There are few drinks touted as much as green tea. But, Yerba Mate may have it beat -by a long shot. Yerba mate is an herbal tea made from the leaves and twigs of the Ilex paraguariensis plant. It can be purchased online or at specialty tea shops and some grocery stores. The leaves are typically dried over a fire, then steeped in hot water to make the tea. Yerba mate is traditionally consumed from a container called a gourd and sipped with a metal straw that has a filter at its lower end to strain out the leaf fragments. In places like Argentina, sharing it from this traditional gourd is said to be a sign of friendship and bonding. But, if you are looking to whet you whistle with this almost magical elixir, you can use a French Press or tea kettle.

Yerba mate contains several beneficial plant nutrients, including:

Interestingly, the antioxidant power of yerba mate tea seems to be slightly higher than that of green tea. But wait, yerba mate may contain seven out of nine essential amino acids, in addition to nearly every vitamin and mineral your body needs. However, the tea contains very small amounts of these nutrients, so it’s unlikely to make a large contribution to your diet on its own.

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• Complementary Therapies