What’s your usual morning routine? You probably start your day with a “wake up” coffee to perk you up. Or maybe you had an energy drink after lunch to get you through your mid day slump. Then you most likely have heard of guarana. It’s in almost any energy drink on the market. It’s recognised to give you an energy boost and to reduce fatigue, but, it has been shown to offer many skin benefits. Can you guess what they are?
A short spoiler: Many cellulite products take advantage of it as guarana’s said to address cellulite fat deposits.
A little bit about the ingredient
You may have seen guarana berries listed in the formulations of energy drinks as guarana seed extract, Paullinia cupana, or just as guarana. Before guarana got popular in energy and soft drinks, as a compound in over-the-counter weight loss products or cellulite creams, it was used by indigenous communities in the Amazon basin for centuries, if not millennia.
Guarana (Paullinia cupana) is a type of climbing plant in the family of soap tree plants (Sapindaceae). It’s native to the Amazon regions. It has large leaves and its flowers bloom in clusters. The fruits it bears look suspiciously like an eyeball: A fleshy white fruit surrounding dark brown seeds.
The colour of the skin ranges from brown to red. The guarana’s semblance to an eye also gave rise to its name. The word guarana comes from a South American language and means so much as “fruit like the eyes of the people”. There are many legends and stories about guarana.
Content and properties
Just about the size of coffee beans, the guarana seeds contain 4 times more caffeine. It’s no wonder, the people of South America have used this plant to help boost their energy levels for years.
Its taste too is reminiscent of coffee: it tastes slightly bitter, acidic, and astringent. Containing a variety of valuable compounds, guarana was/is important to the indigenous people living in the Amazonas regions.
The guarana seeds are shelled, washed, and after drying pounded into a fine powder. The powder could then be dissolved into water to make an infusion with stimulating properties.
Very generally speaking, when you see both guarana and caffeine on an ingredients list, just read it as “a lot more caffeine”. Guarana or guaranine is just the “same old compound” derived from different sources like coffee, tea (theine), and mate (mateine).
The perking effect – or the “wake up call” of guarana is thanks to caffeine. It affects directly the central nervous system, but also works by stimulating muscles including the heart.
Other than caffeine, guarana contains methylxanthines, flavonoids, polyphenols, and saponins. Trace minerals such as iron and zinc are also present.
Methylxanthines
Caffeine is probably the most known compound in the family of substances called methylxanthines. These are a group of alkaloids commonly known and used for their stimulating effects. They can be found in high concentrations in chocolate, coffee, and tea. Most abundant besides caffeine are theophilline and theobromine in guarana. This group of substances has a diuretic effect, meaning they help your body get rid of salt and water.
Flavonoids
Flavonoids is the fancy name for beneficial compounds in certain foods that boost your health and protect you from specific medical problems. Flavonoids can be found in fruits, veggies, grains, tea, and wine. They’re substances that a plant makes and can be found in bark, roots, stems, and other parts of the plant.
Flavonoids have a wide range of bio-activities: they provide beneficial effects to your body, offering anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties since they prevent damage on a cellular level (think DNA changes etc).
The main flavonoids found in guarana are catechin and epicatechin. They are potent antioxidants, with effects that far exceed the antioxidative potential of vitamin C or vitamin E.
Polyphenols
The second group of substances that plants produce are polyphenols. Hence they are naturally occurring substances found in plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, and dark chocolate. Plant-based drinks such as tea, coffee, red wine, and of course, guarana are excellent sources of polyphenols.
Just like flavonoids, consuming food containing polyphenols is good for your overall well-being. They too offer antioxidant effects, reduce inflammation, and boost immunity.
Saponins
You may not be surprised to find guarana contains saponins as it’s part of the soap tree plants family. Saponins are another group of bitter-tasting substances.
Plants produce them as a deterrent, an antifeedant to protect itself against microbes, fungi, or grazing animals. That’s probably why they often taste bitter. Saponins are a very diverse class of substances. Some plant saponins can help in digestion (for example from oats), and some are toxic especially to cold-blooded organisms and insects but also to other animals such as fish.
This group of compounds is very diverse but when found in food such as spinach, soy, or guarana, it’s beneficial for us. Saponins support the immune system but can have dehydrating effects. They too, offer antioxidant and skin soothing (anti-inflammatory effects). They also provide cleansing properties.
Why wake up call for your skin?
Caffeine isn’t only a stimulant for you but also for your skin. On application, guarana and its high concentration of caffeine stimulate blood flow below the dermis – boosting circulation.
Improved circulation reduces the appearance of cellulite and lessen dark circles around the eyes. These are the reasons you find caffeine or guarana extract in cellulite products and eye creams.
Antibacterial
Guarana contains many compounds that may make the environment “unfriendly” or even off harmful bacteria. Note though, research is still ongoing.
Antioxidant
Many substances with antioxidant qualities can be found in guarana. It’s not only guaranine, the compound guarana is famous for. These are theobromine, tannins, saponins, and catechins – it almost reads like green tea.
You want to have many different antioxidants to neutralise potentially harmful, molecules known as free radicals to trigger a chain reaction that results in oxidative stress and ultimately rage cells. Ageing skin such as lines, sagging, and dark spots the result.
Toning
When you find your skin is bloated or puffy, it may be due to poor blood circulation and water retention. While caffeine is boosting blood flow, it’s also a diuretic and reduces water retention. The smoothing, toning, and firming effect is, however, not lasting.
In closing
Since guaranine is identical to caffeine derived from coffee, guarana or energy drinks containing it will give you the same (side)effects. It boosts your energy levels but you can also get unwanted effects like
- having jitters
- insomnia
- headache
You may also experience a rebound effect just like with coffee. But, when it’s an ingredient in your skin care, it’s just your skin that gets the wake up call. Guarana seed extract infused products are great for slowing signs of ageing. They also improve blood flow and with it reduce bloating, dark circles under the eyes, or the infamous lumps and bumps of cellulite. It’s like a face lift but without all the surgical instruments.
