Guayusa is a plant that is found exclusively in the Amazon rainforest. In countries where it is native to such as Ecuador, Peru and Colombia, it is something that’s commonly turned into tea.
While there is no denying that both black and green teas are very good for your health, guayusa tea is something that can easily steal the spotlight from those well-loved beverages across the planet. One of the reasons for such is the negligible amounts of tannins present in guayusa tea, which means that it’s free of any bitter taste.
Because it doesn’t have the bitterness that some people hate about black and green teas, most especially if they’re boiled for a long period of time, taking advantage of the many health benefits of guayusa tea can be trouble-free. And what are those benefits? Here are some of the most impressive of the bunch:
It Charges Your Brain and Body
Did you know that guayusa tea is often compared to coffee because the caffeine content of both beverages is practically similar? It’s exactly for this reason why you can get the same kind of buzz that you can obtain from coffee simply by consuming a cup of freshly-brewed guayusa tea.
However, guayusa tea won’t give you a hard time coping with the unfavorable side effects of having caffeine in the bloodstream. That’s because there is something in guayusa tea that helps counter all of them, and that’s L-theanine which is actually a type of amino acid.
It Promotes Relaxation
What’s so amazing about L-theanine in guayusa tea is it can cause mental alertness without making you feel sedated. It is exactly for this reason why it’s the perfect beverage for people who are leading very stressful lives.
Every cup of guayusa tea helps calm your brain and the rest of your nervous system, but without making you feel like hitting the sack. At the end of a really tiring day, this beverage can definitely help you unwind. However, try to steer clear of it a couple of hours before bedtime most especially if you are very sensitive to caffeine.
It Makes You Feel Happy and Well
The benefits offered by L-theanine do not end there. According to scientists, this type of amino acid is something that can lift your mood. That’s because L-theanine helps in the production of dopamine, which is a chemical found in the brain, and it’s something that encourages you to do things that make you feel happy.
So the next time you are feeling down in the dumps, reach for a cup of guayusa tea instead of that large tub of rocky road ice cream or bag of chips in order to feel better without the downsides.
It Encourages Weight Loss
Because the consumption of guayusa tea can help put you in a good mood, you will find it easier to steer clear of a well-known weight saboteur: emotional eating. Whether stressed or depressed, a lot of people wind up being emotional eaters, causing them to gain excess pounds.
There is, however, another reason why drinking guayusa tea can encourage elimination of excess pounds, and that’s the presence of chlorogenic acid in the said beverage. Scientists say that chlorogenic acid is a chemical that possess anti-obesity properties by causing the metabolic rate to increase.
It Zaps Health-Damaging Free Radicals
Just like so many other types of teas on the planet, guayusa tea is loaded with antioxidants. This only means that every serving of it floods your body with molecules that neutralize free radicals.
The elimination of those excess free radicals in the body is of utmost importance in order to keep oxidative stress in check. According to medical experts, oxidative stress is something that can be blamed for the development of various health problems, from arthritis, heart disease to cancer.
