|
"Maté is often used as a staple food,
sometimes substituting for such important foods as bread and vegetables. It is easily
capable of eliminating the sensation of hunger, and can impart a similar invigoration as a
full meal. Peace Corps workers have reported cases in which large groups of natives remain
in good health for extended periods of drought and famine, even though they eat only one
small meal per day. How so? By drinking copious amounts of yerbamaté tea. Some natives
spend their entire lives on such a diet, and live to very advanced ages, sometimes in
excess of 100 years. "
South American governments have adopted the practice of encouraging mothers, especially
in the poorer regions, to include yerbamaté in the diet of their school age children.
"...I began drinking yerbamaté after about a three year illness. At the time I
was at a point of pretty good recovery, but was having so much trouble with tenseness,
sleeping or even resting. I...began taking four to six cups a day. I was overjoyed when
within 24 to 48 hours, I was able to lay down and actually rest and drop off to sleep.
Much to my surprise, within about three weeks my hair...started to perk up, gain body and
return to normal."
North American and European missionaries sent to the river forests of Paraguay and
Brazil routinely report periods where they themselves have gone for months at a time
subsisting only on yerbamaté tea with no observable ill effects other than some weight
loss.
Sailors routinely use maté to prevent scurvy, but that alone doesn't signify a great
deal. Much more interesting are reports of matés ability to increase the sailors' ability
to adapt to the hot, humid, stultifying environments of furnace rooms, galleys, boiler
rooms, etc. In fact, this is an extraordinary attribute of maté in general. One of the
best ways to adapt to the jungle climate of South America is the frequent drinking of
maté tea.
There is the story of a telegram sent during the Russo-Japanese war that stated that
the only Japanese regiments that did not suffer from foot infections were those that drank
maté tea instead of the normally and widely ingested tea or coffee. Similar nutritional
benefits have been reported by the medical researchers in the Italian army who observed
the rejuvenating effects of maté among undernourished and diseased soldiers in infantry
regiments.
An article in "The Society Arts Journal" noted, "Maté has an amazing
power to sustain strength neither tea nor chocolate can pretend to have. Hikers using
maté are able to walk six to seven hours without the necessity of eating."
We might also point out that the nutrients in maté tea are in a liquefied state and
are therefore more easily assimilated than the nutrients in other foods or in pills or
capsules.
One group of investigators from the Pasteur Institute and the Paris Scientific
Society concluded that maté contains practically all of the vitamins necessary to sustain
life. They focused especially on pantothenic acid, remarking that it is rare to find a
plant with so much of this significant and vital nutrient. "It is indeed difficult to find
a plant in any area of the world equal to maté in nutritional value. "
-- from an
article by Dr. Daniel Mowry on yerba maté entitled Unequalled Natural Nutrition.
Dr. Mowry is known primarily for his efforts to
bring scientific data about herbal medicine to the attention of the American public.
Toward this end he has published the books entitled
The
Scientific Validation of Herbal Medicine, and
Guaranteed
Potency Herbs: Next Generation Herbal Medicine, which have become standard texts
in the field.
Dr. Mowry is Director of the Mountainwest Institute of Herbal Sciences,
in Salt Lake City, Utah.
 Read More About It
Reversing Hypertension: A Vital New Program to Prevent, Treat and Reduce High Blood..
by Julian M.D. Whitaker.
20,000 Secrets of Tea : The Most Effective Ways to Benefit from Nature's Healing Herbs by Victoria Zak.
<
back to articles menu
disclaimer
|