HEALTH

After vitamin C and vitamin K in this series, it’s time for the B group. This is an interesting topic because the mechanism is different than with the previous two. Vitamin C in yerba mate largely breaks down during drying and brewing, vitamin K stays trapped in the leaf because it’s fat-soluble, not water-soluble. B…

Vitamin K had its episode in this series, now it’s vitamin C’s turn – because this is a topic surrounded by quite a few oversimplifications. Some descriptions of dried yerba leaves, including our own description of the Immuno product, list vitamin C among the components of yerba mate leaves. A question worth asking honestly: does…

Yerba mate and selenium is the last missing piece of our series on minerals in the leaf of the Paraguayan holly – we’ve previously covered potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, sodium, phosphorus, iodine, iron, copper and manganese in a similar way. The principle stays the same: we check what’s actually known about the selenium content in…

Someone once threw out the phrase “yerba mate is carcinogenic” at the table, and the topic keeps coming back from time to time, usually without a source, sometimes with a link to an article from a decade ago. The truth is more complex than one sentence on a forum, and in this case it’s worth…

Yerba mate and manganese is the last question in this series about minerals in the yerba mate leaf – earlier we broke down copper, zinc, iodine and sodium in a similar way. The rule is the same: we check what is really known about manganese content in the dried leaf and the infusion, what this…

Yerba mate and copper is a question from the same family as questions about zinc, iodine or sodium that we’ve already covered in this series – someone is looking for yet another mineral in the leaf of Paraguayan holly before checking their plate. We answer just as honestly: how much copper is really in the…

We mainly hear from two groups of people. The first has been drinking yerba for years and simply wants to know if the timing matters before heading to the gym. The second is just switching from coffee and asks directly: can this replace a pre-workout? The answer doesn’t fit in one sentence, but let’s start…

How many calories does yerba mate have? This question comes up often when someone swaps their morning coffee for a matero, or is looking for a drink that gives energy without weighing down their daily calorie balance. The answer is simpler than most discussions about this plant suggest: the infusion made from dried Yerba Mate…

Buying your first yerba mate ever and not sure where to start? That’s completely normal. The leaves themselves are only half the story – without the right vessel and a bombilla, you simply won’t be able to brew it the way Argentinians or Paraguayans have done for generations. That’s why a yerba mate starter set…

Yerba mate and sodium is a question that sounds a bit different in this series than it did with potassium, calcium, magnesium or zinc – there, we checked whether the dried leaves could help make up for a mineral deficiency. With sodium, it’s the opposite. The question is whether an infusion of yerba mate might…

We check whether yerba mate provides zinc in amounts that matter in the diet, and why data on the mineral content of the infusion is so scarce.

Yerba mate and magnesium is a question we hear mainly from two groups of readers. The first is looking for every extra source of this mineral in their daily diet, because they eat few vegetables or train a lot. The second came across a list of yerba mate’s mineral components, saw the word “magnesium” and…