Ultimate iced tea for weight loss (not green tea!)
What is the best iced tea for weight loss? Swiss Scientists from the University of Fribourg have discovered that drinking your tea cold is twice as good for weight loss. But not just any tea, there is one iced tea that really stands out when it comes to weight loss, and that is Yerba mate tea. Studies have shown that drinking Yerba mate tea cold is more effective in breaking down of fat, than warm tea.
What is Yerba mate?
Yerba mate is a traditional South American drink, that is still very popular in many countries like Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, and Argentina. It is very popular as a healthy alternative to coffee. In fact, Yerba mate tea is as strong as coffee and has more antioxidants than green tea. [1]
Burn more calories while resting
According to the study from the Swiss University of Fribourg, drinking Yerba mate tea could help burn more calories while resting. What is more, drinking Yerba mate tea cold, is much better at this than the usual warm tea. [2]
In the study, the volunteers had to drink 500 ml of unsweetened Yerba mate tea, which was either cold at 3°C (37°F) or hot at 55°C (131°F). The tea contained 99 mg of caffeine.
Throughout the experiment, the heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide production, how much body heat is lost to the environment and other parameters were measured.
The researchers discovered that drinking Yerba mate tea increases energy expenditure. This means that people burned more calories while resting after drinking Yerba mate tea, compared to before drinking the tea.
Drinking cold tea increases energy expenditure more than warm tea. There was an +8.3% increase in energy expenditure after drinking the cold tea, compared to an +3.7% increase in energy expenditure after drinking the tea warm.
Cold Yerba mate tea increases fat oxidation
According to the same Swiss study, drinking Yerba mate tea does not only increase energy expenditure, but also fat oxidation. What is more, drinking Yerba mate tea cold, increased fat oxidation significantly more than warm tea. [2]
Another study from 1999 compared the effects of 12 different plants on fat oxidation.
The plants tested included the regular tea plant and Yerba mate.
From all the plants studied, only the Yerba mate extract managed to significantly increase fat oxidation. [4]
Fat oxidation is the process in which the fatty acids in your body are broken down in order to supply you with energy. Increased fat oxidation helps your body burn more fat. Exercise is well known to help boost fat oxidation as well.
Drinking tea cold aids weight loss
But does Yerba mate tea really help weight loss, or is it just the temperature of the beverage that helped increase energy expenditure and fat oxidation?
In order to answer this question, let’s see how Yerba mate tea compares to water. Does drinking cold water also help burn more calories?
It turns out, drinking cold water also helps with weight loss, but not as much as cold tea. According to another study, drinking 500 ml of cold water, instead of tea, increases energy expenditure with only +2.9%. [3] On the other side, cold Yerba mate tea increased energy expenditure with +8.3%, which is much better. [2]
So if you want to burn more calories while resting, you better drink your tea cold!
What are the benefits of Yerba mate tea?
Scientific studies show that Yerba mate tea can be very beneficial for your health. It can help speed up your metabolism, acts as a strong antioxidant, and the saponins in Yerba mate can help lower your cholesterol levels. [1] [6]
The health benefits of Yerba mate tea include:
Helps lower cholesterol levels
Improves digestion
Has strong antioxidant activity
Beneficial for the liver
Helps against obesity
Beneficial for the cardiovascular system
Stimulates the central nervous system
Might have benefits agains some types of cancer
How can you lose weight with Yerba mate tea?
There are several ways Yerba mate can help with weight loss.
Like all caffeinated drinks, it accelerates the metabolism and helps the body use more energy.
Yerba mate is a diuretic, meaning it helps your body get rid of salt and water. Thus it helps against weight gain by preventing your body from accumulating fluids.
Drinking Yerba mate tea can also promote the feeling of fullness, so that you do not feel hungry for a longer period of time.
A study from 2001 showed that a combination of Yerba mate, Guarana, and Damiana helped overweight patients lose weight. After 45 days the patients who received a supplement containing Yerba mate, Guarana, and Damiana, lost around 5kg (11lbs). On the other side, the patients who received placebo lost only around 0.3kg (0.6lbs). [5]
Is Yerba mate better than green tea?
Yerba mate has a higher antioxidant and a higher caffeine concentration than green tea. So if you are trying to loose weight, Yerba mate is better than green tea. But if you are trying to stay away from caffeine, then green tea is definitely better.
Differences between Yerba mate and green tea
Yerba mate and green tea are very similar, they both contain caffeine and lots of antioxidants, and they can both help with weight loss. But there are also soma major differences between them.
These are the main differences between Yerba mate and green tea:
The Yerba mate and green tea leaves are processed differently.
The type of antioxidants that green and mate tea contain is very different.
Only green tea contains catechins, while mate tea does not.
Yerba mate tea contains more caffeine than green tea.
Yerba mate contains chlorogenic acid, while green tea does not.
A cup of mate tea contains approximately 78 of caffeine, while green tea contains slightly less at up to 70 mg of caffeine per cup. But the amount of caffeine in green tea varies a lot, depending on the tea and the preparation method.
Most of the antioxidants in Yerba mate tea are mainly the so called caffeoyl derivatives. On the other side, green tea contains lots of antioxidants in the form of catechins, while mate tea does not.
Yerba mate tea compared to coffee
Yerba mate tea is famous as a healthy alternative to coffee. It is full of antioxidants and has many health benefits, and at the same time contains almost as much caffeine as coffee.
A cup of mate tea (150 mL) contains approximately 78 mg of caffeine, while a cup of coffee contains slightly more at 85 mg of caffeine per cup.
Recipe: Yerba mate iced tea for weight loss
Here is an easy way to prepare Yerba mate iced tea:
Step 1:
Add 1 tablespoon of tea leaves (or 1 tea bag) in a container.
Step 2:
Add 1 cup of cold water and gently stir.
Step 3:
Steep for at least 20 minutes, or if you want your tea stronger, you can leave it overnight.
Step 4:
Strain the tea into another container or use a small tea strainer over your cup.
Step 5:
Add some ice to the tea before drinking it (optional).
This recipe is for 1 cup of tea.
You can also use the tea into a breakfast smoothie.
This is a very good method to make tea, if you want to prepare it in the evening and be ready to go in the morning.
This is it, super easy and tasty way to to prepare your Yerba mate iced tea. With this method, the tea will not be exposed to heat and the final taste will be much more gentle than the classic way.
Here are a few more ways to prepare Yerba mate tea:
You can adjust these recipes according to your own preferences.
Who should not drink Yerba mate?
Yerba mate tea contains caffeine, therefore it is not recommended for people who have high blood pressure or glaucoma. Also people with diabetes should stay away from it, again because of the caffeine.
Even if you are healthy, taking large doses Yerba mate tea over a prolonged period of time could have negative effects on your health. Very important, never drink Yerba mate tea if it is too hot.
Peple who smoke might want to stay away from Yerba mate tea as well.
Summary: Ultimate iced tea for weight loss
When it comes to weight loss, there is one iced tea that stands out: Yerba mate tea. Studies have shown that Yerba mate tea can help increase your energy expenditure and fat oxidation. It could also help you feel less hungry and has many other health benefits as well.
The beneficial effects of Yerba mate on weight loss are probably caused by its high caffeine concentration. Mate tea can also be very beneficial for lowering cholesterol, that is probably because of the saponins it contains.