Proponents of yerba mate say it makes you feel better -- and gives you an energy lift without the jitters of stronger sources of caffeine. Pouring hot water over ground leaves and twigs from Ilex paraguariensis -- an evergreen holly shrub native to South America -- creates the brewed tea known as yerba mate. Yerba mate has a history of use in traditional medicine. As with any herb or supplement, consult your doctor before using yerba mate.
Background
Traditionally in South America, drinking yerba mate is a social experience, with the brewed tea passed from person to person in a decorated gourd and sipped through a metal straw that filters out the plant material from the drink. The tea bears the common names Paraguay tea, South American holly and simply mate, pronounced "mah-tay." Yerba mate is used for digestion, memory, pain relief, and constipation, according to the Raintree Nutrition Tropical Plant Database. It is also promoted for cardiovascular diseases and cancer prevention, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center reports. Due to its alleged energizing, appetite-suppressant and fat-burning qualities, it became popular as a weight loss supplement.
Ingredients and Action
The constituents of yerba mate include xanthine alkaloids: theobromine, theophilline and caffeine, according to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Some people experience a mood-enhancing effect from xanthines. These effects and the stimulation to the central nervous system may make you feel better. Yerba mate also contains ursolic acid -- an antitumor agent -- and vitamins C, B-2, B-6, niacin and pantothenic acid. Preliminary research found that yerba mate reduced DNA damage from oxidative stress, but further research is needed.
Expectation
The mystique of yerba mate, the numerous benefits ascribed to it by product marketers, its popularity with certain celebrities -- and the ritualistic and social role it holds in various South American cultures, all contribute to the expectation of receiving positive effects from yerba mate. The subjective experience of feeling better from drinking yerba mate would be difficult to measure, and hasn't been studied as of 2011. In addition to various mood-elevating properties that yerba mate may have, there may be a feel-good effect stemming from a user's expectations. Just as someone ingesting a sugar pill may feel better because she expects to, if you drink yerba mate expecting to feel better, you'll probably feel better.
Considerations
Pregnant women, breastfeeding women and people with hypertension, cardiac disorders and anxiety should not consume yerba mate, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center advises.
Side effects from yerba mate may include insomnia, tremor, palpitations, agitation, nausea, headache and vomiting.
Long-term, frequent yerba mate consumption is associated with increased incidence of certain cancers.
Drinking yerba mate occasionally probably isn't a health risk for healthy adults, according to MayoClinic.com.
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