Yerba Mate

(Ilex paraguariensis)

Family: Aquifoliaceae
Genus: Ilex
Species: paraguariensis
Synonyms: Ilex paraguayensis, I. paraguensis, I. mate, I. domestica, I. sorbilis
Common Names: Yerba maté, maté, erva mate, congonha, erveira, cayi Paraguay, Paraguay tea, South American holly, matéteestrauch, erva-verdadeira, St. Bartholomew's tea, Jesuit's tea, hervea, caminú, kkiro, kali chay
Phyto-chemical components: 2,5-xylenol, 4-oxolauric-acid,-5-o-caffeoylquinic acid, alpha-amyrin, Ash, Beta-amyrin,-Butyric acid, Caffeine, Caffetannin, Chlorogenic-Acid, Chlorophyll, Choline, EO , Fiber, Inositol, Isobutyric-acid, Isocapronic-acid, Isovaleric acid-, Neochlorogenic-acid, Nicotinic-acid, Nitrogen,-pantothenic acid, Protein, Pyridoxine, Resin, Resinic-acid, riboflavin, rutina, Stearic-acid, tannins , theobromine, Theophylline, Trigonelline, Ursolic-acid, Vanillin
Part used: Leaves

PROPERTY 'AND ACTIONS
Main actions:
increases energy
burns fat
suppresses appetite
purifies the blood
stimulates digestion
cleans the intestines
stimulates the heart
fights free radicals
boosts memory

Other actions:
relieves pain
increases bile
slightly laxative
promotes perspiration
enhances immunity

Assay standards:
Leaves

Infusion: 1 cup 2-3 times a day;

Capsules: 1-2 g twice daily
Yerba mate is an evergreen tree that can grow up to 20 m in height. Belongs to the family of holly leaves and generates hard and Leathery. It grows near watercourses and prosperous to 500-600 m above sea level. The hard yerba mate leaves are used as natural remedies and as a refreshing tea in South America. Yerba mate is typical of Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, but is cultivated in many other tropical countries to address the global demand of its leaves.

The primary phyto-chemical constitution of yerba mate comprises xanthine (caffeine, theobromine and theophylline), saponins and 10% chlorogenic acid. Prensenti are also similar  ergosterolo sterols and cholesterol, and some new localized in leaf saponins (called metasaponine). The saponins are chemical elements from the well-known pharmacological activities, including the action of stimulating the immune system, recently documented by research. In addition, the leaves of yerba mate is a rich source of vitamins, minerals and 15 amino acids.

In a recent U.S. advertising campaign, it is argued that yerba mate contains no caffeine, but a similar chemical, called mateina. Vendors say that the mateina has all the benefits without the negative effects of caffeine. Reality: yerba mate contains caffeine. The presence of caffeine in yerba mate has been chemically and scientifically identified, documented, verified and validated over the years by numerous independent researchers. The caffeine content of yerba mate is between 0.7% and 2%, with an average of caffeine localized in leaf 1%.
Plants in the xanthine (eg caffeine) are bound to sugars, phenols and the tannins, and are released or disconnected during the process of roasting and / or fermentation of the leaves of yerba mate, the coffee beans and cocoa. The mateina discovered in yerba mate is probably nothing but caffeine bound to a tannin or phenol in a fresh leaf.

COMPARISON OF THE CAFFEINE CONTENT OF COMMON BEVERAGES
Drink
Caffeine content
Caffeine media 200ml of beverage (*)
Leaves of yerba maté
0.7-2%
50-100 mg
Coffee beans (Coffea sp)
1-2.5%
100-250 mg
Black tea (Camellia sinensis)
2.5-4.5%
10-60 mg
Seeds of Guaraná (Paullinia Cupani)
4-8%
200-400 mg
Chocolate (Cocoa Seed)
0.25%
13 mg

(*) Based on the quantities used in the traditional methods of preparation


The traditional use of yerba mate for fatigue can be explained through its main assets: the caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant known, well documented to have the capacity to enhance athletic and cognitive performance in cases of lack of rest and stress.
The traditional use of this plant for the heart may be due to its content of theophylline, a substance that is used in drugs that stimulate the heart muscle.
All three then xanthine (theobromine, caffeine and theophylline) have diuretic properties, even the traditional use of the plant as a diuretic find such a validation.
But these substances have documented many other actions including stimulation of the central nervous system, relaxation of muscles soft (especially bronchial muscle), myocardial stimulation and peripheral vasoconstriction.

