Help! I'm addicted to Yerba

[Sententia]

well friends, it's been about a month now of me drinking Yerba Mate, and I haveto say I am addicted. I am a non-smoker, but at night I get these cravings.. and start having headaches until I satisfy my urges and fix a pot of Yerba Mate tea. I feel so great after it's unbelievable .. so my question is, are their additives in this tea, like the chemicals in cigarettes ? How can I ween off this tea.. and what are some experiences you have with Yerba.

[bsteele]

Perhaps there is a Yerba Anonymous group?



No additives in mate. I'd just chalk it up to the fact that your body has become accustomed to your yerba sessions and its wondrous effects on the body... it's always wanting more and more.

Hmmm there is no yerba patch that I am aware of...

[Symmetry]

I've never tried Yerba Mate...but based on what you said, I'm hesitant to! I've already got one vice, smoking, and I don't want another.

[morningbus]

Yerba Mate can have as much caffeine as coffee, so you've probably gotten your body used to high amounts of it. That would definitely explain any headaches you're having, at least.

As for trying to back down from a caffeine addiction, you can try drinking a strong green tea, which would have significantly less caffeine and a taste somewhat similar to mate. Or, you could try mixing some caffeine-free tea like rooibos with your yerba.

[Earl Grey]

I've tried yerba mate green (no-flavoured) tea and I really didn't like the taste; it was disgusting, to be honest. Now, is it posible that it was matter of that particular one or yerba mate anyway has that..."special" taste?

[teop]

I'm a long time (recovered) addict. When I crossed the 1 kg a month mark, I decided to start backing off. That and I got wicked headaches if I didn't have any mate for a day...

The key to backing off on mate or any other item with caffeine was hit on by bsteele. Watch the caffeine drop! Mate has a crazy kick, especially if you brew in a traditional style using a gourd (big volume for lots of tea leaf) and if you are drinking solo (all that caffeine is going into you). So start cutting the volume and mix in other caffeine sources.

My other advice is to get yourself a very small gourd or wood cup if you brew in the traditional style. I found that to be an easy way to limit the amount of leaf used. I still drink mate a few times a month and my small gourd keeps me from getting too out of control.

And to cause a bit of trouble on my way out, I'll recommend trying some Cruz de Malta if you've missed that brand. Mmmm good. Chop is a little fine for my preferences, but it taste so good.

[Poohblah]

First, mate is not (supposedly) addictive. Yes, it does contain caffeine, but not only is there less caffeine in a cup of mate than in a cup of green tea, but the caffeine in mate is paired with different chemicals than in most caffeinated drinks, rendering mate non-addictive.

Sources for this info:
http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/yer_02.htm
http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncom ... t#caffeine
http://www.erowid.org/plants/yerba_mate ... try1.shtml

(can't link due to low # of posts)

I know you can't always trust the internet, so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. So I think that you could be addicted, and I wouldn't doubt it if you're consuming 1kg/month like the chap above. That said, there are far worse things to be addicted to than mate , plus it takes large amounts to be addicted in the first place.

[Shambles]

You've just reminded me that I need to run across town for mate, as I'm down to the dust at the bottom of my Rosamonte Especial.

I can't drink coffee any more because the caffeine gives me the jitters, but yerba mate is almost drug-like in its hit. (Perhaps this is because I don't take drugs; I'm teetotal, too. I think this makes me more atune to the effects various substances have on me.) Needless to say, I love mate - but decided to cut down.

I seem to remember feeling quite tired the first couple of days. Now I drink it as a perfect Saturday morning pick-me-up.

[TwoPynts]

I haven't cared much for the mates I tried thus far.

Are there and acceptable ones to be had at your local grocer

[Gar23]

Ito-en recently came out with a blend of sencha and yerba that got me hooked. If your grocery store has a half decent tea selection its located with the bottled and canned teas.

They seem to brew the yerba pretty weak though. When I tried brewing it myself with sencha it came out really strong.

[Ansel]

I am addicted to yerba mate. Probably no more than i am addicted to coffee but it seems hard to quit it. Yerba mate does good things for me so there are much worse things to be addicted to but... i get a panic attack once a week and i think this is the yerba mate giving me this.

[franklucido]

Posted by Shambles
Re: Help! I'm addicted to Yerba
https://writemyessaytoday.net/

You've just reminded me that I need to run across town for mate, as I'm down to the dust at the bottom of my Rosamonte Especial.

I can't drink coffee any more because the caffeine gives me the jitters, but yerba mate is almost drug-like in its hit. (Perhaps this is because I don't take drugs; I'm teetotal, too. I think this makes me more atune to the effects various substances have on me.) Needless to say, I love mate - but decided to cut down.

I seem to remember feeling quite tired the first couple of days. Now I drink it as a perfect Saturday morning pick-me-up.

I ordered Rosamonte Especial twice I guess and I didn't notice any addiction. I know it's called "heavy-hitting" by many on forums, but it didn't produce any relative effect on me. Perhaps, that's because of my back post-surgery treatment (I take some pills). Any experience with other Yerba mate types?

[BarryRah]

Having only found Miss Hybrids site a couple of days ago I know, I know....Im an idiot, I think Im addicted and Im also angry with Miss

Thanks to her, any other site I visit now looks amateur, weak, unoriginal, neglected, stale

Thanks Miss. Thanks a lot

[JoonasJ]

I have been drinking yerba mate almost every day for many years. However, I don't feel like I have any kind of addiction to it. Sometimes when I go traveling I forget to take my yerba mate with me and I can do just fine without it.

I am not saying that you can't get addicted to it, it's just that I have not (yet ) developed an addiction.

If you feel bad about drinking too much yerba mate, maybe this fact will make you feel a little bit better: yerba mate is very good for your health!
I wrote an article about yerba mate health benefits: https://yerbamateculture.com/yerba-mate ... -benefits/
Check it out!

Of course, too much is too much. In some situations, it might be a good idea to lessen the use of yerba mate a bit.