If you’re like many people, you think herbs are somehow “safer” than many non-herbal products. Guess what? They’re not. Herbs were used as medicine for thousands of years before there were physicians, with good reason. And though modern medicines are made in laboratories instead of mixed by herbalists, as many as 25 percent of prescription drugs contain substances distilled or otherwise obtained from the plant kingdom.

Aspirin Grows on Trees

A good example is aspirin, which is primarily salicylic acid, the very same substance found in the willow bark tea that American Indians drank to reduce fevers. Since the two remedies are essentially the same chemically, drinking willow bark tea is no safer than taking aspirin—in fact, it may be more dangerous, because while aspirin is clearly labeled as to the amount of salicylic acid it contains, willow bark tea may not be.

Guarana

Another good example of this is guarana, a tropical berry that many people assume is safer than caffeine. Though some believe guarana is chemically related to theobromine (an alkaloid found in chocolate) rather than to caffeine, guarana actually contains a substance called guaranine that is almost identical to caffeine.

Hailing from South America, guarana also contains tannin, which is found in many plants, including tea leaves and wine grapes. The combination of guaranine and tannins may be what gives guarana a slightly longer-acting stimulant effect than caffeine alone.

There’s no medical evidence that drinking guarana-containing beverages, such as Bawls Guarana, is any safer than drinking coffee, though some energy drink manufacturers tout as being safer and than coffee because of its herbal origin.

What Coffee and Guarana Have in Common

News flash: Coffee is an herb, too. It just happens to be one that is grown commercially in far greater quantity that guarana. The stimulants found in coffee beans and guarana berries produce the exact same effects: increased mental acuity and a relatively swift energy burst. And while in the short term you may be able to get away with drinking caffeinated coffee or guarana-laced energy drinks or supplements (such as Twinlab’s Ripped Fuel), relying on them to keep you awake and boost your energy levels can have disastrous consequences.

Be Still My Heart

In case you have any lingering doubts, consider this: The Journal of Herbal Pharmacotherapy reported a study of premature ventricular contractions (PVC) (known to laypeople as irregular heartbeats or heart palpitations) associated with two herbal supplements that contained large doses of guarana. While the exact cause of PVC in the study was not proven, researchers believed that the guarana may have been the culprit.

Let’s face it. Any product that can give you the energy to stay awake for hours and dance all night when you should be allowing your body to repair and replenish its energy stores through sleep is not good for you in the long run. Your body was not designed to remain awake and active all the time, and no herb that can effectively interfere with your natural sleep rhythms can safely change that.

So the next time you feel tempted to consume a drink or other product containing guarana, take a moment to evaluate what’s really going on with your body. If the answer is that you’re tired, you may be a lot better off taking a nap instead.

—Julie Crawshaw