About Yerba Mate
Yerba mate tea contains practically all of the vitamins to sustain life-powerful antioxidant, tone the nervous system, retard aging, combat fatigue, stimulate the mind, control the appetite, reduce stress, caffeine free ! Vitamins A, C, E, B1, B2, B complex, riboflavin, vitamin C complex, magnesium, calcium, iron, sodium, potassium, manganese, silicon. Specially large amounts of pantothenic acid, a significant and vital nutrient. THE ONLY PLANT IN ANY AREA OF THE WORLD WITH SUCH A NUTRITIONAL VALUE !! Can be served hot or cold!
NUTRITION FACTS
Vitamins and Minerals: 100 grams of Yerba Maté brewed with one liter of water have approximately the following:
Potassium: 681.85 mg
Magnesium: 167.60 mg
Iron: 0.33 mg
Sodium: 4.57 mg
Phosphorus: 93.00 mg
Vitamin C: 2.55 mg
Niacin: 12.98 mg
Two 50-gram portions of Yerba Maté cover a great part of the minimum daily requirements recommended:
55.9% of Magnesium
34.1% of Potassium
99.9% of Niacin
11.6% of Phosphorus
Description of Yerbamate and constituents
Mate' (Ilex paraquariensis) is an evergreen member of the holly family. We call Yerba Mate by several common names, including Paraguay tea, Jesuit tea, missionary tea and South American holly, but the most common is Yerba or Yerba Mate. It grows wild in Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Brazil, but is most abundant in Paraguay where it is also cultivated. New methods have been implemented and we find it also as an Organic Certified Yerba Mate Green Herbal Tea. We use the leaves nutritionally and medicinally. It is usually ground and steeped in hot water for several minutes and served hot or cold. ( TERERE ) The plant is classified according to Western herbal medicine as aromatic, stimulant, bitter, astringent, diuretic, purgative, sudorific, febrifuge, alterative and stimulant, but these terms sometimes do not reflect the true richness of its properties.
Several attempts to characterize part or all of the constituents of mate' have been made during the last few decades. They agree on some points, and disagree on others. This is not unusual; different assay techniques will be sensitive to different nutrients. The one thing that unites the various researchs is the consistent detection of numerous vitamins and minerals. There is the us ual array of resins, fiber, volatile oil, and tannins that characterize many plant substances. But then there is the growing list of vitamins and minerals, including carotene, vitamins A, C, E, B1, B2, B complex, riboflavin, nicotinic acid, pantothenic ac id , biotin, vitamin C complex, magnesium, calcium, iron, sodium, potassium, manganese, silicon, phosphates, sulfur, hydrochloric acid, chlorophyll, choline, inositol. Different research find different nutrients; there no single research that has found all o f them, and perhaps there are still other nutrients that have not been identified and classified.
One group of investigators from the Pasteur Institute and the Paris Scientific Society concluded that mate' contains practically all of the vitamins necessary to sustain life. They focused especially on pantothenic acid, remarking that it is rare to find a plant with so much of this significant and vital nutrient. It is indeed difficult to find a plant in any area of the world equal to mate' in nutritional value.
In addition, mate' contains a substance belonging to a very specialized class of chemical compounds. Though only small amounts of this substance occur in mate', its presence has generated a huge amount of attention. The substance is a xanthine alkaloid called mateine. Because of all the attention heaped upon its presence in yerbamate', the following fairly extensive treatment is given, even though in reality the substance probably contributes little if anything to the activity of the plant.
Synthesis of the Yerbamate's properties and the Xanthine Alkaloids
Is it Caffeine free?
International scientist like Dr. Mowry Director of the Mountainwest Institute of Herbal Sciences, in Salt Lake City, Utah, has expressed ".. It turns out that matei ne is not identical to caffeine; it differs from caffeine in some rather dramatic ways. Some members of the scientific community still resort to calling mateine a South American term for caffeine, or to maintaining, in perfect knowledge of the falseness o f the assertion, that two substances so similar chemically must have the same properties. Slowly, they are being forced to acknowledge the distinction between mateine and caffeine..."
"..modern studies seem to validate the difference between mate' and other xanthines-containing plants, such as guarana. Stereo-chemical and clinical work on xanthines in the last couple of decades have shown that, though similar in structure, the members of this class have widely varying pharmacology. In fact, there is only o ne effect that seems to be shared by all trimethyl xanthines: smooth muscle relaxation. It is this action that makes them with the exception of caffeine, whose smooth muscle relaxant effects are diminished by other side effects, good clinical dilators of the bronchi and hence useful in the treatment of asthma.."
