Yerba Mate is part of my daily life. It is tricky to distill my experiences with Yerba into mere words, mainly because I have just enjoyed the ride so much so far that I have never tried to do this yet. First of all, my life is very busy… I am a father of 3 kids so that can be exhausting when trying to be with & provide for them. This is possibly the main reason for daily use of mate. It provides a clean, stable energy as opposed to getting the jitters & not being able to sleep at night like some other drinks do. I also enjoy green tea but find that if I use it for a few days in a row I get bad headaches. This doesn’t happen with Yerba Mate. It is tempting to use energy drinks for this purpose & sometimes I do, but most of them are gross & full of chemicals. When you read the ingredients on a bag of Yerba, there is only Yerba, unless it is flavored or specifically enhanced with other herbs.
My wife & I both drink it daily as we are also fitness enthusiasts. She started while training for a bodybuilding competition & had to reduce her carbs etc near showtime. It provided needed vitamins & added energy. I do not compete but still enjoy weight training, cycling, jogging, snowboarding & skateboarding. Yerba Mate consumption is said to not only provide energy but also speed up recovery time after workouts as well as increasing your metabolism.
I used to wonder if it is addicting since I want to drink it all day long every day, so last summer I did an experiment on our family trip to Mexico for 7 days where I left it at home to see if I could get along without it. There were a few times when I thought to myself while sitting & relaxing that it would be nice to drink some, but there were no withdrawals like headaches or shakes etc. In my opinion it is not addictive at all. If you really are worried about addiction, consider north America ‘s refined sugar addiction, but that’s another story!
So by now you may be thinking “Relaxing? You just said it gives you energy!” Allow me to explain… I have read that yerba regulates sleep, which I would agree with based on my experiences. Even when I drink quite a lot of It before bed I still have no troubles going to sleep. The only thing that cuts into my sleep is getting up to pee more than usual (TMI!) I find the whole ritual to enhance contemplation as well as being comforting and relaxing.
The social aspect of it is somewhat limited although growing since most Canadians have no idea what it is. I share it with my friends when we go to concerts or on hiking or snowboarding trips or even just hanging out, but I still drink it all day even if it is by myself in my office.
I realize that I am a total Yerba Geek but if you have been curious about it at all I suggest you give it a try. If you try it & don’t enjoy it, experiment with stevia, honey or as Mate cocido, where you steep it like a tea. You can do this in many ways. Your body will thank you. Salud!