What's so great about Yerba Mate?

I don’t know. I don’t care for it.

You will immediately become three times more popular with the hipster crowd. As far as I know, that’s the only advantage/disadvantage to drinking Yerba Mate over any other type of tea.

It has a lot of caffeine and 2 other compounds with similar effects. There’s conflicting evidence it fights cancer. link

I’m a fan of the taste. Drink it properly from a gourd and straw. Don’t brew, don’t use teabags. Make it a social event. If your in a country where its legal, mate de coca must be tried.
The best health benefit is this – your drinking something other than soda.

I really don’t know either, I don’t like the taste of it!! Now if WTF was here, he sure could tell you. He loves it! Every time I go to this little hole in the wall place that serves Cuban food, I have to bring home a couple 6 pks.

I actually enjoy the taste of Mate because it’s strong and herbal, but don’t really like the process of drinking from the gourd and bombilla. A teabag creates the same taste. Honestly, I prefer Mint Mate over original. My favorite is Guayaki (http://guayaki.com/product/71/Magical-Mint-Mate-Bulk-Tea-Bags.html) because it’s minty and herbal, and balances the sweet of mint with the earthy flavor of mate.

Unfortunately, little is known about Yerba mate. The scientific evidence on more well-understood drinks like tea is still full of a lot of uncertainty, and with Yerba mate, where the studies are scarce and to some degree conflicting, it’s a big area of uncertainty.

There are epidemiological studies showing increased risk of cancer associated with Yerba mate, but this may be confounded by heavy smoking and drinking in the populations, and it also could be that people drink it through a straw, which can lead to burns, increasing the risk of cancers of the mouth and throat. It’s very antioxidant rich, and in vitro experiments show potential anti-cancer activity.

I’ve been collecting this information on a page about Yerba mate which cites and summarizes these studies and articles. If anyone has any other studies that I haven’t cited, or any deeper readings of those studies that they think would enrich the article, please let me know!

I can tell you that I drink Yerba mate and I enjoy it. But it is a bit strange; the way it makes me feel is very different from how tea or coffee makes me feel. It does not aid my concentration the way tea and coffee do, and I find it somewhat relaxing. I only consume it in the late afternoon…any other time of day I’m not crazy about how it makes me feel. And because little is known about it, I am cautious about drinking a lot of it on a regular basis. I have started to really like the way it tastes though. It took me some time to develop a taste for it but now I find it quite delicious, and there’s a fair amount of diversity, based on whether it’s green, roasted, aged, or smoked. (And it can be all / none / any combination of roasted, aged, or smoked)

@cazort Interesting, so is it energizing for you? Does it relax you?

I find it slightly relaxing. I wouldn’t say it’s particularly energizing. It’s really hard to put into words the way it makes me feel.

So here’s my 2 cents to add to this mate thread: I’m a middle aged school teacher, 5 years into type 2 diabetes and slightly overweight. O.K. a lot overweight! I am very active and do exercise in addition to strenuous yard work. I’ve spent a life time fighting high lipids when I am checked annually, being as high as 1,100 and in recent years staying around 400–500. When my son returned from living in Argentina and told me about mate I decided to give it a try. I absolutely hate how it tastes, but I love how it makes me feel. I’ve tried everything to alter the taste but now just horse it down to get the great effects. When questioned by a friend why I drink it I told him because it makes me feel like I just took a couple Lortabs and swallowed them down with a few Red Bulls! I agree with others in this thread too that I never feel a let down afterwards like with caffiene drinks or coffee. The best part is that I have been consuming a bunch of it in our super hot and dry desert in the southwest U.S. this summer and had great results when I went to the doctor two weeks ago. I have not changed one single thing about my diet, exercise or diabetes medication, and now my lipids are below 100. Even the doctor wondered what I had done differently. Not until after I left his office (Isn’t that always how it goes?) did I think about the mate. I’m not saying that’s what accounts for the change in my lipid levels, but I have no other explanation either. In any case, I love it so much that I am just waiting for our wonderful government to find out that it is liked and useful and then pull it off the shelves. Until then, drink up! I also notice that it suppresses my appetite almost completely. Maybe it has kept me from eating things that are not good for me or from eating in excess is how it has helped with lowering my lipids and cholesterol. Just a thought. Ü

Thanks @taiterbugg. Great to know, as I suffer from the same. Also a teacher. Ha!