Messi’s secret weapon: how yerba mate tea fuels his passion and performance

Lionel Messi, the Argentine football superstar, has once shared the secret behind his success is his love for yerba mate tea, a traditional brew that he drinks every day.

What is yerba mate tea, how does it help Messi and can you benefit from drinking it?

Photo by Mila on Unsplash

Yerba mate is a caffeinated drink made from the leaves of the yerba mate tree, which grows in South America. It is consumed by millions of people across the continent, especially in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil. It is also exported to other countries, where it is sold as an energy-boosting tea.

But yerba mate is more than just a beverage. For many Indigenous Peoples, such as the Ava Guaraní people in eastern Paraguay, yerba mate is a sacred plant that has been used for centuries for its medicinal and cultural benefits. It is also a source of income and livelihood for these communities, who harvest the leaves in the wild or cultivate them in their lands.

by Ilosuna, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

However, yerba mate is facing several challenges, such as climate change, deforestation and overexploitation. That is why the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Paraguayan government are supporting a project to help reforest the region, increase Indigenous communities’ nutrition and boost their incomes. The project, called “Poverty, Reforestation, Energy and Climate Change” (PROEZA), aims to capture carbon, conserve biodiversity and revive ancestral knowledge and practices.

Messi, who is also a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, has expressed his support for the project and the Indigenous Peoples who are involved in it. He said that he is proud to share his passion for yerba mate with them, and that he hopes that their efforts will help preserve the environment and their culture for future generations.

Messi is not the only footballer who enjoys yerba mate. Many of his teammates and rivals, such as Luis Suárez, Sergio Agüero, Neymar and Edinson Cavani, are also fans of the drink. They often share a mate before or after a match, as a sign of friendship and respect.

Yerba mate is not only a drink, but a way of life. It is a symbol of identity, tradition and solidarity for many South Americans. And for Messi, it is also a source of inspiration, energy and joy.