Why is mate so popular among athletes?

French striker Antoine Griezmann is a yerba fanatic. His love for this drink even helped popularize yerba mate in France after the French team's World Cup triumph.

Introduced to the South American beverage by his Uruguayan teammate Carlos Bueno, Griezmann has been praising yerba mate across all social media platforms. He has also introduced several of his French teammates to the hot drink – including Manchester United playmaker Paul Pogba .

In interviews, the FC Barcelona player claims that his concentration , reflexes and mental health are all stimulated by consuming the hot drink .

But are these effects scientifically proven? What are the impacts of yerba mate on athletic performance?

A recently published study examined the effects of yerba mate on performance and physical activity in eleven well-trained male cyclists.*

* [Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2018 Jul; 50 (7): 1525] .

The cyclists were divided into two groups:

• One group consumed five grams of yerba mate daily for five days and on the morning of an exercise trial.
• The other group consumed five grams of a placebo substance.

The study consisted of a maximum oxygen consumption test (from very easy to quite difficult). Each stage lasted five minutes.

Following this, the cyclists underwent a time trial (approximately 30 minutes) where they had to complete a predetermined amount of work.

In addition to time trial performance measurements, all cyclists underwent blood tests and breath tests to assess any differences in metabolism when administered yerba mate.

Neither the cyclists nor the researchers knew who was drinking the yerba mate and when .

The first key finding was that when cyclists drank yerba, scientists observed a highly significant 23% increase in fat burning during the more moderate intensity levels of the test.

At much higher intensities - i.e. during the time trial, when carbohydrate combustion was the main source of energy - there were no significant differences in the rate of carbohydrate oxidation.

However, there was a difference in performance ; when the cyclists drank the drink, they completed the time trial in 29.4 minutes, 2.2% faster than when they took the placebo (30.1 minutes).

Further analysis also showed that the South American drink allowed cyclists to increase their power and oxygen consumption levels by seven watts .

So, is mate good for all types of athletes?

Yerba mate is rich in various properties. Indeed, it contains vitamins (A, C, E, B1, B2), magnesium, potassium and phosphorus .

In addition, antioxidants are useful dietary supplements, aiding in weight management, while the vitamin B and C content is important for maintaining a healthy immune system.

Like previous studies, this one shows that yerba has the ability to improve fat burning during moderate-intensity exercise for amateur athletes.

What is new here is that it also appears to improve endurance performance in well-trained endurance athletes - something that had never been observed before.

In addition, we know from other recent research in animal studies that yerba mate appears to be able to increase the rate of mitochondrial synthesis*.

* [Mol Nutr Food Res. May 31, 2018: e1800142] .

Samuel Umtiti and his personalized calabash

Griezmann before a match with the French national team

Cavani and his mate, a true tradition

Suarez and his gourd for mate in Liverpool

Del Potro in Paris before Roland Garros

Synonymous with a culture, yerba mate has gradually won over many athletes, both for its flavor and its benefits to athletic performance. We are seeing more and more enthusiasts openly displaying their complete equipment, the mate kits , to enjoy a traditional mate ( gourd , bombilla , and thermos ).