Why is mate so popular among athletes?

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

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

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

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

A recently published study examined the effects of yerba mate on physical performance and 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 per day 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 maximal 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 the cyclists drank yerba, the scientists saw a very significant 23% increase in fat burning during the more moderate intensity levels of the test.

At much higher intensities - that is, during the time trial, when carbohydrate burning was the primary energy source - 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 output and oxygen consumption levels by seven watts .

But then, is mate good for all types of athletes?

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

Additionally, 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 enhance fat burning during moderate-intensity exercise for recreational athletes.

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

Additionally, 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 gourd

Griezmann before a match with the French team

Cavani and his mate, a true tradition

Suarez and his mate gourd in Liverpool

Del Potro in Paris before Roland Garros

Synonymous with a culture, yerba has gradually seduced a good number of athletes both for its taste and for its benefits on sports performance. We see more and more fans coming out in the open equipped with complete equipment, mate kits , to enjoy a traditional mate ( calabash , bombilla and thermos ).