Catuaba is a medium-sized vigorous growing tree in the Amazon Rain Forest. In Brazilian herbal medicine, Catuaba is considered a central nervous system stimulant with aphrodisiac properties and used for sexual impotency, agitation, nervousness, poor memory or forgetfulness, and sexual weakness and lowered libido in both men and women. Catuaba produces pretty yellow and orange flowers, and small, oval, dark yellow fruit. It is rich in active and beneficial phytochemicals which occur naturally in this plant. For thousands of years, the Native Amazon Indians have used Catuaba as a strong tonic for the entire body but primarily for the nervous system. Herbalists and health practitioners in the U.S. use Catuaba in much the same way; as a tonic for the genitals as well as a central nervous system stimulant, for sexual impotence, general exhaustion and fatigue, for insomnia related to hypertension, agitation, and poor memory. Catuaba belongs to the family Erythroxylaceae, whose principal genus Erythroxylon contains several species and varieties of which are the source of cocaine. Catuaba, however, contains none of the active cocaine alkaloids. The constituents found in Catuaba include a bitter substance, alkaloids, tannins, aromatic oils and fatty resins; phytosterols, cyclolignans and a Brazilian scientist named it Ioimbina. Clinical studies on Catuaba have found very interesting results involving its antibacterial and antiviral properties. |
|
Guarana is a climbing shrub native to South America. The indigenous people of the Amazon rain forest used crushed Guarana seed both as a beverage and a medicine. Besides its refreshing and nutritive value, Guarana was said to treat diarrhea, decrease fatigue, reduce hunger, and help arthritis. It came to be employed in the treatment of migraine and nervous headaches, neuralgia, paralysis, urinary tract irritation, and other ailments, as well as continuing to be administered for chronic diarrhea. Primary chemical constituents of this herb include caffeine, theophylline, theobromine, guaranine, tannins, and saponins. Guaranine ( which is nearly identical to caffeine ) and the closely related alkaloids theobromine and theophylline make up the primary active agents in Guarana. Caffeine's effects ( and hence those of guaranine ) are well known, and include stimulating the central nervous system, increasing metabolic rate, and having a mild diuretic effect. Caffeine may have adverse effects on the blood vessels and other body systems as well as on a developing fetus, and presumably guaranine would have similar effects, but this has not yet been proven. Though Guarana contains caffeine, it is more slowly absorbed into the gastrointestinal tract and thus has a longer-lasting effect than coffee. Guarana has also shown some ability to inhibit blood platelet aggregation, and the herb is considered a nervous system stimulant.
|
