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Guarana Extract Nature's CaffeineGuarana Extract comes from the gurana plant. From the Portuguese guaraná, it is a climbing plant in the maple family, Sapindaceae, native to the Amazon basin and common in Brazil. It' history come from Tupi and Guaraní Brazilian culture. There's a myth dating back to the Sateré-Maué tribe. Guarana's domestication originated with a deity killing a beloved village child. In order to console the villagers, a more benevolent god plucked the left eye from the child and planted it in the forest, resulting in the wild variety of guarana. The god then plucked the right eye from the child and planted it in the village, giving rise to domesticated guarana. 
The Guaranís made a tea by shelling and washing the seeds & then pounding it to fine powder. The powder is kneaded into a dough, then shaped into cylinders. It is then grated and immersed into hot water with sugar. Guarana is used in sweetened or carbonated soft drinks and energy shots, an ingredient of herbal tea or contained in capsules. South America gets most of its caffeine from guarana. Guarana benefits have been shown in studies done on rats. The rats that took guarana had increased memory retention and physical endurance compared to the ones that took a placebo. Studies have also be done to see how long the body takes to think it is full when given guarana but nothing has been concluded at this time. Just be careful not too take it in excess, especially in energy drinks. An adverse effect of taking guarana is seizures in some people who had taken too much of it.
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