural fat-burning supplement for weight loss and sports nutrition with a psychostimulating and tonic effect. However, the degree of effectiveness is questioned by many—including official medicine.
Origin of the name. It came from the Portuguese: “guarana” translated from the language of the Maué (an Amazonian people) means “fruit—like human eyes”.
Composition
The value of guarana is in its seeds, which contain a large amount of caffeine. In some sources, it is called guaranine. Its properties are identical to caffeine from coffee beans. But here its content is twice as high: 20 mg—per 100 g of natural source.
However, the valuable properties of the plant are not dictated by caffeine alone. The seeds also contain other useful bioactive substances:
- xanthine alkaloids (including theophylline and theobromine, which are natural cardiac stimulants);
- polyphenols (antioxidant flavonoids catechin and epicatechin);
- amides (derivatives of oxygen-containing acids);
- saponins;
- vitamins A, E, and almost the entire group B (most thiamine, niacin, and riboflavin);
- many minerals: zinc, magnesium, manganese, potassium, iron, sodium, phosphorus, calcium, copper;
- tannins.
It is a protein plant food with zero calories. Contains no carbohydrates. Fats—minimum.
It is interesting. Some South American tribes valued the beneficial properties of guarana so much that they used it as a means of payment.
Benefit
A large number of dietary supplements are produced on the basis of guarana seeds. Most often they are promoted as energy drinks (in sports nutrition) and fat-burning agents (in dietetics). In addition to these basic properties, they are credited with many others—beneficial to health.
For health
Guarana seeds have long been used by South American tribes to treat various diseases. Today, some studies have partially confirmed its health benefits. But the experiments and tests carried out are not enough to officially declare the plant a medicinal plant and use it in pharmacology.
It is believed that guarana seed extract has a therapeutic effect on the body:
- relieves various types of pain—from headaches to toothaches;
- reduces fever, easing the condition with fever;
- relieves spasms;
- strengthens the immune system, reducing the risk of bacterial infections;
- relieves fatigue, increases efficiency;
- helps with arthritis, reducing inflammation in the joints;
- improves digestion, stopping diarrhea;
- cures hangovers;
- reduces the risk of developing coronary artery disease: atherosclerosis, ischemia, heart attack;
- normalizes the condition with dysentery and neuralgia.
Improving cognitive abilities is another property that is noted by manufacturers, users, and even scientists. With regular use of the extract, there is a strengthening of memory, an increase in concentration of attention, and an optimization of the learning process (the results are quite high).
Calming properties are often mentioned: supposedly the extract helps to relieve stress, improve sleep, and strengthen the heart muscle. Although this is a rather controversial point. After all, the main effect of guarana is psychostimulating. This means that it, on the contrary, activates the mental activity of the body, relieves fatigue, drowsiness, and lethargy, increases efficiency and muscle tone, speeds up response reactions, sharpens hearing and vision.
For weight loss
Most often, guarana is offered for weight loss—as part of fat-burning and appetite-suppressing food additives. Theoretically, seed extract should help reduce weight, as it:
- has a tonic effect, promotes physical activity, which allows you to burn extra calories;
- improves digestion, increasing the absorption of useful nutrients and preventing the deposition of fats;
- has a fat-burning effect (a merit of caffeine);
- improves metabolism;
- reduces appetite, saving you from hunger while following diets;
- prevents the appearance of cellulite;
- relieves puffiness by removing excess fluid from the body (has a mild diuretic effect);
- relieves psychological fatigue, preventing compulsive overeating;
- normalizes liver function, accelerating the process of cleansing the body of toxins and other harmful substances.
So theoretically, there should be a benefit for weight loss from guarana. In practice, someone with dietary supplements based on it help in the fight against extra pounds. At the same time, there are also negative reviews that they do not lead to any weight loss.
In sports
Guarana is included in sports nutrition as a natural source of caffeine, a psychostimulant, tonic, energy drink. Such additives:
- provide a boost of energy and vitality, increase efficiency, allowing you to work out at 100% in training;
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