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Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Re: Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

#61

Post by fullstop »

nbk_2000 wrote: post #13
wincy wrote: post #2

Is there any Yerba Mate you can buy that doesn’t taste horrible though? I consider myself pretty adventurous, but I bought some the other day and was shocked at how such a gross beverage has become popular so quickly.

Depends upon which flavor you find objectionable. If you don't like the taste of very strong green tea, then yerba mate may not be for you. However there are several other factors that can lead to yerba mate tasting bad. First is the quality and freshness of the yerba. It should be 6 months or less since it was packaged (check date stamps). It should be made with 80-85* C water (too hot, and it will be super bitter).…

I was told to spit out the first few sips.

Re: Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

#63

Post by penumbral »

Coming from an Argentine family Yerba Mate is great. I'm American but have been drinking it frequently since the time I was 14 or so. I drank tons in college but took a multi-year break a few years down the line due to reflux issues that it made worse. Those are some things to look out for - heartburn, sinusitis, negative changes in mood, tension headaches.

I notice that there is a huge difference between Yerba Mate brands in terms of the perceived effects. Lately Union Suave and Rosamonte have not been sitting well in my stomach or mind (irritability, lack of concentration, tension headaches, etc). Taragui Liviana and my new favorite Playaditos are the best for me. I've been drinking them twice a day with no perceivable ill effects. Although I do lose some endurance performance on the high end when drinking Yerba Mate before running which I've tracked with a chest mounted heart rate tracker.

I'd like to send the different brands off to a lab to have a better understanding of WHY I feel such a difference in the effects when going brand to brand. I'd assume its due to different concentrations in the three primary Xanthines - Caffeine, Theobromine, Theophylline. Anyways, definitely worth the squeeze, but don't be surprised if you need to try a few different brands to see which affects you the best.

Re: Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

#64

Post by rodrigodlu »

artur_makly wrote: post #51

I've lived in Argentina since 2006, when I discovered mate.. it changed my whole approach to stable productivity because it would not crash you like coffee. I'm happy to see this study finally. Surprisingly when I asked my doctor here if there were any studies on it, I was shocked to hear "Oh No!" when asked why.. she responded "1. there is no $ for funding it. 2. No one cares here about the clinical health effects,…

I grew up in the south Brazil, we share the same strong passion for things with Yerba Mate (Erva Mate in portuguese). People there drink for the entire life, like myself.

There's some studies from universities from south of Brazil and Embrapa that is a institution that oversees research on things related to agriculture.

One of the references I quickly found, that have more references. All in portuguese unfortunately:

https://aps-repo.bvs.br/aps/a-erva-mate-possui-acao-terapeut...

Quoting a translation from there:

"""Another clinical study demonstrated an increase in antioxidant capacity in serum and in total blood and a reduction in LDL-cholesterol in individuals with dyslipidemia after ingestion of 1L per day of yerba mate infusion for ninety days, which suggests that this is an auxiliary dietary supplement in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases in individuals who have a free food diet. The same action has already been described by other authors previously. Klein et al (2011) reported that consumption of mate tea for 60 days improved the control and glycemic profile of individuals with type 26 diabetes. Experimental research analyzed in a literature review indicates that mate tea improves glucose tolerance in obese animals.

""" Yerba mate consumption has been associated with the incidence of oropharyngeal and esophageal cancer, however, this seems to be mainly related to the habit of some people to drink the drink at very high temperatures. The ideal water temperature is 70 to 80ºC. """

Re: Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

#65

Post by derbOac »

damontal wrote: post #62

does mate actually have cancer causing properties or does the cancer come about from long term sipping a hot drink through a straw?

My reading of that literature is that there isn't a lot of evidence one way or another. However, last time I looked at it it seemed like the most likely cause was from how some mates are smoked, and that unsmoked mate didn't have the same cancer risk. Take this with a grain of salt though, because although I followed that pretty closely for awhile, I stopped at some point and it's been a couple of years since.

