Picture a drink that wakes you up, keeps you focused and comes with a long tradition of sharing among friends. It isn't coffee, and it isn't a sugary energy drink. It's yerba mate, a caffeinated herbal infusion from South America that has steadily found fans in the US. Here's what it is, what the research actually shows, and how to enjoy it safely.
What is yerba mate?
Yerba mate is an infusion made from the dried leaves of Ilex paraguariensis, a species of holly tree native to South America. Despite the frequent comparison, it isn't a type of green tea: green tea comes from a different plant, Camellia sinensis.
Mate is one of the most widely consumed drinks in South America, and indigenous peoples there have used it for centuries as both a social and a medicinal beverage. It naturally contains caffeine, along with polyphenols such as chlorogenic acids that give it a high antioxidant capacity.
How is yerba mate traditionally enjoyed?
If you've traveled in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay or southern Brazil, you've probably seen mate sipped from a small hollowed gourd through a metal straw called a bombilla. The gourd is often refilled with hot water and passed around a group, which makes drinking mate as much a social ritual as a caffeine fix.
What are the health benefits of yerba mate?
Mate is often described as a "superfood," and you'll see claims that it contains nearly every vitamin you need. Those claims go too far. The research that does exist is interesting, but most of it is small or done in the lab. Here's what stands up.
Cholesterol
In a 40-day trial, 102 adults drank about 330 mL of yerba mate three times a day. Among those with raised cholesterol, LDL cholesterol fell by about 8.6%, and people already taking statins saw an additional reduction of about 13%. The trial was single-blind and relatively small, so it's a promising result rather than a reason to swap medication for mate.
Fat burning during exercise
In a small crossover study of 14 healthy adults, taking a 1,000 mg yerba mate capsule an hour before cycling increased fat oxidation by about 24% at low and moderate intensities, without hurting maximal performance. That's a measure of what fuel the body burns during a workout, not a weight-loss result, but it helps explain why mate shows up in pre-workout drinks.
Antioxidants
Mate has a high antioxidant capacity in laboratory tests, and a review of the research describes effects on cholesterol, the nervous system and the liver, much of it from animal and lab studies. The same review notes that mate has been linked with both the prevention and the cause of some cancers, which brings us to the main caution.
For more on how antioxidants work, see what antioxidants are and what they do.
Are there any risks to drinking yerba mate?
Yes, and the biggest one is temperature. In 2016 the World Health Organization's cancer agency classified drinking very hot beverages, above about 65°C (149°F), as probably carcinogenic to humans, based largely on studies of esophageal cancer in regions where mate is traditionally drunk scalding hot. Mate drunk at normal temperatures was not classified as a cancer risk. The simple fix is to let your mate cool before you sip it.
Mate also contains caffeine, so it counts toward your daily total. The FDA cites 400 mg a day as an amount not generally associated with negative effects for most healthy adults. If you're pregnant, sensitive to caffeine, have a heart condition or take medication, check with your doctor before making mate a daily habit.
How much caffeine is in yerba mate?
It depends heavily on how you make it. The amount of leaf, the water temperature and how many times the gourd is refilled all change the caffeine content, so a cup of mate can range from fairly mild to roughly coffee-strength. If you're sensitive to caffeine, start with a lighter brew and see how you feel. For context on your overall intake, read how much coffee you should be drinking.
How do you make yerba mate?
You'll find loose-leaf mate and tea bags in the tea aisle of most natural grocery stores. Prepare it like any other tea, using water that's hot but not boiling, since boiling water makes it more bitter. Steep for three to five minutes, then let it cool to a comfortable drinking temperature before you enjoy it.
If you're mainly after a measured caffeine boost before training, a pre-workout gives you a consistent dose. Renewable Energy includes organic yerba mate, with organic green coffee bean and matcha, for 90mg of caffeine in total, plus an adaptogen blend of ashwagandha, rhodiola, ginseng and maca; just add water and shake. And if you're curious about other plant sources of caffeine, compare matcha and green coffee bean.
