Does Yerba Mate Have Carbs and Sugar?

Nowadays, certain low-carb diets, like keto or paleo, are becoming more and more popular for preventing and negating obesity. A lot of people also report a beneficial effect that intermittent fasting has on weight loss. But not only people who want to lose their weight take a special care into amount of sugar and carbs that they intake on a regular basis — as of 2022 it is estimated​ that 14% of the global adult population have diabetes, and this number is unfortunately growing with each year. Even if you’re not one of these people, knowing the amount of carbs and sugar in yerba mate is still important to understand exactly how mate affects your metabolism and overall health, and what can you expect after drinking mate for a prolonged time. Let’s dive into the facts and numbers, and also explore other aspects of yerba mate that make it not only safe, but actually even more beneficial for people who want to lose weight and stabilize their blood sugar.

Why carbs are present in yerba mate?

Elaborated yerba mate that we use to prepare mate or tereré is made from the leaves and stems of Ilex Paraguariensis plant. As with any other plant on Earth, the process of photosynthesis occurs during its growth. Photosynthesis is an essential metabolic process, where a plant absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water from the soil, and uses it with sunlight to produce oxygen, that is released back into the atmosphere, and glucose, that is then partially converted into cellulose to support plant growth, with excess glucose distributed and transported across the whole plant as sucrose, and stored as starch in its roots, stems and leaves as a way to preserve this glucose and use it as source of energy for the future survival of the plant. Yerba mate is not an exception to this rule. But unlike plants like potatoes, Ilex Paraguariensis does not have big starchy roots, nor does it have any large sweet juicy fruits, just small seeds. Therefore, most excess glucose in yerba mate is stored in its leaves and stems, and that means that there are sugars and carbs present in yerba mate before it is processed.

During its production, all the yerba mate regional types, except for Brazilian erva, are aged, which means that sugars in the leaves and stems slowly break down with the oxidation that happens during aging, and develop those tasty and rich notes that we all love mate for, similarly to Maillard reaction​ in tobacco during its aging. Starches persist in the plant matter through aging, so aged yerba mate still has some carbs left in it, while sugar is usually completely broken down and not present in the final product. Unaged yerba mate, that usually comes from Brazil, still has some sugars left in it, since it’s been packaged and preserved, most often with vacuum to avoid oxidation and aging.

How many carbs and sugars are in yerba mate?

Exact numbers often vary, and depend on the season of harvest, whether yerba mate was shade- or sun-grown, soil composition and for how many months it was aged. However, looking at the different yerba mate packages we can see that this variation is not drastic, and most yerbas are in the same ballpark when it comes to carbs. Let’s compare two different types of yerba mate — an aged Argentine yerba Taragüi Con Palo, and unaged Brazilian erva Yacuy Tereré.

Taragüi package says that their portion size (50 g of yerba mate), consumed traditionally with 500 ml of water, contains total of 6 g of carbohydrates and 0 g of sugar, which corresponds with the fact that aging and oxidation process that Taragüi Con Palo underwent during its production completely broken down all sugars.

Yacuy, however, measures their portion size as a 200 ml cup. We can see that for 200 ml of the drink, it contains 4 g of carbohydrates and 2 g of sugar, which also corresponds with the fact that this erva mate is unaged, and sugars were preserved in the leaves and stems. As a side note, pay attention that Yacuy deliberately specified that there are no added sugars to the erva mate. Assuming that it was still brewed using the same amount of erva as Taragüi, we can extrapolate those numbers to 500 ml of beverage, which will make Yacuy contain 10 g of carbs and 5 g of sugar, which is more than Taragüi Con Palo, but is expected because the sugars are not broken down by aging, and together with remaining starches form a higher carbohydrate content than in aged yerba mate.

Can mate break fast?

While it’s great to know exact numbers of carbs and sugars contained in yerba mate, you probably are more interested in what those numbers actually mean for your diet and lifestyle. So, can mate actually break your fast? Technically speaking — yes, any amount of calories is enough to break fast. If you want to reap the benefits of autophagy​ that is triggered by prolonged fasting, you should not consume anything, yerba mate included.

However, for most of the fasting goals, such as weight loss and reducing insulin resistance, the majority of experts agree that staying under 50 calories should be safe and won’t negatively affect ketosis​ — such small amount of calories is simply not enough to spike insulin. So in that sense — no, mate will not break your fast, unless you pursue a very specific and strict fasting goals. If you’re doing intermittent fast, which is the most popular form of fasting, or you are on a keto or paleo diet (or other low-carb or no-carb diet), yerba mate will not interfere negatively with it and should not cause any problems. Plus, by adding mate to your daily routine, you can enjoy other countless health benefits provided by this amazing drink! In fact, one of the benefits backed by several studies is that yerba mate helps with weight loss and obesity, which means that not only you are not sabotaging your progress by drinking mate, but actually accelerating it.¹²

Is mate safe to drink for diabetics?

Disclaimer: always consult your doctor, and don’t blindly take any health advice from the internet! Take a look at the studies referenced in this article, and if you’re diabetic — discuss them with your doctor and ask for their medical opinion.

With such a low amount of carbs, and in case of aged yerba mate complete absence of sugar, drinking mate should not have any significant impact on insulin levels, and therefore should not affect both type 1 and type 2 diabetics in any significant way. As a matter of fact, there was a study that explored anti-obesity and anti-diabetic effects of yerba mate on mice, and concluded that yerba mate can potentially be used to treat obesity and diabetes.³ Unfortunately I am not aware about the studies of yerba mate effect specifically on diabetes that are done exclusively on humans, but there was a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial done in South Korea that observed a significant decrease of body fat mass in people who consumed yerba mate.⁴ To add to that, many people, including myself, report a positive effect on blood sugar levels and overall weight loss, so yerba mate can in fact potentially not only don’t harm diabetic condition, but even improve it, particularly for type 2 diabetes.

Next steps

Knowing the amount of sugars and carbohydrates in yerba mate is important. But I always encourage not to just look at yerba mate as healthy supplement or super food, but also as a delicious drink and pleasurable ritual, deeply rooted in its culture and history. Don’t just drink mate because it’s healthy for you — drink it because you appreciate its variety of flavors and nuances, drink it for satisfaction of the process of preparation, as a deliberate choice of slow and conscious lifestyle, drink it to enjoy the moment of now. If you want to learn just how diverse and vast the world of yerba mate can be — check out our collection of detailed and comprehensive yerba mate reviews of 70+ different yerba mate brands, and discover your next favorite yerba mate.

* * *

Do you drink or want to start drinking mate because of health benefits or its taste profile, or both? Are you interested in weight loss benefits of yerba mate or does it not matter to you? Have you noticed your personal positive effects of mate on weight loss and would like to report it? Share it in the comments below!

References