Re: Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

#66

Post by alamortsubite »

mumumu wrote: post #9
wincy wrote: post #2

Is there any Yerba Mate you can buy that doesn’t taste horrible though? I consider myself pretty adventurous, but I bought some the other day and was shocked at how such a gross beverage has become popular so quickly.

It is hard to find yerba mate that doesn't taste stale outside of south of South America. Friends that drink it ask for people traveling to SA to bring them some. They are also very particular about how to choose it.

Like any tea, yerba has a long shelf life if stored properly. It's true it used to take some sleuthing and a bit of luck to track down a bag of yerba at a nearby supermarket in the U.S., and even if you managed to find some you were unlikely to have more than a couple brands to choose from (in a supermarket in Buenos Aires, there are typically dozens). But these days you can order just about any brand of yerba you like on Amazon for the same price or less than buying it in the store, and it will be FedExed to your door in only a few days. As I write this, I'm drinking a mate made with a very fresh bag of La Tranquera. Bárbaro!

Re: Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

#67

Post by rodrigodlu »

LargoLasskhyfv wrote: post #60
MrDresden wrote: post #34

Yerba Mate got me through university. It was such integral part of that time of my life that even now more than a decade later I still meet people who remember me as the strange tea pipe guy (I used a traditional gourd and metal bombilla). However I stopped drinking it once it got known to me that it might have cancer causing properties. Scanning the article I can see there have been direct connections made via PAH c…

Hrm. Regarding cancer, you could say the same about tea. Why would that be? Maybe because most drink it too hot? Hot fluids are bad for your esophagus over long times. So let it cool down?

Yes: https://aps-repo.bvs.br/aps/a-erva-mate-possui-acao-terapeut...

""" Yerba mate consumption has been associated with the incidence of oropharyngeal and esophageal cancer, however, this seems to be mainly related to the habit of some people to drink the drink at very high temperatures. The ideal water temperature is 70 to 80ºC. """

It's in Portuguese unfortunately. Some people drink at 90oC almost the boiling point.

Re: Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

#68

Post by Karawebnetwork »

jacobrussell wrote: post #39
MrDresden wrote: post #34

Yerba Mate got me through university. It was such integral part of that time of my life that even now more than a decade later I still meet people who remember me as the strange tea pipe guy (I used a traditional gourd and metal bombilla). However I stopped drinking it once it got known to me that it might have cancer causing properties. Scanning the article I can see there have been direct connections made via PAH c…

I've heard Andrew Huberman [0] often say the ill effects come from the smoked variety [1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_D._Huberman [1] https://twitter.com/hubermanlab/status/1500601677904113664?s...

The brand I use says that about their product:

"Our Yerba Mate is 100% air dried through a process that use warm air instead of smoke. That drying system enable the leaves to be free of PAHs. This creates a safe, healthy and light tasting yerba mate."

I don't know if the claim is true or not.

Re: Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

#69

Post by LargoLasskhyfv »

pastacacioepepe wrote: post #19
wincy wrote: post #2

Is there any Yerba Mate you can buy that doesn’t taste horrible though? I consider myself pretty adventurous, but I bought some the other day and was shocked at how such a gross beverage has become popular so quickly.

In some parts of Europe (especially Germany/Austria in my experience) you can find soda drinks such as "Club Mate". I like the taste as it's sweteened but not excessively.

I know that, but don't like it that much. What's acceptable though is Club Mate Granat. That is blended with some pomegrenade juice, and looks red. Recommended.

Also still available for €0,89 per 0,5L where I live :-)

Re: Yerba Mate – A Long but Current History (2021)

#70

Post by alamortsubite »

ahmadnoid wrote: post #50

Fun fact: Yerba Mate is widely used in Syria and Lebanon due to trade between Latin America and the Levant. I grew up drinking Yerba Mate Tea almost every day.

Yes. It used to be that a great place to leverage this fun fact to your advantage if you were looking to score yerba in the U.S. was a middle-eastern grocery. Also fun to have a bag of Cruz de Malta with an ingredients label in Arabic slapped on it. Nowadays, of course, it's easier just to go online.
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