Yerba Mate: The Powerhouse Nutrient For Healing, Anti-Aging and Enhanced Health

Many think of Yerba Mate as a tea beverage. While the chemical components are quite similar to green tea, it is in fact far more nutritious, because scientific study has shown it to contain nearly all of the necessary life-sustaining vitamins, minerals and nutrients. It has been found to be loaded with an even richer and more potent array of antioxidants than green tea.

Yerba Mate, a popular South American beverage, is brewed from the dried leaves and stemlets of the small evergreen Yerba Mate tree found in the highlands of Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. Tea comes from a different plant altogether. So while Yerba Mate is similar in chemical structure to tea, it is a completely different beverage altogether.

The Guarani Indians of Paraguay and Uruguay have long been drinking this beverage, and introduced it into modern civilization. It is now consumed by millions of South Americans every day, as a healthy and beneficial energizing coffee alternative.

Yerba Mate contains 52 more known active chemical compounds than green tea. It is loaded with potent phytochemical antioxidants, and in far greater quantities than in green tea. Like green tea, it has anti-cancer and anti-aging benefits, again, in higher quantities.

This amazing plant has an incredibly rich nutritional profile. It provides: Vitamins A, C, E, B1, B2, Niacin, B5, B Complex, Calcium, Chromium, Manganese, Iron, Selenium, Potassium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Zinc, Carotene, Fatty Acids, Chlorophyll, Flavonols, Polyphenols, Inositol, Trace Minerals, Antioxidants, Tannins, Pantothenic Acid and even Amino Acids. Scientists are saying it is quite likely that it contains more powerful nutrients that are yet unknown and undiscovered.

There are so many incredible benefits attributed to Yerba Mate, both from scientific studies and centuries of observation. Some of these benefits include:

anti-aging
boosts immunity
increases mental clarity
helps with digestive problems
improvement in general well-being, mood, and sleep
helps to lose weight
cleanses and detoxifies the blood
increases supply of oxygen to the heart
supplies many nutrients needed by the heart for growth and repair
reduces stress
reduces the effect of debilitating disease
allergy relief
firmer and smoother skintone
Experiencers of digestive problems such as constipation and hemorrhoids have found these to be relieved and easily overcome over a short period of daily use. Some people who require antacids have reported they no longer need to use them after a short time of using Yerba Mate.

People with heart problems have reported clogged arteries clearing up in even just 3 weeks of using Yerba Mate – their doctors have ordered them to stop taking their pills for circulation and clogged arteries.

It has even been used as a food substitute due to its rich nutritional profile. It will eliminate feelings of hunger and give the sensation of having had a full meal. While this is important for those experiencing conditions of famine, it is also helpful for people desiring to lose weight.

There are far too many benefits to go into detail in the space of this article. This is a very powerful healing plant. Because of its vast amount of health benefits for the whole body, Yerba Mate is truly a tonic for wellness.

In addition, essential vitamins and nutrients are best absorbed by the body when taken in their live, natural state. This is why it is far more efficient to use a liquid nutrient like Yerba Mate instead of a multivitamin supplement.

Yerba Mate is one of the most excellent nutrients available in the world today, and should be given the attention of all who are interested in excellent health, anti-aging, wellness, and healing.

Free Radicals: Destructive Scavengers and the Vital Role Antioxidants Play

Several years ago, it was all over the news. Free radicals were damaging – we all had them, and antioxidants were the solution. But what role really do free radicals play in damaging the body, and how are we supposed to best get rid of them? How do antioxidants work and what is the best way of adding them to our diet?

24 hours a day, while the body is constantly working, cells are metabolizing and creating energy as they carry out their tasks. This natural process results in free radicals, the same way driving to work in your car creates exhaust fumes. Some free radicals are natural byproducts of the ongoing workings of the body. Some are from environmental factors, such as pollution, radiation, and cigarette smoke.

A free radical is simply a molecule that is missing an electron. As soon as a molecule loses one of its attached electrons, it becomes unstable and seeks to re-stabilize itself by stealing an electron from the nearest molecule. This causes the attacked molecule to then become a free radical, and starts a chain reaction. Ultimately as the process continues this can lead to cell damage.

Free radicals become extremely damaging to the body as they steal electrons from your cells. They begin to spread like a wildfire through the years if your body does not have enough antioxidants to keep them in check. They can attack cell walls, get inside the cell, and cause damage to the DNA. This leads to cancer. Cancer is defined as a degenerative stress condition, and we can understand this better when we understand the role free radicals play.

