Does Yerba Mate taste nasty and can it give you cancer?

Yerba mate is a South American herbal tea made by soaking ground-up Yerba leaves in hot water. It is almost as strong in caffeine as coffee and is popular in South American countries, and is sold sometimes in American tea houses. I had it at tea houses, including drinking it French Press-style, and it was OK, but I mainly got it for the caffeine effect.


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Click here for a photo of French press Yerba Mate:
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I bought a big bag to make it myself, by soaking a tablespoonful in a normal 8 oz cup. It's tasted bitter enough to be a little nasty. Maybe I am doing something wrong? I added honey and a bit of lemon and that helped, but it was still not nice-tasting.

Then I was searching the internet to look for ways to make it better, and I found articles saying it has been shown to lead to esophogal cancer. What do you think of this?

One Yerba Mate making company (mine is from a different producer) says:

Quote:

Most of the world’s commercially available Yerba Mate is processed using a heavily smoked drying method that uses burning wood (barbacoa) to dry the Mate leaves between 8 to 24 hours. This smoke-dried method is known to produce a Yerba Mate which contains Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), chemicals known to be carcinogens at high concentrations. PAHs are common in many foods and beverages such as water, coffee, and tea and cannot be completely avoided in the diet, but the levels of PAHs that are consumed can be minimized. At Guayaki, we have been committed to reducing the PAH levels in our Yerba Mate for many years. Our organic San Mateo Yerba Mate for instance is air-dried. Air drying is a processing technology that allows us to greatly reduce the PAH levels in our Yerba Mate. We are proud to announce that we have been testing the PAH levels in our Yerba Mate for more than a decade and the results demonstrate a significant reduction in the PAH content. Since 2008, a reputable US Government analytical lab with the most current and accurate methodology has been testing the PAH levels in our Yerba Mate every year. The results indicate that our San Mateo air-dried Yerba Mate has a significantly lower PAH level compared to other commercially available Yerba Mate’s tested. ... We would also like to recommend that you consume your Yerba Mate at a comfortable temperature. Consuming any beverage including tea, soup, and water at very high temperatures can be detrimental to your health and cause damage to the esophageal lining.

Here is a scientific paper:

Quote:

Cancer and yerba mate consumption: a review of possible associations Almost all epidemiological studies shared similar methodology: hospital-based, case-control studies where participants were personally interviewed on the main risk factors, using similar questionnaires. Several studies found an association between the temperature of the mate infusion and oral, esophageal, and/or laryngeal cancer risks; while a few focused on carcinogenic contaminants introduced during the industrial processing of the leaves. The cancer most frequently mentioned in association with hot mate with bombilla (drunk through a metal straw) was the esophagus. Size, exposure assessment, methods of analysis, and quality were different among the studies reviewed. The results varied greatly. The higher risk estimate (odds ratio = 34.6) was found for women who drank 1 L or more daily; for men it was only 4.8. Risk increased with duration, daily quantity, and temperature at drinking. ... CONCLUSIONS: The role of hot mate in increasing the risk of cancer of esophagus, larynx, and oral cavity seems to be supported by several epidemiological studies. The temperature could act by damaging the mucosa or accelerating metabolic reactions, including those with carcinogenic substances in tobacco and alcohol. However, there is no sound population-based casecontrol study on mate consumption as a risk factor for cancer. This, coupled with the range of results on mate risk, make assessing the etiological fraction difficult. More research needs to be done before a definitive statement can be made regarding cancer risk associated with any of the various forms of mate consumption.

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