Some Swiss researchers have conducted a study (in 1999) showed that as yerba mate could be helpful in weight loss. Have noticed an effect in healthy individuals termogenico indicative of an increased proportion of fat burned as energy. In another study, yerba mate was administered together with Guaraná and Damian: the combination prolonged gastric emptying (by inducing a prolonged feeling of satiety) and decreased body weight.
Other clinical studies have indicated that the leaves of yerba mate is able to inhibit lipoossigenasi, the enzyme involved in inflammation and inflammatory disorders.
Furthermore, some extracts of yerba mate have been shown to relax the muscles soft, increase the flow of bile and inhibit vasoconstriction.
A recent U.S. patent (2002) cites yerba mate for its ability to inhibit in vitro the monoaminoosidasi (MAO) of 40-50%, and claims that yerba mate may be useful for a variety of disorders such as depression, attention deficit disorder, and the merger, the mood and emotional disorders, Parkinson's disease, extrapyramidal disorders, hypertension, substance abuse, eating disorders, withdrawal syndrome and smoking cessation.

Numerous studies have also demonstrated a significant antioxidant activity of yerba mate. Its high antioxidant values were related to absorption of the elements fast antioxidants present in its leaves. An infusion of the leaf has a documented inhibitory action of periossidazione of lipids, particularly oxidation of LDL (low density lipoprotein) which ritiengono be the initial factor in the pathogenesis of arteriosclerosis.
Another in vitro study showed that yerba mate inhibits the formation of AGE (essential fatty acids) that play a role in the development of complications of diabetes, an effect comparable to that of two drugs of AGE inhibitors.

Yerba mate has been used as a beverage since the time of the ancient Indians of Brazil and Paraguay. In the sixteenth century, Juan de Solís, Spanish explorer of the famous South American river La Plata, reported that the Guarani in Paraguay to prepare a tea leaf that produced joy and relief d affaticamento. After having tried the beverage, there was a growing demand for tea from the Spaniards who led the Jesuit missions in Paraguay to develop plantations of yerba mate, which became known as the tea or tea Jesuits of Paraguay.

Traditional methods of preparation of tea vary here and there. In one method, you cut the branches that are kept over an open fire (for dried leaves). This process deactivates the enzymes in the leaves, making them more brittle, and the green of the leaves is retained in the subsequent drying process (from which the crumbs are burned which often are found in tea, and from which the smoky taste). Other methods provide for a short paler leaves in boiling water (to deactivate the enzymes of leaves and make the texture softer coriacea) and, therefore, the dry roasting in large pots on the fire or in a brick oven from which results in a tea-colored brown.

The plant in the wild has a flavor and a distinctive taste that has nothing to do with the cultivation of plantations.
In South America yerba mate is considered the national drink of many countries, and Europe is called the green gold of the Indios. In Brazil and Paraguay (the leader in export of yerba mate), some production still comes from wild sites, most of which are found in damp depressions of the foothills. It is not unusual for a wild tree produce 30-40kg of dry leaves per annum. In the wild collection, the collectors of yerba mate, Chaim terrafeiros or yerbateros, moving in the jungle in search of sites of trees (called "macha"). The gathering takes place between May and October, when the tree is full of leaves. The leaves are taken from the same tree every three years, to protect the following crop. However, most of yerba mate on the market comes from major crops in Paraguay and Uruguay.

The word in Spanish means mate gourd empty and refers to the small container in which is traditionally served for yerba mate tea. The tea is often served with a straw or metal tube, called bombilla, which has a lower  etremità filter to filter out bits of leaves. It is often flavored with caramel, lemon juice and / or milk. The tea of yerba mate has great importance in South America as the coffee in Italy, and there are many bars that offer yerba mate tea for those who serve coffee in Europe and North America: the tea of yerba mate has deep cultural roots.

Besides being a popular beverage, yerba mate is used in herbal medicine systems in South America as a tonic, diuretic, purifying and stimulating to reduce fatigue, suppress appetite and help the stomach. In Brazil, it is considered that the plant stimulates the nervous and muscular, and is used for digestive disorders, renal colic, nerve pain, depression, fatigue and obesity. The leaves are mashed also often applied to the skin for skin ulcers from anthrax.

