Carcinogens like benzopyrene in cigarette smoke, grilled chicken, and yerba mate tea may explain higher rates of certain cancers in consumers.
Yerba Mate and Cancer: Do Its Benefits Outweigh Its Risks?
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Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
Yerba mate teas have been consumed for centuries by the South American indigenous peoples, and today, certain regions of Latin America have a quart (950 ml) a day. So, understanding what’s in mate is important, particularly if there are “High levels of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons”—including one of the most potent, benzopyrene, which is known to be cancer-causing in humans, and is found concentrated in cigarette smoke, grilled and barbequed meat, and mate.
These carcinogenic compounds are fat soluble, though, and may not readily transfer from the mate leaves into the water. It turns out transfer rates can be anywhere between 1 percent to 50 percent, depending on the brewing method. But levels in mate leaves are so high that even if about five percent transfers into the tea, heavy mate consumption could be the benzopyrene equivalent to smoking about four cigarettes. Each cigarette has around 10 nanograms, so that would be 40 nanograms, or the amount of carcinogenic benzopyrene found in about one-tenth of a serving of grilled chicken. Okay, but a direct comparison between breathing in the chemical, versus eating or drinking––it may be inaccurate because we absorb it differently. Maybe, but when the levels of a breakdown product of these kinds of chemicals were measured in the urine of smokers versus mate drinkers, those who drank more than two or four cups (480 or 960 ml) of mate a day appeared to have as much of these carcinogens flowing through their systems as smokers.
Okay, but does this actually translate out into higher cancer rates? I mean, mate has more antioxidant power than green tea, significantly increasing the antioxidant capacity of the bloodstreams of those randomized to drink it. So, might the good outweigh the bad? Apparently not. Mate drinkers have about double the odds of cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and voicebox.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Kaltbach P, Ballert S, Gillmeister M, Kabrodt K, Schellenberg I. Mate (Ilex paraguariensis) tea preparations: Understanding the extraction of volatile and non-volatile compounds upon variations of the traditional consecutive infusions. Food Chem. 2022;374:131756.
- Kamangar F, Schantz MM, Abnet CC, Fagundes RB, Dawsey SM. High levels of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in mate drinks. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2008;17(5):1262-1268.
- Humans IWG on the E of CR to. Chemical Agents and Related Occupations. International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2012.
- Alam S, Conway MJ, Chen HS, Meyers C. The cigarette smoke carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene enhances human papillomavirus synthesis. J Virol. 2008;82(2):1053-1058.
- Kazerouni N, Sinha R, Hsu CH, Greenberg A, Rothman N. Analysis of 200 food items for benzo[a]pyrene and estimation of its intake in an epidemiologic study. Food Chem Toxicol. 2001;39(5):423-436.
- Oranuba E, Deng H, Peng J, Dawsey SM, Kamangar F. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as a potential source of carcinogenicity of mate. J Environ Sci Health C Environ Carcinog Ecotoxicol Rev. 2019;37(1):26-41.
- Swauger JE, Steichen TJ, Murphy PA, Kinsler S. An analysis of the mainstream smoke chemistry of samples of the U.S. cigarette market acquired between 1995 and 2000. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2002;35(2 Pt 1):142-156.
- Fagundes RB, Abnet CC, Strickland PT, et al. Higher urine 1-hydroxy pyrene glucuronide (1-ohpg) is associated with tobacco smoke exposure and drinking maté in healthy subjects from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. BMC Cancer. 2006;6:139.
- Mello FW, Scotti FM, Melo G, Warnakulasuriya S, Guerra ENS, Rivero ERC. Maté consumption association with upper aerodigestive tract cancers: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Oral Oncol. 2018;82:37-47.
- Bixby M, Spieler L, Menini T, Gugliucci A. Ilex paraguariensis extracts are potent inhibitors of nitrosative stress: a comparative study with green tea and wines using a protein nitration model and mammalian cell cytotoxicity. Life Sci. 2005;77(3):345-358.
- Boaventura BCB, Di Pietro PF, Stefanuto A, et al. Association of mate tea (Ilex paraguariensis) intake and dietary intervention and effects on oxidative stress biomarkers of dyslipidemic subjects. Nutrition. 2012;28(6):657-664.
