Yerba mate could prevent Parkinson's disease

Recent studies suggest that yerba mate may help prevent Parkinson's disease thanks to its antioxidant and polyphenol content. These natural substances protect nerve cells from oxidative damage, one of the factors that contribute to the development of neurodegenerative diseases. Regular consumption of yerba mate may be beneficial for long-term brain health.

Yerba mate and its many health-promoting effects are back in the news: this time, thanks to the results of a recent study by Argentina's National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET). The experimental study, conducted by the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires, has shown that certain compounds in yerba mate could extend the lifespan of neurons responsible for controlling locomotion, the same ones that are primarily affected by Parkinson's disease.

Based on a 2015 scientific study that observed a favorable impact on the effects of mate consumption in 223 patients with Parkinson's disease, a need arose to explain these beneficial effects of yerba mate through an experimental model and the study of potential neuroprotective substances that would prevent the development and progression of the disease.

This is how this test was developed, which involves administering synthesized yerba mate to a laboratory-grown model of these dopaminergic neurons. The result revealed a powerful neuroprotective effect of some substances contained in yerba mate, demonstrating that it reduces the death of these neurons, similar to certain substances in coffee or green tea, but even more effectively than other known neuroprotectors.

According to the study, whose extraordinary results have been published in a scientific article in the prestigious journal Movement Disorders, some key compounds in yerba mate, such as theobromine and chlorogenic acid, demonstrated more potent neuroprotective properties than caffeine and nicotine, when evaluated acting together or independently. According to the article's authors, this discovery suggests that the composition of yerba mate (some of whose active ingredients act similarly to those of coffee) could hold the key to its preventive effect against Parkinson's disease, as well as to the development and refinement of promising therapeutic advances to treat it in the future.

This would be an added advantage in a long list of benefits that come from regularly consuming yerba mate: a natural and delicious beverage that is part of daily life in South America and is beginning to gain ground in the rest of the world.

Fuentes de información