Yerba Mate tea: Energy without Jitters

Yerba Mate tea: Energy without Jitters

Posted by veritas June 20, 2008



Coffee is the morning beverage of choice for Americans for one simple reason: caffeine. It wakes you up and gets you moving no matter how little sleep you actually got the night before. But there is a healthy alternative to coffee that has the same effect: Yerba Mate tea. Teavana offers several Mate teas and all of them have 100% of the caffeine contained in a cup of coffee, but without the jitters.



What is Yerba Mate?

Yerba mate is different from traditional teas, because it is not from the Camellia sinensis plant that true tea comes from. Rather it is a herbal infusion from the Ilex paraguariensis tree native to South America. The leaves from the tea are dried and then steeped in hot water to make Mate teas (or infusions).

Mate leaves are fascinating, much like true teas, because of the myriad health benefits they offer. For example, Yerba Mate contains 24 vitamins and minerals, 15 amino acids, and 11 polyphenols or antioxidants. This combination means that Mate can offer a number of health benefits that coffee drinkers can only dream of:



Stimulates the immune system. Yerba mate contains saponins, which stimulate the immune system and help protect your body against disease.



Helps reduce cholesterol intake. Glycosides in the Yerba mate leaf bind with cholesterol in your body and prevent the cholesterol from being absorbed into your system.



Help avoid cancer. Yerba mate is loaded with antioxidants, which defend the body against free radical damage, which can cause various cancers. Antioxidants are a main reason people drink teas and Yerba mate has an extremely high amount of antioxidants.



Increases Mental clarity and energy. It includes xanthine alkaloids – one of which is caffeine – which stimulates your mind and body and gives you energy. Just like caffeine, however the added nutritional content of Yerba mate (and different xanthines than coffee) mean you are less likely to have jitters, stomach discomfort, headaches, or a hard stop to the energy than with other caffeinated drinks like coffee.



Helps relieve allergies. Yerba mate also stimulates the adrenal glands to produce corticosteroids, which help suppress the inflammation and immune response of allergies.



Fights bad breath. Yes, it even fights bad breath by preventing the growth of bacteria responsible for bad breath!



This doesn’t even take into account the vitamins and minerals in a Mate tea! By switching your morning coffee to a morning mate you get all of the mental and physical stimulation you need, but you actually help strengthen your body at the same time. This turns a negative into a positive.



Teavana offers one Mate tea in particular for coffee drinkers: MateVana herbal tea. It has a chocolately, nutty flavor that coffee drinkers tend to enjoy. And, just like coffee, this tea is a hot beverage that you can really enjoy in the morning. So why not try switching out your morning coffee for a morning MateVana for just a week. At the end of the week you can decide whether MateVana is a better choice for you!



http://www.heavenoftea.com/typesoftea/herbalteas/yerba-mate-tea-energy-without-jitters/