The yerba mate is a plant which is found South America. It grows in abundant in the forests of South America. For centuries, the native people have ground up the leaves and stems to make a drink that is very popular for its energy-boosting, and strengthening properties. Traditional folklore tells the story of a mysterious Shamen, who rewarded a young woman with the recipe for the yerba mate beverage, after she devotedly remained with her aging father at the same time as her tribe moved on. In the last few years, yerba mate has moved out of the forests, and into modern South America, where it is now extremely popular, and is prepared either as a cold drink, or in dried tea form for a refreshing hot version. The drink itself is naturally caffeinated, which explains it’s energy-boosting ability. In fact, although it isn’t strictly a tea, it has many similarities to one, and even has a grassy taste not unlike green tea. Yerba mate is touted as being a safe and effective nervous system stimulant with few side effects and many health benefits.
Here are some of the benefits of drinking yerba mate tea.
Rich in Antioxidants: Yerba mate tea is very high in antioxidants; it’s got about 90% more antioxidants than green tea. Yerba mate has significant immune boosting properties. It can slow the signs of aging, detoxify the blood and prevent many types of cancer. Yerba mate also helps reduce stress and insomnia.
Yerba Mate Dried Leaves
Enhances Your Ability to Focus: Proponents of yerba mate tea say that the minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, animo acids and polphenols found in this beverage have a balancing effect on the caffeine it contains. Users report increased mental energy, clarity and focus, but they also say that yerba mate doesn’t cause any of the uncomfortable side effects associated with drinking caffeinated beverages, such as headaches, stomachaches and jitters.
Enhances Physical Endurance: The chemical compounds and nutrients in yerba mate tea affect your metabolism to make your body use carbohydrates more efficiently. This means you’ll get more energy from the food you eat. You’ll also burn more of the calories your body has stored in fat cells as fuel when you drink yerba mate tea regularly. Regular yerba mate consumption also helps keep lactic acid from building up in your muscles so you can decrease post workout soreness and cut your recovery time.
Helps Digestion: The native peoples of South America have long used yerba mate tea as a traditional herbal remedy against digestive ailments. Yerba mate aids digestion by stimulating increased production of bile and other gastric acids. Yerba mate helps keep your colon clean for effective and efficient waste elimination, and helps reduce the stomach bacteria that can contribute to bad breath.
Helps Weight loss: Mate is now being used increasingly in weight-loss programmes. It is thermogenic – it increases the rate at which fat is burned. This was demonstrated in a study in Switzerland in 1999. Yerba Mate is an appetite suppressant. Mate drinkers feel fuller for longer. Native South American peoples have traditionally used yerba mate as part of a lifestyle that includes a healthy diet and exercise. Yerba mate has stimulant qualities to help you feel full sooner after you begin eating, and it slows your digestion so that your stomach stays full longer. Combining yerba mate with a healthy diet and regular exercise can help boost your metabolism to burn more calories, and it can help you eat less by curbing your appetite slightly.
Supports Cardiovascular Health: The antioxidants and amino acids present in yerba mate help fat and cholesterol move through your bloodstream so that they don’t accumulate on artery walls. Yerba mate also helps prevent arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and prevents blood clots that may cause heart attack or stroke.
Beneficial in Depression and Anxiety: Mate has traditionally been used to treat depression and nervous anxiety. In laboratory tests mate inhibits monoamine oxidase activity by 40-50%. A 2002 US patent envisages this being useful in treating a number of diseases, for example: “depression, disorders of attention and focus, mood and emotional disorders, Parkinson’s disease, extrapyramidal disorders, hypertension, substance abuse, eating disorders, withdrawal syndromes and the cessation of smoking.”
Relieves Allergies and Sinusitis: This is another traditional use for mate. The British Herbal Pharmacopoeia recommends mate for headaches. Dr James Balch, the US complementary medicine expert, recommends mate for allergies.
Stimulates the body and mind: Yerba Mate contains caffeine which stimulates the mind and the body. Mate relieves fatigue-related headaches and enhances athletic and cognitive performance after sleep deprivation and stress.
Strengthens the Heart: Yerba Mate has long been used in traditional medicine to strengthen the heart. We now know that it contains theophylline which is used medically to stimulate the heart muscle.
Boosts immune system: Another traditional use of Yerba Mate is to boost the immune system and increase resistance to diseases. Again, this use appears to be supported by recent research. Mate is known to contain saponins which have been shown to stimulate the immune system.
Helps in food digestion: Mate is known to stimulate increased bile flow which aids digestion.
Anti-inflammatory: Another traditional use. More recent clinical studies have found that yerba mate inhibits the enzyme lipoxygenase, which is associated with inflammation.
Helps memory and concentration: This is another traditional use. It is very widely used in South America for this purpose, even more than tea and coffee are in Europe and America.
Reduces Wrinkles: The leaves are highly astringent and a poultice of the leaves applied to the skin may improve the appearance of wrinkles.
In addition of this, it contains vitamins and minerals, including Theobromine, Theophylline, Trigelline, Vitamin C, Thiamine (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Carotene which is very beneficial for human health. Mate is also high in potassium, magnesium and antioxidants. Now you have to decide whether you would like to drink it or not.
Yerba mate fresh green leaves
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