Mate

• What other names is Yerba Mate known by?
• What is Yerba Mate?
• How does Yerba Mate work?
• Are there safety concerns?
• Are there any interactions with medications?
• Dosing considerations for Yerba Mate.

What other names is Yerba Mate known by?

Chimarrao, Green Mate, Hervea, Ilex, Ilex paraguariensis, Jesuit's Brazil Tea, Jesuit's Tea, Maté, Maté Folium, Paraguay Tea, St. Bartholemew's Tea, Thé de Saint Barthélémy, Thé des Jésuites, Thé du Brésil, Thé du Paraguay, Yerbamate, Yerba Mate, Yerba Maté.

What is Yerba Mate?

Mate is a plant. The leaves are used to make medicine.

Mate is used as a stimulant to relieve mental and physical tiredness (fatigue), as well as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). It is also used for heart-related complaints including heart failure, irregular heartbeat, and low blood pressure.

Some people use mate to improve mood and depression; to relieve headache and joint pains; to treat urinary tract infections (UTIs), and bladder and kidney stones; for weight loss; and as a laxative.

In foods, mate is used to make a tea-like beverage, known as maté or Yerba Maté, which is very popular in Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina.

Insufficient Evidence to Rate Effectiveness for...

• Mental function. Early research suggests that drinking a beverage containing yerbe mate does not affect mental performance in healthy females.
• Diabetes. Early research suggests that drinking yerba mate tea three times daily for 60 days can lower blood sugar in people with diabetes.
• High lipid (fat) levels in the blood. Early research suggests that drinking tea containing yerba mate three times daily for 40 days can lower total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL or "bad") cholesterol in people with high levels of lipids (fats) in the blood. Also, drinking yerba mate tea appeasr to reduce LDL ("bad") cholesterol and increase high-density lipoprotein (HDL or "good") cholesterol in people with high cholesterol who are also taking statin drugs.
• Obesity. Early research shows that taking yerba mate by mouth might cause weight loss when used in combination with guarana and damiana.
• Osteoporosis. Drinking a traditional yerba mate tea daily might reduce the rate of bone loss in postmenopausal women.
• Prediabetes. Early research suggests that drinking yerba mate tea three times daily for 60 days does not reduce blood sugar before eating in people with prediabetes. However, it might reduce glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C), a measure of average blood sugar.
• Constipation.
• Depression.
• Urinary tract infections (UTIs).
• Heart conditions.
• Kidney and bladder stones.
• Mental and physical tiredness (fatigue).
• Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
• Fluid retention.
• Headaches.
• Low blood pressure (hypotension).
• Other conditions.

More evidence is needed to rate the effectiveness of yerba mate for these uses.

Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database rates effectiveness based on scientific evidence according to the following scale: Effective, Likely Effective, Possibly Effective, Possibly Ineffective, Likely Ineffective, and Insufficient Evidence to Rate (detailed description of each of the ratings).