Yerba Mate

[sasa]

Does anybody tried it? What's the benefits? Does it help with fat burn?

 

[alex2678]

Hey Sasa. Hear anything from the doc about those thyroid test results? As far as the yerba mate goes, I know it's used in a lot of the "fat burners" on the market. Probably not good enough as a stand alone product. It's used in South America as a drink from what I've read, much like coffee or tea. Some info on it if you're interested:

Aside from providing a longer lasting and more tolerable energy than other caffeinated beverages like coffee, Mate also provides 196 active compounds, 24 vitamins and minerals, and 15 amino acids. Mate contains in the highest amounts chlorophyll, iron, trace minerals, vitamins A, E, and C as well as B-complex. Studies on PubMed have also shown extractions of Mate to have extremely power antioxidant effects. Furthermore, another study showed an herbal supplement including Mate (as well as guarana and Damiana) to be effective in aiding weight loss. Mate significantly delayed gastric emptying, reduced the time to perceived gastric fullness and induced significant weight loss over 45 days in overweight patients. On top of the few beneficial studies applicable to sports health, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that Yerba Mate cleanses the blood, fights aging, stimulates the mind and the production of cortisone, tones the nervous system, and enhances the power of other herbs.

An average dose of Yerba Mate is usually 3 grams of unstandardized powder. If the mate is standardized, it is usually for caffeine content thus you would want to assess how much caffeine you want from the supplement. The side effects can generally be assumed similar to any caffeine ingestion but may be a bit milder than common caffeine sources such as coffee. Aside from superficial side effects, some studies have shown Yerba Mate to possibly be carcinogenic and to be a risk factor for cancer of the head and neck. Such risk is obviously dose dependent and probably only factor for those drinking Mate as a tea.

 

[wlmcrae]

Rats! - only for those drinking Mate as a tea? Ever hung around a group of old school Mennonites? That horn and hot water being passed around the group is Mate! It is definitely an acquired taste - kinda like Jolt cola . . but it is really fun to freak people out with too.

 

[myd]

Mate is very healthy. I don't like this store mate, in the box with little filters. You should have the leaves and make it yourself. In Argentina they drink it for hours, they always add more hot water into the mate-cup and some tea, too. I like the lemon mate (lemon zest) with lemon juice.

The other "fatburner" tea is Oolong Ti QUan Yin. Tastes terrible but with some sweetener and lemon bearable.

Try to buy the tea-leaves always, the filtered ones are the leftovers most of the time.

 

[myd]

check this.

http://www.teamuse.com/article_060601.html

 

[MikeMartial]

I've tried it---I actually have a tin of it that's a few years old. Maybe I was brewinng it too strong, but it tasted like green tea that had been steeped for 10 fuckin' years. Bitter didn't even begin to describe it.

Maybe I'll ahve to re-visit it, and try brewing it a bit weaker.

<------not-too-strong-yerba-mate

 

[bignate73]

brew it weaker, throw some lemon in it and some splenda. I have some in the fridge cold. its pretty strong, but I don't notice a stimulant effect.

 

[MikeMartial]

brew it weaker, throw some lemon in it and some splenda. I have some in the fridge cold. its pretty strong, but I don't notice a stimulant effect.

Damn fine idea.

 

[Ch3micalGnetics]

here in Paraguay, its part of the culture, we drink yerba mate all days....its like coffe in USA...