AmaTea® is a patented guayusa leaf extract. It contains caffeine, but it’s not like ordinary caffeine you’ll find in coffee or most supplements.
We use AmaTea® in two products, our health-first fat loss drink Clean Burn (as well as Clean Burn Elite), and our most advanced pre, Pre-Workout Elite.
In this article, we’re going to break down what AmaTea® is, why we use it, and examine the research on this natural caffeine source.
What Is The Guayusa Leaf?
Understanding an ingredient begins with where it comes in nature. Guayusa trees are found throughout the Amazon rainforest, but they’re mostly in the upper Amazon basin, like in Ecuador. They’re tall trees, growing up to 98 feet tall. They help provide the canopy the Amazon is famous for.
The traditional Amazon cultures long ago discovered that the leaves of these trees had an uplifting effect. They’ve brewed them as an herbal tea for millennia. Today, it’s often called the “super leaf” of the Amazon.
AmaTea® is made from an extract of these tree leaves.
The Benefits of AmaTea® Guayusa Leaf Extract
So if it has caffeine, why just rely on classic caffeine sources like coffee?
Clean Energy Without Excessive Jitters*
The main benefit is that, unlike other popular caffeine sources, AmaTea® provides a nice cognitive uplift without excessive jitters.*
For example, in a 2022 study, gamers were put into three groups, an AmaTea® group, a synthetic caffeine group, and a placebo group.
The AmaTea® group and the synthetic caffeine group both got 270mg of caffeine from their respective sources. This is about two cups worth of coffee of caffeine, a dose that can provide jitters to many. In the study, the AmaTea® group showed no increase in jitters, while the synthetic caffeine group did.
Cognitive Uplift Without The Epinephrine (Adrenaline) Response
In another study of AmaTea® vs synthetic caffeine, AmaTea® had a much more measured epinephrine (adrenaline) response.
An epinephrine (adrenaline) response is another hallmark of caffeine. While this can support sharper focus and performance, you may not always want too much of an epinephrine response.
Of course, epinephrine has its place, like during intense workouts. However, if you’re just looking for a subtle cognitive uplift and smooth energy, AmaTea® can do without your body physiologically thinking that it has to run from a tiger.
Sustainably Sourced in Ecuador
Anytime we talk about ingredients sourced from nature, we have to talk about the sustainability and supply chain of those ingredients.
With generic guayusa, the truth is you may not know whether they’re taking down big trees in the rainforest in order to get it. However, with AmaTea®, you can be confident that it’s part of a sustainable supply chain.
The producers of AmaTea® source guayusa through co-ops run by indigenous farmers across Ecuador. That means there are no industrial plantations. Instead, it’s a collective of independent farming families.
AmaTea® is also a USDA-certified organic ingredient.
Naturally Occurring Antioxidants
Finally, AmaTea® has an abundance of naturally occurring antioxidants from the guayusa leaf. Of course, this will not replace whole-food antioxidant sources by any stretch. Yet, it’s one more reason to choose ingredients sourced naturally over synthetic options.
How to Use AmaTea®
You will see AmaTea® in many kinds of supplements. At Kaged, we use it in two products for a similar purpose: to provide additional cognitive uplift and energy without excessive jitters.
Combine With Other Caffeine Sources to Smooth Out The Jitters
Kaged Pre-Workout is our most advanced pre-workout yet. It’s not for the faint of heart, and there’s no doubt it’s a high-caffeine pre-workout.
Why so much caffeine? While not for everyone, doses reaching 6mg per kilogram of bodyweight (which translates to 408mg for a 150lb person) have shown improved exercise performance, as discussed in this meta-analysis. So we wanted the performance benefits of higher caffeine doses, without the excessive jitters all too common with it.
So we used two caffeine sources. It contains 388mg of caffeine in total, and 100mg comes from AmaTea® guayusa extract. The rest comes from PurCaf® organic caffeine.
This provides a great combination of a high-energy pre-workout without the excessive jitters and (to some) overwhelming adrenaline response that’s common with high caffeine pre-workouts.
In Kaged Clean Burn, our cardio-focused drink to support healthy weight loss, we also added 100mg of AmaTea®. But the total caffeine content is much lower, at 166mg.
In Clean Burn, we wanted it to be a great everyday energy lift, but because it’s not designed for intense lifting sessions, the adrenaline rush associated with higher caffeine levels isn’t necessary. AmaTea® provided the perfect solution, again combining it with a much lower dose of PurCaf® for clean energy without excessive jitters.*
As a Nootropic Ingredient
While we don’t use AmaTea® for this, you’ll also see it common in nootropic products to support productivity. As mentioned, there are studies with AmaTea® on gamers, as well as focus, mood, and reducing mental areas. These benefits are specific to workouts and training.
The Bottom Line: An Innovative, Unique Form of Caffeine
Like any supplement, of course, AmaTea® won’t do the work for you. It is in many respects as simple as a caffeine source, with a unique twist. And we know that if caffeine alone got results, then most of America would be shredded because we drink hundreds of millions of coffee cups per day!
So it’s still time to put in the work, but a great pre like Pre-Workout Elite, or a cardio pick-me-up like Clean Burn can be a piece of the puzzle.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
