3 ms·

It's not just licorice that can have adverse health effects -- Yerba Mate contains PAHs which have been linked to some cancers: https://aacrjournals.org/cebp/a

by lsllc 4y ago

It's not just licorice that can have adverse health effects -- Yerba Mate contains PAHs which have been linked to some cancers: https://aacrjournals.org/cebp/article/17/5/1262/163501/High-Levels-of-Carcinogenic-Polycyclic-Aromatic https://aacrjournals.org/cebp/article/17/5/1262/163501/High-... Or if you want the tabloid version: https://nypost.com/2022/02/25/drinking-yerba-mate-tea-as-dangerous-as-smoking-100-cigarettes-study/ https://nypost.com/2022/02/25/drinking-yerba-mate-tea-as-dan...

cactusplant7374 4y ago
Wow: > Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a common cause of cancer death in some parts of South America, including southern Brazil, northeastern Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay (1). Drinking mate, an aqueous infusion of the herb Ilex paraguariensis (also known as yerba mate or erva mate), is considered a main risk factor for ESCC in these areas of South America (2). Daily consumption of large volumes of mate is common in these areas (3), and an association between mate drinking and ESCC has been found in most epidemiologic studies (2, 4-10).
- yinser 4y ago
  IANAD but I lived in Southern Brazil for two years and want to add that mate is traditionally drunk with basically boiling water added to the cuya. Edit: I see now in the study they measured equivalent levels of carcinogens (PAHs) in cold infusions of the drink Edit 2: the linked study does not tie PAH consumption to cancer rates, it only points out that temperature of water doesn’t affect the quantity of PAHs thus mate has lots of PAHs “ Some studies (8, 10) have reported that only the temperature at which mate was drunk was associated with ESCC risk, and amount of mate was inconsequential. Other studies (2, 6), on the other hand, have reported that both high temperature and high volume of mate consumption were important and were independently associated with risk. Yet another study (7) reported that duration and amount of mate consumption were associated with cancer risk, but temperature was not.”
DonaldFisk 4y ago
This paper https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3525749/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3525749/ by the same authors attributes the high PAH content in yerba mate to the drying process, which involves exposing the leaves to smoke. The good news is that not all yerba mate brands use this method, and unsmoked brands have a much lower PAH content. I drink yerba mate, and have recently switched to an unsmoked brand (Kraus Gaucho) because of concern about PAHs.

by lsllc 4y ago

cactusplant7374 4y ago

Wow: > Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a common cause of cancer death in some parts of South America, including southern Brazil, northeastern Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay (1). Drinking mate, an aqueous infusion of the herb Ilex paraguariensis (also known as yerba mate or erva mate), is considered a main risk factor for ESCC in these areas of South America (2). Daily consumption of large volumes of mate is common in these areas (3), and an association between mate drinking and ESCC has been found in most epidemiologic studies (2, 4-10).

yinser 4y ago
IANAD but I lived in Southern Brazil for two years and want to add that mate is traditionally drunk with basically boiling water added to the cuya. Edit: I see now in the study they measured equivalent levels of carcinogens (PAHs) in cold infusions of the drink Edit 2: the linked study does not tie PAH consumption to cancer rates, it only points out that temperature of water doesn’t affect the quantity of PAHs thus mate has lots of PAHs “ Some studies (8, 10) have reported that only the temperature at which mate was drunk was associated with ESCC risk, and amount of mate was inconsequential. Other studies (2, 6), on the other hand, have reported that both high temperature and high volume of mate consumption were important and were independently associated with risk. Yet another study (7) reported that duration and amount of mate consumption were associated with cancer risk, but temperature was not.”

DonaldFisk 4y ago

This paper https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3525749/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3525749/ by the same authors attributes the high PAH content in yerba mate to the drying process, which involves exposing the leaves to smoke. The good news is that not all yerba mate brands use this method, and unsmoked brands have a much lower PAH content. I drink yerba mate, and have recently switched to an unsmoked brand (Kraus Gaucho) because of concern about PAHs.