Yerba Mate and Green Juice

Yerba mate is a South American plant whose leaf is commonly used to make a tea-like infusion. It's similar to green tea in many nutritional respects -- it's rich in chlorophyll, packed with several trace minerals, vitamins, amino acids, and antioxidants. Yerba Mate is one of the healthiest forms of stimulation. When brewed as directed, Yerba Mate provides an ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) value of 10,000 umoITE/240 ml, which is five times stronger than a typical cup of green tea.

What are ORAC Unites: The ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) unit, ORAC value, or "ORAC score" is a method of measuring the antioxidant capacity of different foods and supplements. It was developed by scientists at the National Institutes of Health. While the exact relationship between the ORAC value of a food and its health benefit has not been established, it is believed that foods higher on the ORAC scale will more effectively neutralize free radicals. According to the free-radical theory of aging, this will slow the oxidative processes and free radical damage that can contribute to age-related degeneration and disease.

My morning Mate and Green Juice infusion.......

Loose-leaf mate

 Brew/steep the loose mate in a tea ball with warm water (not boiling) for 4-5 minutes. Moisten the herb with cool water before brewing. Or, steep directly in cold water for 10 minutes. Boiling water destroys the antioxidants and nutrition of the mate. Boiling the water also tends to make the mate taste more bitter and 'burnt.

 I then combine the Mate and my Green Juice (spinach, kale, and lemons) for my delicious, energizing and healthy morning drink! If I'm doing a double workout at the gym, I bring along a small mixture of the mate and green juice. I sip throughout my workout.