About 2pm every afternoon, Nate puts the kettle on to boil. He fills a tea infuser with Yerba Mate leaves and dried stevia leaves (for natural sweetness), places it in a large glass canning jar, pours in boiled water. And waits. We all wait. He then serves us a glass of tea and within a few minutes, we are recalibrated.
One of the healthiest forms of stimulation, Yerba Mate is a South American plant (grown primarily in Paraguay) whose leaf is traditionally consumed as tea. Yerba Mate is similar to green tea in many nutritional respects, but contains more active compounds and has the added benefit of caffeine. As well as relieving fatigue, it promotes weightloss, is a good digestive aid, and eases depression and headaches.
Full of antioxidants, amino acids, flavanoids, polyphenols, magnesium, potassium, manganese, theobromine (a natural diurectic), xanthines (chemicals that boost your metabolic rate by 10%), trace minerals, and chlorophyll.
Besides tea, yerba mate can be ground to a fine powder in a coffee grinder, and added to recipes.
Yerba Mate Energy Bars
Zest of 1/2 lemon & 1/2 lime
3/4 cup dates
1/2 cup chopped papaya
1/2 cup quinoa puffs
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 tbsp buckwheat flour
2 tsp ground yerba mate
2 tsp honey
In a food processor, process all ingredients together. Remove mixture from food processor and roll dough between the palsm of your hands to form desired size ball. Chill or freeze.
taushif