Motion graphics by Avo Media
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
Yerba mate teas have been consumed for centuries by the South American indigenous peoples, and today, certain regions of Latin America have a quart (950 ml) a day. So, understanding what’s in mate is important, particularly if there are “High levels of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons”—including one of the most potent, benzopyrene, which is known to be cancer-causing in humans, and is found concentrated in cigarette smoke, grilled and barbequed meat, and mate.
These carcinogenic compounds are fat soluble, though, and may not readily transfer from the mate leaves into the water. It turns out transfer rates can be anywhere between 1 percent to 50 percent, depending on the brewing method. But levels in mate leaves are so high that even if about five percent transfers into the tea, heavy mate consumption could be the benzopyrene equivalent to smoking about four cigarettes. Each cigarette has around 10 nanograms, so that would be 40 nanograms, or the amount of carcinogenic benzopyrene found in about one-tenth of a serving of grilled chicken. Okay, but a direct comparison between breathing in the chemical, versus eating or drinking––it may be inaccurate because we absorb it differently. Maybe, but when the levels of a breakdown product of these kinds of chemicals were measured in the urine of smokers versus mate drinkers, those who drank more than two or four cups (480 or 960 ml) of mate a day appeared to have as much of these carcinogens flowing through their systems as smokers.
Okay, but does this actually translate out into higher cancer rates? I mean, mate has more antioxidant power than green tea, significantly increasing the antioxidant capacity of the bloodstreams of those randomized to drink it. So, might the good outweigh the bad? Apparently not. Mate drinkers have about double the odds of cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and voicebox.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Kaltbach P, Ballert S, Gillmeister M, Kabrodt K, Schellenberg I. Mate (Ilex paraguariensis) tea preparations: Understanding the extraction of volatile and non-volatile compounds upon variations of the traditional consecutive infusions. Food Chem. 2022;374:131756.
- Kamangar F, Schantz MM, Abnet CC, Fagundes RB, Dawsey SM. High levels of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in mate drinks. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2008;17(5):1262-1268.
- Humans IWG on the E of CR to. Chemical Agents and Related Occupations. International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2012.
- Alam S, Conway MJ, Chen HS, Meyers C. The cigarette smoke carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene enhances human papillomavirus synthesis. J Virol. 2008;82(2):1053-1058.
- Kazerouni N, Sinha R, Hsu CH, Greenberg A, Rothman N. Analysis of 200 food items for benzo[a]pyrene and estimation of its intake in an epidemiologic study. Food Chem Toxicol. 2001;39(5):423-436.
- Oranuba E, Deng H, Peng J, Dawsey SM, Kamangar F. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as a potential source of carcinogenicity of mate. J Environ Sci Health C Environ Carcinog Ecotoxicol Rev. 2019;37(1):26-41.
- Swauger JE, Steichen TJ, Murphy PA, Kinsler S. An analysis of the mainstream smoke chemistry of samples of the U.S. cigarette market acquired between 1995 and 2000. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2002;35(2 Pt 1):142-156.
- Fagundes RB, Abnet CC, Strickland PT, et al. Higher urine 1-hydroxy pyrene glucuronide (1-ohpg) is associated with tobacco smoke exposure and drinking maté in healthy subjects from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. BMC Cancer. 2006;6:139.
- Mello FW, Scotti FM, Melo G, Warnakulasuriya S, Guerra ENS, Rivero ERC. Maté consumption association with upper aerodigestive tract cancers: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Oral Oncol. 2018;82:37-47.
- Bixby M, Spieler L, Menini T, Gugliucci A. Ilex paraguariensis extracts are potent inhibitors of nitrosative stress: a comparative study with green tea and wines using a protein nitration model and mammalian cell cytotoxicity. Life Sci. 2005;77(3):345-358.
- Boaventura BCB, Di Pietro PF, Stefanuto A, et al. Association of mate tea (Ilex paraguariensis) intake and dietary intervention and effects on oxidative stress biomarkers of dyslipidemic subjects. Nutrition. 2012;28(6):657-664.
Motion graphics by Avo Media
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Title
Yerba Mate and Cancer: Do Its Benefits Outweigh Its Risks?
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Content URLDoctor's Note
What about green tea? See:
- Benefits of Green Tea for Boosting Antiviral Immune Function
- Can Green Tea Help Prevent Cancer?
- Can Green Tea Help Treat Cancer?
- Treating Prostate Cancer with Green Tea
- Preventing Prostate Cancer with Green Tea
- Tea and Artery Function
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