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Effect of Yerba Mate (Ilex paraguariensis) on Lipid Levels: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

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Abstract

Several studies have evaluated the lipid-lowering properties of yerba mate, although the results were conflicting. The objective of this systematic review was to assess the effect of yerba mate consumption on lipid levels. A literature search was performed to detect observational and experimental studies that evaluated the association between yerba mate consumption and lipid levels. A quantitative analysis was performed with the subgroup of experimental studies. A meta-regression was performed considering the difference in baseline lipid values between the intervention and control groups as a covariate. Thirteen studies were considered eligible for this systematic review and seven studies (378 patients) were selected for quantitative analysis. In the qualitative analysis, the results were conflicting, both in the observational and in the experimental studies. In quantitative analysis, we found no differences in total cholesterol [mean difference 6.4 (CI 95% -2.2 to 15.0)], LDL-C [mean difference 5.5 (CI 95% − 1.5 to 12.6)], HDL-C [mean difference 0.4 (CI 95% -2.8 to 3.7)] and triglycerides [mean difference 5.7 (CI 95% 0.0 to 11.4)] levels when comparing the yerba mate and control groups. According to meta-regression, differences between baseline levels could influence the findings on total cholesterol and LDL-C but not on HDL-C or triglycerides. In conclusion, this research showed that yerba mate consumption was not associated with a significant change in lipid levels. Since the results are based on small inconclusive studies, more research is needed to confirm these findings.

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The data underlying this article are available in the article and in its online supplementary material.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cardiology Department, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Perón 4190, C1199ABB, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Walter Masson & Leandro Barbagelata

  2. Cardiology Department, Hospital Militar Campo de Mayo, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Martín Lobo

  3. Centro de Investigación en Endocrinología, Nutrición y Metabolismo (CIENM), Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Nacional de Formosa, Formosa, Argentina

    Juan P. Nogueira

  4. Facultad Medicina, Universidad FASTA, Mar del Plata, Argentina

    Pablo Corral

  5. Cardiology Department, Sanatorio Finochieto, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Augusto Lavalle-Cobo

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Contributions

WM and JN participated in the conception and design of the research. WM, LB and PC participated in the data collection. The interpretation of the data and the statistical analysis was done by WM and ML. WM, PC and ALC drafted the manuscript. All authors performed a critical review of the final document. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Walter Masson.

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Masson, W., Barbagelata, L., Lobo, M. et al. Effect of Yerba Mate (Ilex paraguariensis) on Lipid Levels: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 77, 353–366 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-022-00991-2

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