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Emiliano Martínez Viademonte

The consumption of Ilex paraguariensis – known as “yerba mate” in South America – has spread beyond the borders of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil and is now gaining popularity in China.
“Our exports have doubled since last year,” said Juan Luis Lorenzo, a local producer involved in the direct exports of yerba mate to China.
The increase in exports by Lorenzo’s cooperative reflects the broader rise in yerba mate exports from Argentina to China, which have increased by 88 per cent since 2021, according to Argentina’s National Institute of Statistics and Census.
In the first quarter of 2026 alone, Argentina exported around 214,000kg (471,800lbs) of yerba mate to China.
Footballers and other sportspeople have helped popularise yerba mate well beyond South America. World Cup-winning footballer Lionel Messi is frequently seen carrying a mate wherever he goes.
As a result, the drink has become associated with health, energy and well-being.
The cooperative entrepreneur also said he understood that, in China, yerba mate was mainly consumed as an additive in tea and other flavoured drinks.
In the Chinese market, it is commonly sold in ready-to-drink beverages, flavoured drinks and tea-based products.
“Mate is a drink meant to be shared, to spend time together and to talk while preparing and refilling it. One of the most overlooked benefits is that it brings people together,” said Juan Ferrario, a PhD researcher at Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council, who specialises in neurodegenerative diseases.


Scientific studies have suggested the infusion presents a wide range of health benefits, one of which was to “reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease”, he said.
According to Ferrario, laboratory experiments exposing neuron cells to yerba mate extract showed a fourfold reduction in cell death compared with untreated cells. The findings build on previous research suggesting that regular yerba mate drinkers may have a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.
Ferrario said one possible explanation could be the presence of chlorogenic acid, a compound found in both mate and coffee.
For the indigenous Guarani people, yerba mate was an essential part of daily life and cultural traditions, valued for its stimulating and social properties. Jesuit missionaries began studying the herb when they arrived in the Guarani territories.
In Science of Mate, a book by Ferrario and sommelier Karla Johan Lorenzo, the authors recommend drinking mate with hot water for a more traditional flavour and fuller infusion, while cold preparations are generally associated with milder stimulating effects.
“The psychostimulant effect is milder than that of coffee because mate also contains theobromine which may contribute to a more sustained effect of caffeine,” Ferrario said.
Mate also avoids the sharp peaks commonly associated with coffee because it is typically consumed gradually over the course of half a litre or a litre of water, allowing the compounds to be absorbed more slowly.
Argentina’s National Institute of Yerba Mate (INYM) reported that regular consumption might help protect bone health in post-menopausal women. Studies in mice have also shown increased growth in spongy bone tissue after regular consumption of mate.
“Mate also acts as an antioxidant,” Ferrario said, adding that polyphenols accounted for roughly 10 per cent of mate’s dry weight. “Studies have shown that mate consumers tend to have higher antioxidant capacity in the blood due to the polyphenols.”

Many of these properties are shared with tea and coffee. “The main difference is that mate is consumed in large quantities over extended periods of time,” Ferrario said.
“One of the most significant benefits is that mate consumption has been associated with lower cholesterol levels – particularly LDL (low-density lipoprotein), commonly known as “bad” cholesterol – as well as reduced blood glucose levels.”
Nutritional information published by INYM shows that 50g (1.7 ounces) of yerba mate prepared with 500ml of hot water at 70 degrees Celsius (158 degrees Fahrenheit) provides 62 per cent of the World Health Organization’s recommended daily intake of vitamin B1, which supports heart function, the nervous system and energy metabolism.
The same serving provides 36 per cent of the recommended daily intake of vitamin B6, supporting blood cell production and brain health.
Traditionally, yerba mate is drunk from a hollow container known as a mate gourd using a metal straw or bombilla. The Guarani people traditionally prepared the drink in hollowed-out gourds designed to withstand prolonged use and humidity.
Currently, mate gourds are also made from other materials such as wood, metal, plastic and glass.
Yerba mate is widely cultivated in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – countries that form part of the ancestral homeland of the Guarani people.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization recently recognised the traditional cultivation method used in southern Brazil, where yerba mate plants are grown in the shade of Araucaria angustifolia, commonly known as Brazilian pine trees.
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Ancient South American fusion may reduce risks of Parkinson’s and is enjoyed by top footballers, but the indigenous drink should be shared


Ancient South American fusion may reduce risks of Parkinson’s and is enjoyed by top footballers, but the indigenous drink should be shared.


Lionel Messi is a fan of Yerba mate. But Chinese may be drinking it wrong

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Ancient South American fusion may reduce risks of Parkinson’s and is enjoyed by top footballers, but the indigenous drink should be shared

Ancient South American fusion may reduce risks of Parkinson’s and is enjoyed by top footballers, but the indigenous drink should be shared