Yerba mate tea, derived from holly plants in South America, and green tea, native to China, share weight-loss claims and avid followers. Yerba mate --- pronounced muh-tay --- enjoys greater popularity in Argentina than coffee does in the United States. Its reported health benefits lack the more extensive clinical testing of green tea, but both contain antioxidants and caffeine.
Basic Distinctions
Yerba mate drinkers say the herbal drink, traditionally steeped in a gourd and sipped through a metal straw, provides the mental clarity and energy of coffee without the jitteriness of caffeine. Yerba mate contains a caffeine-like substance, usually called caffeine on package labels. The amount of caffeine in yerba mate varies from about 20 to 150 mg per cup. Coffee contains about 100 mg of caffeine per cup. Green tea contains less caffeine than coffee -- up to 75 mg per cup -- although bottled, bagged and loose green tea contain varying amounts.Yerba mate tastes bitter and somewhat muddy. Green tea, which comes from the same plant as black and oolong tea, has a mild taste. You can drink both yerba mate and green tea hot or cold.
Nutrients in Yerba Mate
Yerba mate contains nearly 200 active chemical compounds, including 15 amino acids and numerous vitamins and minerals. According to the Pasteur Institute and the Paris Scientific Society, yerba mate includes almost all vitamins needed to sustain life. Yerba mate may lower cholesterol. According to a study by E.C. Demorais and colleagues at Federal University in Brazil, three daily servings of yerba mate drinks lowered "bad" cholesterol levels by more than 8 percent. The study, published in October 2009 in the "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry," involved 102 participants.
Anecdotal Evidence
Both green tea and yerba mate enjoy centuries-old reputations as health-infused beverages in their native countries. Recent popularity of green tea in the United States inspired numerous clinical trials about its efficacy as a weight-loss supplement. Alhough Metabolife launched a supplement in 2008 that contains both green tea and yerba tea extracts, claims about yerba mate's slimming effects, widely reported, are generally anecdotal and observational. Science suggests green tea possesses fat-burning properties.
Green Tea Studies
Catechins in green tea demonstrated weight loss and obesity prevention benefits in several clinical trials. Mousumi Bose and other researchers at Rutgers University found obese rodents fed green tea as part of high-fat diets lost weight and healthy weight rodents who included green tea in their diets did not gain weight, according to findings published in 2008 in the "American Society for Nutrition." In another study that compared the effects of green tea and black tea, which contains fewer catechins, Keven Maki and colleagues found green tea drinkers lost substantially more weight than black tea drinkers. According to Maki's report, published in 2009 in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition," the higher number of catechins in green tea helped participants lose nearly twice as much weight.
Considerations
Both yerba mate and green tea seem safe for most people to consume in moderation.The caffeine in the drinks may be problematic for some. Green tea comes in decaffeinated form, and you can obtain the benefits of green tea catechins in both caffeinated and decaffeinated varieties. People with nervous and kidney disorders as well as pregnant and nursing women should seek medical advice before adding caffeinated beverages to their diets.
References
- "Washington Post"; Coffee, Tea or Mate?; Walter Nicholls; April 12, 2000
- "Biotech Business Week"; Study Results from Federal University in the Area of Life Sciences Published; Oct. 16, 2009
- "The Globe and Mail"; Coffee, Tea or Yerba Mate?; Tom Gierasimczuk; May 8, 2004
- "Drug Week"; Metabolife Launches New, Two-State Weight Management Program to Support Diet Success; April 28, 2008
- "Biotech Business Week"; Scientists at Rutgers University Publish New Data on Obesity; Oct. 13, 2008
- "Biotech Business Week"; New Obesity Study Findings Have Been Reported by K.D. Maki and Colleagues; March 2, 2009
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