South American Yerba Mate

Technically, Yerba Mate (Ilex paraguariensis) is part of the evergreen family, but colloquially, it is know as a green tea. A University food science and nutrition professor found yerba mate tea to have more antioxidants than green tea. You may also know it as 'Jesuits' tea' or 'Paraguay tea'.

Yerba Mate is most commonly enjoyed for its soothing effect on the spirit and mind. Others just enjoy it for the jitter-free energy and sharpened mental focus that it is said to provide.

In many South American countries, Yerba Mate is consumed traditionally by passing around a small gourd cup with long metal filtered tube; most often between friends, family members and neighbors.

Yerba Mate also has a long history of use worldwide. In Europe, it is used for weight loss, physical and mental fatigue, nervous depression, rheumatic pains, and psychogenic- and fatigue-related headaches. In Germany, it has become popular as a weight-loss aid. Yerba Mate is the subject of a German monograph which lists its approved uses for mental and physical fatigue. In France, Yerba Mate is approved for the treatment of asthenia (weakness or lack of energy), as an aid in weight-loss programs, and as a diuretic. It also appears in the British Herbal Phamacopoeia (1996) indicating the treatment of fatigue, weight loss, and headaches. In the U.S., Dr. James Balch, M.D. recommends Yerba Mate for arthritis, headache, hemorrhoids, fluid retention, obesity, fatigue, stress, constipation, allergies, and hay fever. He also states that it "cleanses the blood, tones the nervous system, retards aging, stimulates the mind, controls the appetite, stimulates the production of cortisone, and is believed to enhance the healing powers of other herbs."