The Yerba Mate and Caffeine Debate

Yerba Mate (pronounced Mahtay) is an herbal supplement many take in the form of tea. It's said to help give you lots of energy - even better than coffee does - and provide many additional vitamins, minerals and health benefits in the process.

Yerba Mate is also used for weight loss purposes, because it does a good job curbing your appetite. In fact, Yerba Mate appears to slow down the digestion of food, so you feel full longer after eating a meal.

There seems to be something of a debate however, over Yerba Mate and Caffeine. Proponents of Yerba Mate claim it has no caffeine in it, and thus it's much safer to use for energy boosting and dieting.

Many scientists and medical professionals on the other hand, claim that Yerba Mate actually does contain caffeine, and because of this you should use caution since it can cause side effects commonly known to come with large amounts of caffeine consumption.

The Yerba Mate and Caffeine debate gets a bit complicated and scientific, but the issue apears to revolve around a compound called mateine. Apparently many scientists consider mateine to be a chemical name for caffeine, and some say the chemical makeup is almost exactly the same thus it's the same thing.

Others however, claim that mateine is a different substance all together despite the similarities of their chemical makeups. They claim the problem has risen from the testing methods used. The kinds of tests done on Yerba Mate in the United States so far were designed to test positive or negative for caffeine, and the simularities of the mateine component caused a false positive thus Yerba Mate was said to have caffeine content.

Recently however, researchers started looking at the exact structure of the mateine molecule, and discovered it's not quite exactly like the caffeine molecule.

According to this side of the argument, if there was even a tiny amount of caffeine in Yerba Mate it would take a whole 100 Mate tea bags in a six ounce cup of water to equal the amount of caffeine in just one six ounce cup of coffee.

So which side is right in the Yerba Mate and caffeine debate? Unfortunately, like many natural herbal alternatives, the ultimate decision must rest with the user for the time being. And what you believe comes down to who you believe.

The goverment, respected scientists, doctors and medical practioners believe Yerba Mate contains just as much caffeine as coffee or tea, and can have severe side effects. These side effects can include headaches, nausea, problems sleeping, heart palpitations and raised blood pressure.

These experts feel you should not mix Yerba Mate with other products high in caffeine, such as ephedra, coffee, tea or soda. They also feel you should not take Yerba Mate if you're taking certain medications for conditions such as asthma.

The opposite camp feels Yerba Mate is much safer than that, and in fact can be used safely by caffeine sensitive people without any problems, side effects, or other adverse reactions.

Rest assured though... time will eventually settle the Yerba Mate and caffeine debate. More studies are performed on natural, herbal alternatives each year, and new information is available regularly.