Yerba Maté Lowers LDL Cholesterol

FLORIANÓPOLIS, BrazilYerba maté improved the lipid parameters in both normolipidemic participants and subjects with elevated lipid levels, and reduced low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in subjects on statin treatment, which may reduce the risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in a recent study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (2009;57(18):8316-24).
Fifteen normolipidemic, 57 dyslipidemic and 30 hypercholesterolemic subjects on long-term statin therapy drank 330 mL (about 11 oz) of green or roasted yerba maté infusions three times/d for 40 days. In normolipidemic subjects, Yerba maté consumption reduced LDL-cholesterol by 8.7 percent (P<0.05). Compared with the baseline period, Yerba maté intake by dyslipidemic individuals for 20 and 40 days lowered LDL cholesterol by 8.1 and 8.6 percent (P<0.001). In addition, after 20 days of Yerba maté intake, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol was increased by 4.4 percent (P<0.01). In all participants, triglyceride levels remained unchanged. The consumption of Yerba maté by hypercholesterolemic individuals on statin therapy promoted additional 10.0 and 13.1 percent reductions in LDL after 20 and 40 days, respectively (P<0.001) and increased HDL by 6.2 percent after 40 days (P<0.05).