Yerba mate & yaupon

Ilex paraguariensis, I. vomitoria, I. guayusa

Also: Mate, Yaupon holly, Guayusa

WarmingDryingTonifying

The caffeine hollies, for steady energy and blood sugar.

Three caffeinated hollies: yerba mate of South America, guayusa of the Amazon, and yaupon, the only caffeine plant native to North America. Their leaves lift energy and focus with caffeine and widen the vessels with theobromine, and mate in particular steadies blood sugar and cholesterol.

Energetics: Warming, drying, toning
Taste: Bitter, grassy, sometimes smoky
Family: Aquifoliaceae (holly family)
Parts used: Leaves

Medicinal uses 3

The tags sort the evidence behind each use by kind. Members are able to tap a condition to compare every herb for it.

Traditional useLab and mechanism studiesClinical studies

Focus & brain fogTLC
Caffeine with theobromine lifts energy and focus, more smoothly than coffee for many people.
Blood sugar balanceTLC
Mate lowered blood sugar and improved insulin response in small clinical studies.
Heart supportTLC
Daily mate lowered LDL cholesterol in clinical studies.

Preparations

Mate in a gourd, cup-brewed tea, and toasted yaupon.

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Cautions

The usual caffeine cautions apply: jitters, poor sleep, a racing heart.
Drinking mate scalding hot, day after day, is linked to cancer of the esophagus; let it cool a little.
Smoke-dried mate can carry combustion residues called PAHs; air-dried mate is cleaner.

Medication interactions

Practitioner Practitioners are able to see the 3 types of medicine flagged for yerba mate & yaupon, each with the mechanism and what to do. The plain-language cautions above stay open to everyone.

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Pregnancy & breastfeeding

PregnancyModerate amounts

Count it toward a total of no more than 200 mg of caffeine a day from all sources. Skip very hot or smoke-dried mate.

BreastfeedingModerate amounts

Moderate amounts are generally considered compatible; caffeine passes into milk, so watch for a wakeful baby.

Folklore

Mate comes from the Quechua word for gourd, and the Guaraní of Paraguay drank the leaf long before Jesuit missionaries planted it in orchards in the 1600s. The Kichwa of Ecuador brew guayusa before dawn and gather to share their dreams over it. The species name vomitoria misleads: Native peoples of the Southeast drank a strong yaupon brew, the black drink, in purification rites that could include purging, but the leaf itself does not make anyone vomit.

How to grow

Yaupon is an easy, drought-tolerant evergreen holly for the American Southeast, hardy to about 0°F; mate and guayusa need frost-free subtropical warmth. Pick young leaves, then dry or toast them.

In the wild

Yerba mate grows in the Atlantic forest of Paraguay, southern Brazil, and northeastern Argentina; guayusa in the upper Amazon of Ecuador and Peru; and yaupon along the coastal plain from Virginia to Texas.

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