An invitro study published in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research concluded that “caffeine derivatives in mate tea not only induced death in human colon cancer cells, they also reduced important markers of inflammation.” Inflammation can trigger the progression of cancer. In the study, researchers isolated, purified, and then treated human colon cancer cells with caffeoylquinic acid (CQA) from mate tea and as they increased the CQA concentration cancer cells died as a result of apoptosis. In other words, “cancer cells self-destruct because its DNA has been damaged.” The researchers identified the mechanism that led to cell death and have completed a follow up study in which they compare the development of colon cancer in rats that drank mate tea as their only source of water with a control group that drank only water. These results will be published soon.
The researcher concluded “We believe there’s ample evidence to support drinking mate tea for its bioactive benefits especially if you have reason to be concerned about colon cancer. Mate tea bags are available in health food stores and are increasingly available in large supermarkets.”
