Research

Research on the effects of Ilex paraguariensis in health and disease has confirmed its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimutagenic and lipid-lowering activities.... the evidence seems to provide support for beneficial effects of mate drinking on chronic diseases with inflammatory component and lipid metabolism disorders.1


...there are scientifically backed reports of [yerba mate's] anticancer effects. Mate tea has been shown to have a high cytotoxicity for cancer cells, which is even higher than that of green tea. Mate has also shown to be highly effective in inhibiting topoisomerase II, which is responsible for cell division and by inhibiting cancer cell proliferation. It has been shown that oral cancer cells can be completely inhibited by treating them with 375 μg of Mate extract/mL. It should also be noted that, though Mate does not contain catechins, that is, EGCG, it does have compounds that act similarly, such as 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid. This compound has shown to be a potent proteasome inhibitor comparable to EGCG, which has known proteasome inhibition activity and is being investigated for cancer treatment.2

Even though Yerba Mate is just beginning to attract the attention of American consumers and scientists, there have been a number of studies conducted by international institutions in the recent decade. If one were to research Yerba Mate on the web he or she would find the same information on every retail website (often verbatim). In fact, we have some of that information quoted here as well.

At Aviva, we want our customers to be completely knowledgeable about the products we sell to them. Hundreds of years of observation by indigenous groups in South America provides a strong record for mate's health benefits, but we want to take that a step further by presenting folks with institutional research. As a result, we've scoured medical journals and scientific databases for published research on this wonderful and mysterious plant.

We've compiled our efforts into a single White Paper on Yerba Mate that we are providing to our current and potential customers free of charge. If you have further questions and are looking for honest answers, don't hesitate to contact us. If we don't know the answer, we'll try to find it for you!

1. Source: Recent advances on Ilex paraguariensis research: minireview. J Ethnopharmacol. 2011 Jul 14;136(3):378-84.

2. Source: Yerba Mate Tea (Ilex paraguariensis): A Comprehensive Review on Chemistry, Health Implications, and Technological Considerations. Journal of Food Science 2007 Nov;72(9):R138-51.

*Specifically in regard to the second source quote above, please note we are not making any claims that consuming our product is going to protect you from or cure you of disease (cancer). There is still a large gap between what these researches have shown in a lab and it actually being applied in humans.