Gugliucci (1996) showed that ingestion of I. However, studies of the antioxidant properties of I. paraguariensis promotes vascular relaxation ( Muccillo Baisch et al., 1998), exhibits superoxide scavenging ability and inhibits lipid peroxidation, including LDL oxidation, in several in vitro systems ( Leonard et al., 2010 Matsumoto et al., 2009 Schinella et al., 2000). Additionally, it has been reported that consumption of I. paraguariensis could inhibit the progression of atherosclerosis in cholesterol-fed rabbits ( Mosimann et al., 2006). It was shown recently that an aqueous extract of I. Furthermore, the fact that the populations studied also consumed alcohol and tobacco products confounds the influence of yerba mate as an independent factor. However, there are no studies on the carcinogenicity of yerba mate in experimental animals and the mechanism is unknown. Other research has shown that yerba mate contains carcinogenic compounds, suggesting a causal mechanism associating the drink with increased cancer risk ( Fagundes et al., 2006 Kamangar et al., 2008). Some studies suggest that it is the very hot temperature at which yerba mate is typically consumed that increases esophageal cancer risk, rather than yerba mate itself ( Dasanayake et al., 2010 Islami et al., 2009 Loria et al., 2009 Rolon et al., 1995).

The consumption of yerba mate is most consistently associated with esophageal cancer ( Goldenberg et al., 2003 Loria et al., 2009 Szymanska et al., 2010). In contrast, numerous studies have linked regular drinking of yerba mate with an increased risk of cancers of the mouth ( Goldenberg, 2002), head and neck ( Goldenberg et al., 2003), esophagus ( Loria et al., 2009), bladder ( Kamangar et al., 2008), larynx ( Loria et al., 2009) and kidney ( Kamangar et al., 2008) and as well as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma ( De Stefani et al., 1998). Yerba mate has antimutagenic and antioxidant properties ( Bracesco et al., 2003 Miranda et al., 2008). Herbal stores in Europe, and more recently in the United States, market yerba mate under the claim that it will aid in weight management ( Arcari et al., 2009 Heck and de Mejia, 2007 Pang et al., 2008).

Yerba mate is sold in commercial herbal preparations as a central nervous system stimulant, a diuretic and an antirheumatic ( Chandra and De Mejia Gonzalez, 2004). Luís Cristóvão Porto, in Tea in Health and Disease Prevention, 2013 Biological Effects of I.

Yerba mate drink