Guarana

Often, in the composition of numerous weight loss products, which are especially popular at present, there is an extract of guarana fruits. These are the so-called energy and tonic drinks. However, few people know what a given plant really is and what the properties of guarana are, so it is worth talking about it in more detail.

Guarana is called the evergreen creeping liana, which belongs to the sapind family. Inflorescences formed on short cuttings produce numerous fruits, which are similar in size to the fruits of a coffee tree or grapes. They are covered with a fairly dense peel, which bursts as it matures, revealing an oval-shaped black seed. In the wild, guarana is quite common in Colombia, Uruguay, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil, while on an industrial scale it is cultivated in South American countries.

It is known that the researcher from Germany K. Pauli first discovered this plant for the rest of the world. There was such a significant event in the 17th century. By the way, it was in honor of this learned guaran that it got its name - in Latin it sounds like Paullinia cupana. Meanwhile, the Portuguese version of guarana comes from the language of the Maue Indians, who called the warana plant, which means the fruit as the human eye. And in fact, in the section, the mature fruit of the plant resembles an eyeball.

For a long time, Brazilian hunters used miniature fruits, as they knew about the property of guarana to charge a person with inexhaustible energy and make the reaction almost lightning fast. It was customary for Indians to make not only tonic drinks from this fruit, but also to use it as a medicine. The potion helped them to quickly recover from prolonged hunting or grueling work: the seeds of the fruits were cleaned, rubbed and mixed with water, and sticks were molded from the resulting mass, which were dried and added to the juice in crushed form.

Due to the content of a large amount of caffeine in guarana seeds, it is this natural substance that is often present in various drinks. These are mainly sports food products designed to reduce weight. In addition, polyphenols, xanthine alkaloids, as well as vitamins E, A and B are present in the plant seeds.

The harms of guarana

The harm of guarana to human health can manifest itself in the deterioration of the state of the cardiovascular and nervous systems, since with the long and systematic use of drinks based on this fruit, the load on the heart increases. In addition, it can be accompanied by insomnia, tachycardia, as well as an increase in blood pressure.