" ..Researchers at the Free Hygienic Institute of Hamburg, Germany, concluded that even if there were caffeine in mate', the amount would be so tiny that it would take 100 tea bags of mate' in a six ounce cup of water to equal the caffeine in a six ounce serv ing of regular coffee. Mateine appears to possess the best combination of xanthine properties possible. For example, like other xanthines, it stimulates the central nervous system, but unlike most, it is not habituating or addicting. Likewise, unlike caffeine, it induces better, not worse, attributes of sleep. It is a mild, not a strong, diuretic, as are many xanthines. It relaxes peripheral blood vessels, thereby reducing blood pressure, without th e strong pressor effect on the medulla and heart exhibited by some xanthines. We also know that it improves psychomotor performance without the typical xanthine-induced depressant after effects.."
"..Clinical studies show, in fact, that individuals with caffeine sensitivities can ingest mate' without adverse reactions. The time has come, therefore, to discard the outmoded ideas that (1) xanthines are all alike, (2) that yerbamate' contains caffeine, and (3) that mateine is identical with caffeine. It is more likely that mate' is, as some say, "Natures most perfect beverage," or, as others maintain, "the beverage of the Gods." Summarizing the clinical studies of France, Germany, Argentina and other countries, it appears that we may be dealing here with the most powerful rejuvenator known to man. Unlike the guarana of the Tupi, the coca of the Incas , the coffee of India, or the tea of China, mate' rejuvenates not by the false hopes of caffeine, but simply through the wealth of its nutrients ".
What is Yerba Mate?
Mate is a tea-like beverage consumed mainly in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and southern Brazil. It is brewed from the dried leaves and stemlets of the perennial tree Ilex paraguarensis ("Yerba Mate").
The name "Mate" derives from the quichua word "matí" that names the gourd (Lagenaria vulgaris) that is traditionally used to drink the infusion.
The scientific name Ilex paraguarensis was given by the French naturalist and botanist Auguste de Saint Hilaire in 1822, the tree belongs to the family Aquifoliaceae and grows between the parallels 10° and 30° (South) in the Paraná and Paraguay rivers basins. It is a plant typical of the Alto Paraná region, Alto Uruguay region and the Argentine NE. It is a tropical or subtropical plant, needing high temperatures, high humidity and up to 1500 mm of annual rain. On average, 300,000 tons of Mate are produced each year.
In the wild, the plant needs about 25 years to develop completely, reaching in that case a height of up to 15 meters.
The leaves are alternated, cuneiform, elliptical or oval, with the border slightly serrated.
It flowers between the months of October and December. The flowers are small, polygamous, dioicous, with calix and corolla in a tetrameric disposition. The fruit resembles a pepper berry. Among several varieties, there are three that are the most important: "angustifolia", "longifolia" and "latifolia".
Mate has a characteristic mature flavor which is somewhat sweet, bitter, withered leaf like, and alfalfa-like, similar to that obtained from tea (Camellia sinensis). Of the 196 volatile chemical compounds found in Yerba Mate, 144 are also found in tea.
The infusions of Ilex paraguarensis are less astringent than those made of tea.
It is used in popular medicine and employed in commercial herbal preparations as a stimulant to the central nervous system, a diuretic, and an antirheumatic.
Some Guaraní words related to Mate:
Barbacuá: from mbarambacuá = ma (pile) + ra (euphonic) + mbacuá (toasted or roasted thing)
Caä: Yerba Mate.
Caá-guará: Mate drinker.
Caá-i-guá: Mate gourd (literally: container of the water of Yerba Mate)
Caá-u-ei: thirst of Mate.
Mboroviré: Yerba Mate slightly "canchada" (desiccated and broken)
Sapeca, sambeca or sapeá: pocá, peá or mbecá (to open) + za or sá (eye) = to open the globules or vesicles of the Yerba Mate by the heating process.
Ticuá cá ay: "cebar el Mate" (literally: to throw water in the hole)
Classification:
Division: Anthophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
SubClass: Rosidae
Order: Celastrales
Family: Aquifoliaceae
Here is a nice link to a large list of Yerba Mate Brands:
http://platense.dyn.dhs.org/personal/argentina/mate_brands.htm
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