ScienceDaily (Oct. 26, 2007) — When a study in her lab showed that mate tea drinkers had experienced a significant increase in the activity of an enzyme that promotes HDL (good) cholesterol while lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol, University of Illinois scientist Elvira de Mejia headed for Argentina where mate tea has been grown and taken medicinally for centuries.
She returned with a five-year agreement with La Universidad Nacional de Misiones to cooperate in the study of 84 genotypes of mate tea, both cultivated and wild, never-before-studied, varieties. “Our studies show that some of the most important antioxidant enzymes in the body are induced by this herbal tea,” said de Mejia of her study in September’s Planta Medica.
“Because Argentina has the different mate varieties, we’ll be able to do more comparisons and characterizations between the different genotypes and the benefits of different growing conditions–whether in sun (on a plantation) or in shade (under the rainforest canopy),” she added. Not only does de Mejia hope to identify the most nutritionally beneficial genotypes of the herbal tea, she hopes that Argentine experience with drying and processing mate will lead to improved extraction of the tea’s bioactive compounds. “Food companies are very interested in adding tea extracts to juices, soda, and even beer to increase the nutritional value of their products,” she said.
Article Source: Mate Tea Lowers Cholesterol
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