Curious as to what this yerba mate tea is all about? You may see
people sipping this cloudy green brew at coffee shops around town. Word
on the street is this tea packs more nutritional power than even green
tea. Or perhaps you've read the hype surrounding yerba mate royale for
weight loss and weight control, peaking your curiosity and interest in
learning more about the benefits of this special tea.
You may just
now be hearing about yerba mate tea but it's actually nothing new. In
regions of South America, mate has been consumed for centuries by
millions of people daily. These populations drink this native beverage
over coffee six to one in most regions.
The tea leaves come from a
small evergreen shrub that is native to subtropical forests of
Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. Yerba mate tea is a blend of dried
leaves and stems of the tree. The brew has long been revered by these
cultures as the "drink of the Gods", loaded with twenty-four vitamins
and minerals and essential antioxidants and amino acids.
Yerba
mate benefits include energy, endurance, immune system support, mental
clarity, greater focus and concentration, relief of allergy symptoms and
symptoms of mild to moderate asthma. The tea is a vital part of the
regimen of the legendary gauchos (cowboys) of Argentine for sustained
energy and stamina. Its role as a nutritional supplement has carried
regions of South America through bouts of famine and drought that
distressed food supply.
The mate circle, the sharing of this tea
within a group setting, is a social ritual in parts of Paraguay, Uruguay
and Argentina. The idea is to assemble friends or family in a small
grouping to unwind and relax with a shared beverage. The tea is placed
inside a hollowed out gourd and the group drinks from the same bombilla
-- a small metal drinking straw. Sharing the same cup and the same straw
is recognized as a sign of hospitality, goodwill and unity, enriching
the mind, soul and relationships of each person who is participating in
the ritual.
The taste of yerba mate tea is similar to the taste of
traditional green tea. Most people find the vegetal, herbal and grassy
taste to be very agreeable. The aroma itself is reminiscent of freshly
cut grass on a warm summer day. It is recommended that the tea be brewed
with hot rather than boiling water. Steeping the tea leaves in boiling
hot water can make it taste very bitter. The use of hot water allows the
tea leaves to be infused over and over again by simply adding hot water
to the blend until the taste becomes flat.
Despite its presence
in South American culture and tradition, yerba drinks had gone largely
unnoticed in the United States where coffee and canned energy drinks
reign supreme as the beverage of choice to wake up, stimulate alertness
and alleviate fatigue.
One of the top benefits of a cup of mate is
that the caffeine in the brew is better tolerated than the caffeine in
coffee or energy drinks. Those who consume the tea often comment that
they don't feel the jitters, anxiety and heart palpitations typically
associated with drinking too much coffee or energy drinks. There is also
no crash afterward.
Recent studies have suggested that the plant
itself differs from other plants containing caffeine, the theobromine
value of the plant's leaves being the most significant difference.
Theobromine promotes relaxation of smooth muscle tissue. While still
stimulating the central nervous system, theobromine is weaker than
caffeine and typically will not over-stimulate the central nervous
system in the way that caffeine does.
The tea also acts as a
diuretic that rids the body of excess water through frequent urination.
Colon-cleansing properties are another benefit. Agents within the tea
are believed to suppress the appetite and increase metabolism, causing
some people to hail it as a modern day diet breakthrough.
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