Guarana also known as: Paullinia Cupana

Guarana is a natural source of guaranine, a chemical similar to caffeine. Its overall effect is stimulation and increased awareness, similar to drinking coffee, but balanced with other herbs the effect can be very positive. It has been used for a long time with no known addictive or harmful effects.

It is also a diuretic so taking it will make you go to the toilet more. The hit off guarana is smooth and very pleasant with no caffeine related side effects. The reasons for this are that the percentage of caffeine is low (approx 5%) and there are numerous components present that interact with similar receptors in the body.

Caffeine has been shown to improve the performance of people involved in stamina training. The improvements are low in order, but these are never the less significant and this effect is of use here as a proven aid to those involved in stamina exercise such as long bouts of dancing. Also, caffeine has been shown to help in the mobilisation of fat within the body which is important for energy supply during sub-maximal exercise (stamina and hard sweating exercise) and thus can be inferred to imply a use (aid) in the process of reducing subcutaneous fat (slimming).

There are also anecdotal reports that Guarana prolongs adrenaline release - stacking your adrenaline, so the more work you do the more the adrenaline builds up in your body. Some users claim that the effect is greater the more you put into it, but this has yet to be reliably proven.

Guarana contains caffeine and other methylxanthines, theobromine and theophylline, which have similar but slightly differing effects and strengths from caffeine. Theophylline is present in smaller amounts than caffeine and is a greater diuretic, more toxic, and is less speedy although it has a stronger effect on the heart and breathing (medicinally it is used for treating asthma, bronchitis and emphysema).

Theobromine is a considerably weaker stimulant than caffeine and its major effects are on the kidneys, as a diuretic, and it is practically devoid of toxicity. There is additional information about caffeine which is also generally true for its relatives theobromine and theophylline. The use of caffeine does not produce a very strong tolerance, thus the repeated use of Guarana will produce roughly the same effect each time it is taken.

Tolerance does build up but it never gets high. This fact is obvious as if there was a tolerance then the millions of coffee drinkers around the world would certainly be in lots of trouble.