* Please Note: Traditional Use information is provided as a courtesy only. Although we have done our best to review the validity of these uses and we continue to revise this information as new data emerges, the traditional uses indicated on this page for this product may be wrong. This information is based on Traditional and Folklore Medicine which uses natural materials to support health. This information has not been evaluated or approved by the FDA and is not necessarily based on scientific evidence from any source. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor.
Paullinia cupana Mat. Var. sorbilis, (Sapindaceae), commonly called Guarana.
Sources
Guarana grows in the central region of the Amazon Basin. The seeds of the plant contain more caffeine, 4-5 percent, than any other plant. The leaves also contain large amounts of theobromine, a compound related to caffeine. Guarana is important because the powdered leaves and seeds are used as a source of caffeine in foods and in food supplements.
History
The Sateré-Maué Indians used guarana as a stimulant long before the first European explorers arrived in the Amazon. They used it in much the same way that ginseng is used by Chinese herbalists; to treat stress-related disorders, diarrhea and assorted aches and pains.
Guarana-based products were first introduced to the United States in 1874 by Parke, Davis & Company. Parke, Davis and competing pharmaceutical companies sponsored a series of expeditions to the Amazon in an effort to discover new products. Their greatest success was, of course, cocaine, but they also discovered guarana.
Until quite recently, guarana was viewed as nothing more than a source of caffeine, just as the coca plant was thought of as nothing more than a source of cocaine. Both views are clearly mistaken. There is mounting evidence that other chemicals in coca leaves, beside cocaine, helps increase endurance and protect against altitude sickness. The same is true for guarana. In addition to caffeine, guarana contains large amounts of tannins that have antioxidant activity. The essential oil from guarana has nine different components, two of which (estragole and anethole) are thought to be psychoactive. In Brazil, guarana is used to make an extremely popular carbonated soft drink.
Traditional Claims
For diarrhea and arthritic pain. Large doses of guarana oil are said to be psychoactive.
Commission E Recommendations
Guarana is not mentioned in Commission E.
Proven Effects
The caffeine found in Guarana may enhance performance. In combination with other drugs, it promotes weight loss. Caffeine is the world's most widely used stimulant drug. More than 80 percent of the U.S. population drinks or uses coffee, tea, soft drinks, or cold medications, pain relief formulas, and food supplements containing caffeine.
An average cup of coffee contains 40-100 mg of caffeine. The content of cola drinks is lower, ranging from 30 to 50 mg. Caffeine supplements improve athletic performance. Elite marathon runners, given a dose of caffeine equivalent to the amount found in six or seven cups of coffee, increased the time they could run on a treadmill, and no ill effects were observed. Best of all, at least from the athletes' point of view, when their urine was tested, the caffeine content remained below the acceptable levels set by the International Olympic Committee (less than 12 pg/mL of caffeine).
No one is quite sure how caffeine improves performance, but it appears caffeine promotes the use of fat as an energy source, sparing the body reserves of glycogen. Athletes who can metabolize lipid will have glycogen available for a longer period of time, and that should increase endurance. These same considerations may explain why some believe that caffeine (usually in combination with other agents, such as ephedra) helps promote weight loss.
People have been suspicious about the health effects of coffee and caffeine-containing beverages and foods ever since they were introduced in Europe more than 500 years ago. Concern focuses mainly on possible links between caffeine intake and heart attack, sudden death, fibrocystic breast disease and cancer. Alleged links to cancer have never been proven, and when controlled studies were done with heart patients, it turned out that caffeine was just as likely to make irregular ventricular beats go away as it was to cause them.
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Directions
Take 1 capsule, 3 times daily, with meals.
Cautions
If you suffer from cardiac ailments and/or high blood pressure, you should consult with your physician prior to adding any amount of guarana to your diet.
Concerns
It has been suggested that a caffeine-dependence syndrome exists, and that it meets all the generic criteria for substance dependence. Nonetheless, the evidence is really quite overwhelming that caffeine is a very safe drug, although excessive use will cause typical symptoms of sympathetic nervous system stimulation (shaky hands, racing heart).
Warnings
Caffeine may be a very safe drug, but only for adults. Children cannot handle sympathetic nervous system stimulation as well as adults, and they metabolize caffeine in such a way that toxic reactions become more likely than in adults. Excessive caffeine consumption makes children ill. Depending on the circumstances, and the size of the child, three or four bottles of caffeinated soft drink can make a child sick.
Drug Testing
The International Olympic Committee (lOC) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association have rules on the permissible amount of caffeine that may be present in an athlete's urine. Guidelines for the National Collegiate Athletic Associations are even more generous than those permitted by the IOC (l5pg/mL), and at total doses of less than 9 mg/kg, no athlete is likely to be disqualified. To be sure, read the label of the product you are using and figure out how many servings you have taken, and divide by your weight in kilograms (1 kilogram = 2.25 pounds). For example, if you weigh 200 pounds and you consumed four servings of "Ripped Fuel" containing 25 mg of caffeine per serving, your dose of caffeine would be 4 x 25 divided by your weight in kilograms, or 100 mg/88 kg = 1.4 mg/kg. Also, depending on the guarana preparation you are taking, there is a remote possibility that an initial screening test for methamphetamine might come back positive. The remote possibility exists that some components of the essential oil contained in guarana can be converted to a compound called 4-methoxyamphetamine, and that compound can cause a false positive test for methamphetamine.
Additional Information
The TerraVita Premium Collection uses only the finest, purest and most potent plant extracts from around the world.
The TerraVita Premium Collection is hallmarked by the highest possible standards of purity, potency, stability and freshness. Our highest possible standards are certified by independent laboratories and backed by our personal guarantee.
The TerraVita Premium Collection is packed in child-proof, tamper-proof pharmaceutical-grade recyclable containers.
ZooScape is proud to be the exclusive distributor of TerraVita teas, herbs and supplements in the United States, Canada and around the world. Please direct all wholesale and bulk inquiries to Simona Heather at 905-494-1785.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor. The essence of the current American rule on Traditional Uses is, as stated by FTC, "Claims based on historical or traditional use should be substantiated by confirming scientific evidence, or should be presented in such a way that consumers understand that the sole basis for the claim is a history of use of the product for a particular purpose."
