Plus, whether drinking the tea is an effective weight loss strategy.
Yet another drink is being touted on TikTok as "nature's Ozempic." Yerba mate has so many people saying it's helped them lose weight that it's kind of hard to ignore -- some are even comparing it to the weight loss injectable, Wegovy. But is drinking it a legit weight loss solution?
Let's back up for a sec: Yerba mate is an herbal tea, brewed from the dried leaves of the Ilex paraguariensis plant. It's been around awhile -- centuries, in fact -- as a medicinal and social beverage, per the 2022 research in Antioxidants. It's normally consumed socially in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, explains Scott Keatley, RD, co-owner of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy.
Meet the experts: Scott Keatley, RD, is the co-owner of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy. Mir Ali, MD, medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA.
Why? Well, it contains caffeine (similar to the amount you'd find in a cup of coffee) and theobromine (also found in chocolate), says Keatley. The tea also has polyphenols, which can protect your body against illnesses, per 2022 research in the Journal of Food Biochemistry. "It's stimulating and slightly bitter," he says.
But why is yerba mate so recently being compared to a popular weight loss drug, joining the likes of berberine and psyllium husk? And can it actually help you lose weight? Ahead, experts answer these burning Qs.
Wegovy is an injectable medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to help with weight loss. But it has some other benefits: The drink could help lower the risk of diabetes and tamp down on bodily inflammation, which is tied to a host of serious illnesses, including cancer and autoimmune diseases, per 2021 research in Nutrients. Yerba mate may also be protective for your heart, according to 2020 research in Proceedings of the Nutrition Society.
And, for what it's worth, there is some data to suggest yerba mate may be associated with losing weight: It stimulates lipolysis, the breakdown of fats, according to 2019 research in the Brazilian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. That can help make stored fat available for energy, and ultimately support weight loss efforts.
Plus, its caffeine -- an appetite suppressant -- might be able to reduce body fat, according to a 2020 study in the Journal of Functional Foods. (People who drank yerba mate every day for 12 weeks lost a significant amount of body fat, per a 2015 study in BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies.)
But experts say that it doesn't have nearly the same effect as Wegovy. (More on that later.)
There are a few potential drawbacks to drinking yerba mate. Research from 2018 in Oral Oncology suggests that people who drink more than one liter of the tea every day could have a higher risk of developing certain types of cancer, but research into this is ongoing. (The risk might be even higher for people who smoke or drink alcohol, per the U.S. National Library of Medicine.)
The caffeine in yerba mate may also lead to some side effects, like having an upset stomach, trouble sleeping, a fast heartbeat, or feeling restless, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. So, if you're sensitive to caffeine, it's probably best to take a pass on yerba mate. The drink is also not considered safe during pregnancy and breastfeeding due to concerns of chemicals linked with cancer passing to the baby.
While some research shows that yerba mate can assist with weight loss, it's "in the same class as mild dietary aids like caffeine," says Mir Ali, MD, medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center. "Caffeine has been shown to have some appetite suppressant effects, but it's nowhere near the appetite suppressant effect as Wegovy."
Keatley agrees. "We're talking about effects that are subtle and short-lived -- not the metabolic reprogramming that happens with GLP-1 drugs [like Wegovy]," Keatley says. "No one's dropping 15 percent of their body weight from sipping mate." So, it's important to keep your expectations in check.
The U.S. National Library of Medicine has a laundry list of medications that you shouldn't mix with yerba mate, including anti-diabetes drugs due to concerns about blood sugar control -- but it doesn't specifically call out Wegovy. In terms of medication interactions, "yerba mate is similar to drinking tea or coffee," Ali says.
Interested in drinking yerba mate? Check the U.S. National Library of Medicine's list of medication interactions first, just to be safe. If you're in the clear, there's no reason not to try it. "If someone enjoys yerba mate and wants a gentle nudge toward appetite control, there's no harm in incorporating it as part of a comprehensive weight management strategy," Keatley says. "But relying on it as a Wegovy alternative? That's misleading and oversells what this drink can do."