The Benefits of Yerba Mate Tea

Know as the “Drink of the Gods,” Yerba mate tea has many health benefits and is also an all natural stimulant without the side effects. It is a blend of dried leaves and stems, of the Ilex paraguariensis tree, located in South America. It is often used as an alternative to coffee. This tea is not consumed as normal teas but used with a gourd and a bombilla.

Native to the subtropical forests of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and Bolivia, Yerba mate tea is becoming consumed more than green tea. To drink Yerba, a Gourd is carved from the porongo or cabaça fruit shell. This Gourd is known as a mate or a guampa. The Yerba consists of dried leaves and twigs, put into the gourd where hot water is added. Honey or another sweetener is added to the water if desired. Some drink the tea with a bombilla used. This is a metal straw with perforations, and placed in the yerba filled gourd. The individual then sips the tea through the bombilla.

The custom of drinking yerba mate tea has spread all over the world but is most popular with the people of South America and the Druze minority in Lebanon and Syria. Sometimes the tea is used as a uniting of friends and people where the gourd is passed around in a circle. Small individual gourds are also used for personal use.

More Benefits of Yerba Mate Tea

The level of caffeine is higher in Yerba Mate than other herbal teas, but because of its chemical makeup, it is easier tolerated by those sensitive to caffeine. Other benefits of Yerba mate tea, is that it can increase bile production, stimulate the heart, and fight free radicals and toxins. This tea is also recommended as a way to increase your energy, add to weight loss, relieve pain, and increase perspiration which helps in combating fevers.

Yerba Mate Tea not only has many health benefits but tastes great. It can be consumed as a social activity or to give a personal boost of energy when needed. This tea stands up to its name the “Drink of the Gods.”