Guarana and cellulite

Guarana, cellulite and your skin

LipoTherapeia: Check our advanced skin tightening, phototherapy and cellulite treatments in London, based on the best technologies in the world and on more than two decades of experience over more than 20,000 sessions

• Guarana vs caffeine

• Guarana and caffeine at low doses are irrelevant to cellulite and at high doses detrimental

• Guarana in cellulite creams: a marketing gimmick

• Guarana: no help for cellulite, either in a cream or as a tea / supplement

• Have a skin tightening/cellulite treatment in London with the experts

• Advanced, infrared / blue / red light therapy treatments in London at LipoTherapeia

• The Cellulite School™: Get advanced training in cellulite reduction and skin tightening

Guarana vs caffeine

Guarana (Paullinia cupana) is a South American plant whose seeds, the size of coffee beans, contain caffeine. The concentration of caffeine is about 4x that of coffee beans (1, 2). Drinks made with guarana seeds are popular in Brazil.

Many commercial “energy drinks” contain guarana. However, these drinks, in terms of caffeine, are no different to drinks containing caffeine from coffee beans or even tea and green tea.

For most of the population, caffeine ingestion up to 300-400mg per day, i.e. caffeine from 3-4 cups of coffee (or similar amount from energy drinks / guarana supplements), is not a problem for general health or cellulite.

For people sensitive to caffeine, however, too much guarana, coffee or high caffeine tea, such as matcha tea, is not recommended.

Guarana and caffeine at low doses are irrelevant to cellulite and at high doses detrimental

This oral ingestion of caffeine (<400mg/day) neither causes nor reduces cellulite, when taken orally.

Larger amounts of caffeine, from guarana, coffee, green tea, black tea or energy drinks (e.g. 1,000mg/day, equivalent to 10 cups of coffee a day), are unhealthy and can indeed play a role in cellulite development, due to adrenal exhaustion and dehydration (with consequent water retention when caffeine intake is discontinued).

Guarana in cellulite creams: a marketing gimmick

Caffeine is indeed helpful in reducing cellulite when used topically, due to its lipolytic action, via PDE 3/4 inhibition (this effect is irrelevant when caffeine taken orally).

Therefore guarana extract, one would assume, would be useful as an active ingredient in anti-cellulite creams.

However, guarana extracts in cosmetics contain anything between 1-20% caffeine. As a 20% guarana extract is brown and has a heavy odour, it cannot be incorporated into a cream in high enough amounts to make a difference with cellulite.

For this reason, most so called anti-cellulite / “bum-bum” creams, indeed contain a 20% guarana extract but at less than 1% concentration. Now, 1% of 2% is 0.2%, and this is the caffeine content in the final cream. Such a low concentration is absolutely pointless for either cellulite or topical fat reduction.

At least 3-5% of non liposomal caffeine or 2-3% of liposomal caffeine is needed for good results, ideally in combination with other anti-cellulite actives, such as forskolin. Using anything less in a cream is, in plain terms, deceiving the consumer.

There is no cellulite cream on the market with 15% guarana in it, which would provide a minimum of 3% caffeine. And there is a good reason for this as that would be a thick, dark brown sticky mess which would be impossible to absorb and unsuitable for skin application.

It just makes much more sense to use 2-3% liposomal caffeine in a cellulite, which is white and absorbs like a dream.

Guarana: no help for cellulite, either in a cream or as a tea / supplement

So, no, guarana won’t help with cellulite reduction in any either oral or topical form.

It will make cellulite worse at guarana oral intakes equivalent to <400mg of caffeine per day.

Have a skin tightening/cellulite treatment in London with the experts

At LipoTherapeia we have specialised 100% in skin tightening and cellulite reduction for more than two decades and 20,000+ sessions.

This is all we study and practise every day and have researched and tried hands-on all the important skin tightening equipment and their manufacturers.

As strong, deep acting radiofrequency and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation are the technologies of choice for skin tightening and cellulite reduction, we have invested in the best RF/ultrasound technologies in the world.

Furthermore, over the last two decades we have developed advanced RF and cavitation treatment protocols in order to make the most of our technologies, for maximum results, naturally and safely.

And for even better, faster results, we now combine our RF/ultrasound treatments with high-power red/infrared light LED treatment.

Our radiofrequency/ultrasound/LED treatments are comfortable, pain-free, downtime-free, injection-free, microneedling-free, 99.5%+ safe and always non-invasive.

And our focus is on honest, realistic, science-based treatment, combined with caring, professional service, with a smile.

We will be pleased to see you, assess your cellulite, skin laxity or fibrosis, listen to your story, discuss your case and offer you the best possible treatment.

Learn more, check prices and book an expert cellulite / skin tightening treatment at our London clinic.

Advanced, infrared / blue / red light therapy treatments in London at LipoTherapeia

At LipoTherapeia we are passionate about phototherapy (also known as photobiomodulation/PBM, red light therapy, infrared light therapy, blue light therapy, LED light therapy etc) and we use the most powerful equipment available today (up to 200mW/cm2), for best results and treatment of large body areas.

We use specialised therapy protocols for skin rejuvenation / anti-ageing, pigmentation / post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH), moderate/severe acne, skin redness, sensitive/inflamed/irritated skin, wound healing, sports injuries / musculoskeletal pain and overall wellness / well-being.

Our LED phototherapy sessions are comfortable, deeply relaxing and super-safe and are great to enhance our radiofrequency/ultrasound treatments for skin tightening / cellulite reduction.

On our booking page you can book stand-alone phototherapy sessions or combine them with our other treatments, as an add-on.

Learn more or check prices and book an expert LED phototherapy treatment at our London clinic.

The Cellulite School™: Get advanced training in cellulite reduction and skin tightening

Do you want to deeply understand radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, LED phototherapy, cellulite and skin tightening?

Attend a half-day, 1-day, 2-day or 3-day one-to-one masterclass and confidently offer your clients the safest, strongest and most effective treatment possible.

Service available via Zoom or at our central London practice.

Learn more or check prices and book training at our London clinic or via Zoom.