The brain is the most active part of the body. It uses the most energy, and therefore is subject to bombardment with the most free radicals. The significance of this is not only that we feel negative effects in our mind – such as feeling tired and muddled – but also because brain is very important in its control of so many of the vital workings of our bodies.

When a free radical attacks, it can get into the cell and cause the mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell, to die or cease to function fully. This can disrupt one of a multitude of processes. A dead or poorly functioning mitochondria in a cell can disrupt or slow down neuronal firing. Mental illness is largely due to imbalances in the neuronal processes of our natural brain chemistry. A poorly working or dead mitochondria can prevent certain natural functions from working, causing symptoms like hormonal imbalance.

Untreated, the damage from free radicals accumulates with age. They are the cause of many degenerative diseases, and are associated with many of the signs of the aging process.

Antioxidants are molecules loaded with extra free electrons. When we have enough antioxidants the free radicals get their electrons from the antioxidants in our body, rather than stealing them from our cells.

The body is naturally built to handle free radicals. Antioxidants are found in the vitamins A, C and E in the fruits and vegetables we eat. However even eating the 5-8 recommended servings a day, or using supplements still often does not do enough to combat the massive free radical damage.

Antioxidants from Vitamins E, C, and A actually pale in comparison to the phytonutrient antioxidants such as those found in red wine and blueberries. This is the reason for the French paradox, why it is being recommended to drink wine, eat chocolate, and drink green tea. They provide better sources of antioxidants.

There is an even better source: the newly discovered acai berry, of the Brazilian rainforest. It provides antioxidants in strengths 33 times more powerful than red wine. It floods the body with massive amounts of antioxidants and other essential nutrients. The acai berry is the number one ingredient for anti-aging recommended by Dr. Nicholas Perricone, in his book the Perricone Promise.

The acai berry can be best added to the diet in liquid form. A small dose of several ounces daily will flood the body with the vital antioxidants it needs. The acai berry is the best way to add to your diet the most powerful antioxidants combating free radical damage.

The effect of fish oil on fat burning

I have written many emails over the years on the effect of fish oil on fat burning.

Lately there has been corroborating scientific evidence that fish oil can reduce belly fat and aid in fat burning as part of a solid diet and exercise program.

But still I get questions like the one below.

“Doc, I have read some of the stuff in your articles archive.

I don’t understand how fat can burn fat. It just does not make sense.” William Hennessey Kansas City.

Yikes!

This could be one of those god-awful scientific emails.

Ok I promise to keep it clean after all you’ve got enough on your plate.

Here’s the deal.

All foods have effects on the hormone systems of the body.

Some foods like fish oils actually behave like hormones in that they affect all kinds of other things from your genetic material to your proteins and other hormones.

Fish Oils especialy influence the way the cell behaves at an individual level.

On that level, fish oil helps to gets cells to take in more fat and become more able to use that fat as fuel.

Most of the fish oil you take has far more effect on these cellular and hormone systems than it ever has on your calorie intake.

Hence when someone asks me the inevitable, “Won’t I get fat on fish Oil since it’s a fat?” question, I can always say, “Nope” with confidence.

But there is another simple way to tell that fish oil is working for you. If and when you go to get your cholesterol checked you will usually see a couple of things on Fish Oil if it’s high quality.

First, your good cholesterol will go up. Very good.

Next your triglycerides will go down.

What are triglycerides?

Raw fat in transit.

This is the way your body moves fat through your bloodstream. Whether you export it (burn it up as fuel in your cells) or import it into your arteries to clog them depends a heck of a lot on how much fish oil you have in your system at the time.

So remember, when you eat a lousy meal, pop some extra fish oil!

Here is what happens to those ugly, nasty, artery clogging fats if you do:

“Doc,

Just wanted to let you know the results of my most recent blood tests. I am 61 years old and have been on Lipitor for the past 9 months. I have been taking your fish oil capsules for two months. My doctor’s office called yesterday to inform me of the results of my blood work done last week. They just said it was great. I asked to please let me know the differences from the last tests 6 months ago. My total cholesterol dropped from 158 to 149. The improvement was due to lower LDL, but the exciting numbers were the drop in triglycerides. My triglycerides have always been high. The test 6 months ago had me at 218, this latest one was 109. Cut in half!!

The doctor’s office asked what I was doing differently. I said 3 things. Two bad one good. I had not exercised in 8 months and had gained 8 pounds, but I started taking your pharmaceutical grade fish oil. They were impressed as I was. Now everyone in my office wants to get on the bandwagon. We are buying a case today!!!”