Hi guys,
I just stumbled across a site that tries to debunk the "myth" about Yerba Mate not containing caffeine. Please have a look and let me know what you think:

http://www.erowid.org/plants/yerba_mate/yerba_mate_chemistry1.shtml

I have been drinking mate faithfully every day for a couple of years ever since I gave up coffee. Now this article is saying I've actually been taking caffeine, which I should strictly avoid? WT....!!!!  

I always thought it had caffeine in it.

This seems true enough to me, but there are so many modifying factors that could indeed result in a gentler stimulant as my bottle of extract suggests. It could also just be a lower level of stimulant. I do get a boost from it, while coffee just irritates my nervous system.

I remember reading (somewhere?) that the caffeine in mate is a different type, as in chemically different than that in coffee. It feels different to me,. Less buzzy than coffee or than green tea.

I have coffee and black tea as "avoids" while yerba mate and cocoa are beneficial and green tea is a diamond. Clearly, the caffeine isn't the problem with coffee or black tea.

Where did you get the idea that you should strictly avoid caffeine?

It is not the caffeine we are not supposed to have.. It is the Coffee Beans that are not good for us.. In fact we are advised to drink the caffeine in the green tea to help weaning us off the caffeine in coffee..

Likewise, homeopathy recommends against coffee of any type. It's not the caffeine, but something else in it can antidote many of the remedies.

Quoted from balletomane

Now this article is saying I've actually been taking caffeine, which I should strictly avoid? WT....!!!!  

Do you really mean that you are supposed to strictly avoid caffeine?  Sometimes people say that, but really mean to say "strictly avoid coffee".  Coffee is an avoid for many people for different reasons than caffeine.  Most of us thrive on green tea, many of us thrive on Mate, but not many of us thrive on coffee.  

mateine
way different!!  at least my body tells me so

its NOT the caff-eine.. its the Beans,,

.....eine.. in any other form like green tea is OK..

Yerba Mate makes me too hyper. It used to be a super for me, but now it is a neutral. I do not like the way I feel after drinking it - so I don't.  

Quoted from Spring

Yerba Mate makes me too hyper. It used to be a super for me, but now it is a neutral. I do not like the way I feel after drinking it - so I don't.  

Spring, must be the Explorer in us. I can't drink it either and it's a genoharmonic for many foods for me. Shortly after I drink it, I feel very jittery, my heart is not pounding, but there is a very uneasy vibration that goes on in my chest. My Hunter husband does just fine with it. Green tea with matcha powder for me can be drunk before bed and I'll sleep! It all boils down to individuality doesn't it, even amongst the same genotypes. I would assume that not all Explorers have this reaction, but who knows?  

Hi guys,
I understand it is not about the caffeine but the beans, etc.... but, I got the idea from somewhere that for those who have uterine fibroids, caffeine of any form should be avoided. However, the source could just have made a mistake... as obviously green tea is so good for me I also feel good after Yerba Mate. So hopefully I can continue to drink it  

I bought some yerba mate teabags, felt sick as the tea bags contained stevia!!  Doesn't caffeine weaken bones/teeth - some interaction to do with losing calcium from bones?

There seems to be a lot of debate about what yerba mate actually does have.  I have read that it's not caffeine, it's mateine....but all I can say for sure is that it doesn't make me feel like caffeine makes me feel.  My body processes it differently.

I don't think it matters much whether it's "mateine and not caffeine" or "It contains caffeine plus theobromine and theophylline which change how the body reacts to the caffeine." The fact is that yerba mate reacts differently in the body than coffee, black tea, or green tea.

Some people have bad reactions to coffee but are fine with yerba mate. Some people are the inverse (can't tolerate mate.) Some people can't handle any caffeine or caffeine-like substance at all. Many of us do fine on yerba mate but not on coffee.

It all boils down to individuality. How do you react to drinking yerba mate? You get jittery or it messes up blood sugar control? OK then, don't drink it. You feel energized? Then drink it! You feel the same before and after drinking it? Then drink it if you want to, and skip it if you're not in the mood or don't enjoy it.

Balletomane- I suggest you do some more research on the "caffeine and uterine fibroids" connection. It could have been a "coffee and fibroids" connection, which would make green tea and yerba mate acceptable. However, if there IS a connection between any form of caffeine intake and fibroids, then you might need to avoid yerba mate, even if SWAMI considers it to be a diamond. I haven't personally done the research on this topic.

I'm OK with a little Mate but if I drink too much I get what feels like flutters in my checst.  I occasionally have the Republic of Tea Double Dark Chocolate Mate but only one cup.  

I have no problems with green tea or red tea or for that matter coffee.  My understanding from years ago on this board that the issue with coffee for many people is it's acidic nature.  I very very rarely have any but even black coffee doesn't seem to bother me.

Quoted from Jane

My understanding from years ago on this board that the issue with coffee for many people is it's acidic nature.

This may be a part of the reason for how it is rated, but it isn't the entire reason.  If that were true, Dr. D would have rated cold water extract coffee differently than just 'coffee'.  (which he didn't do)