This Beverage Could Have Weight Loss Benefits Similar to Ozempic

It's been a big week for beverages! First, we learned that coffee and tea can help lower your risk of type 2 diabetes, and now, even more research is shedding light on another potentially health-boosting drink: Yerba maté.

For those unfamiliar, yerba maté is a caffeinated tea that originated in Uruguay, where it's still incredibly popular—perhaps even more so than coffee. (At least such was the case when I lived there in high school, during which I exclusively drank yerba mate as a source of caffeine.)

It's delicious and similar to other beloved teas, probably most similar to green. And according to research from Brigham Young University, drinking it could have similar effects to taking GLP-1 medications like Ozempic.

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Published in the journal Nutrients, Brigham Young's study tracked how mice responded to yerba maté over four weeks and found that it significantly increased their GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) levels. This is a pretty big deal, since the GLP-1 hormone helps regulate blood sugar and appetite, much like GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy do.

That said, this only happens when yerba maté is consumed, not when tested on its own. According to the researchers, it's only once yerba maté’s ferulic acid interacts with gut bacteria in a human body that it’s converted into dihydroferulic acid. This subsequently helps increase GLP-1, and as a result, blood sugar levels, cravings, and hunger, too.

So really, the body's doing half the work here: its benefits rely on gut microbes breaking down the yerba mate's compounds. We love teamwork!

Related: Should You Drink Yerba Mate Instead of Coffee?

Yerba mate is far from the only caffeinated beverage that can help boost weight loss, according to Kathleen Moore, RDN, LD, a registered dietitian at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. "Caffeine stimulates adrenaline which can help break down fat, decrease appetite and improve physical activity," she previously told Parade.

However, studies suggest that typically speaking, coffee without added sugar, high-fat cream, and artificial flavorings or sweeteners seems to have a more significant impact on weight loss than other similar drinks because of its higher caffeine content. This might not have considered yerba mate, though; their caffeine content is pretty comparable.

Related: There Are Tons of Different Types of Tea Out There—Here's What to Know About All of Them

According to 2021 study published in Nutrients, five ounces of yerba maté contains 80 milligrams of caffeine per eight ounces, meaning that eight ounces has 128 milligrams. Coffee, on the other hand, has 95 milligrams of caffeine per eight ounces, according to Moore.

TL;DR? If you're trying to lose or maintain weight—and ramp up your energy with increased caffeine intake—you might want to invest in some yerba mate. Might we suggest this brand from Uruguay?

Next up:

Related: Is Coffee Healthier Than Tea or Vice Versa? Nutritionists Explain

Sources

• The Incretin Effect of Yerba Maté (Ilex paraguariensis) Is Partially Dependent on Gut-Mediated Metabolism of Ferulic Acid. Nutrients.

• Kathleen Moore, RDN, LD, registered dietitian at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

• Yerba Mate—A Long but Current History. Nutrients.