But yerba mate also has a long history of use in the world. In Europe, it is used for weight loss, for physical and mental fatigue, nervous depression for, for nerve pain, for headaches and fatigue psicogenetici. It's became very popular in Germany as an aid in weight loss, in addition to being the subject of a monograph in which they were validated the listed uses for the physical and mental fatigue. France has been approved as a treatment for asthenia (weakness or lack of energy), as an aid in programs of weight loss, and as a diuretic. Compare also the British Herbal Phamacopoeia (1996) where it is indicated for the treatment of affaticamento for weight loss and headaches. In the U.S., Dr. James Balch recommends yerba mate for arthritis, headaches, hemorrhoids, fluid retention, obesity, fatigue, stress, constipation, allergies and hay fever, and declares that the plant purifies the blood, tone the nervous system, slows the aging , stimulates the mind, controls the appetite, stimulates the production of cortisone, and it is believed that enhances the healing power of other herbs. Today, yerba mate is cultivated in India and the Indian Ayurvedic Phamacopoeia lists yerba mate for the treatment of headache psicogenetici, nervous depression, rheumatic pains and fatigue.

Below is a brief overview on the uses of yerba mate etnomedici.



Brazil: for anthrax ulcers (topical), suppression of appetite, fatigue, stimulation of the central nervous system, stimulates digestion, fatigue, heart support, hypertension, muscle weakness, nerve pain, obesity, renal colic, rheumatism, urinary insufficiency, and as a common beverage and stimulating
Europe: for fatigue, disorders of the central nervous system, depression, fatigue, gout, headache, heart regulation, obesity, rheumatism, spasms, ulcers, urinary insufficiency, loss of weight
India: For fatigue, headaches, nervous depression, rheumatic pains
South America: For suppression of appetite, weakness, energy, exhaustion, fatigue, gout, headache, heart regulation, enhancement of memory, muscle weakness, neurasthenia, obesity, rheumatism, scurvy, spasms, stimulating, stress, promotion of sweating , tonic, wounds and as a beverage, diuretic, laxative
Turkey: How to drink, diuretic, laxative, stimulant, a promoter of perspiration and scurvy
United States: for allergies, anti-aging, suppression of appetite, arthritis, constipation, swelling, strength, fatigue, hay fever, headache, heart support, hemorrhoids, nervous system disorders, obesity, force, stress, failure urine and as stimulant

Elsewhere:
as cardiotonico, diuretic, stimulant, tonic


Yerba MATE

Primary method of preparation:
infused
Key actions (in order):
stimulant, tonic (tones, balances, strengthens all bodily functions), termogenico (increases fat burning), nerve (balance / calms nerves), anti-allergic

Main uses:

a stimulant (for its caffeine content)
as a general tonic (tones, balances, strengthens the body) and as an aid to digestion
for obesity and as part of a diet to lose weight
as a general nerve (balance / calms nerves) for nerve pain, nervous fatigue and depression
for allergies and sinusitis


Properties / actions documented by research:
anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antispasmodic, bile stimulant, stimulating, termogenico (increases fat burning), vasodilator

Other properties / actions documented by traditional
anti-allergy, antidepressant, appetite suppression, blood purifier, cardiotonico (tones, balances, strengthens the heart), nervous system stimulant, hypotensive (lowers blood pressure), nerve (balance / calms nerves), neurasthenia ( reduces nerve pain), neuroprotettivo, purgative (strong laxative)

Traditional preparation:
The standard preparation is a tea or an infusion using 2-4 g of chopped leaves in 150ml of hot water. Leaves are also used in capsule or powdered extracts of leaves with a standardized content of caffeine, the recommended dosage is 2 g 1-2 times a day, or follow the instructions on the label.

Contraindications:
Yerba mate contains caffeine and should not be assumed by those who are sensitive or allergic to this substance. Excessive intakes of caffeine is contraindicated for individuals who suffer from high pressure, diabetes, ulcers and other disorders.
Yerba mate should not be taken in excessive doses and chronic (as in this case could increase the risk of oral cancer or  esofago)
Yerba mate has a documented action of MAO-inhibitor. Those who take MAO inhibitor medications should take caution with yerba mate.

Interaction with drugs:
None documented. In any case, it may enhance drug MAO inhibitors

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