All of the following info is courtesy of our friends at Yaupon Teahouse, and is by no means a medical advice or guarantee of any medical effects.
Yaupon Holly is a tree native to the Southeastern United States. Its leaves were used for thousands of years by southeastern native tribes as a stimulating beverage, medicinal plant and ceremonial drink. Amongst the most sacred of our native medicinal plants, it is the only indigenous source of caffeine in NorthAmerica. Yaupon is in the same Ilex family as Yerba Mate and Guayusa, sacred plants of South America.
Yaupon was used by Native Americans for traditional medicine, sacredceremonies, friendship rituals and as a stimulating tea-like beverage. It wasreferred to as the Beloved Tree, Big Medicine, ASI, The Purifier and the BlackDrink.
Yaupon was nurtured and transplanted where it could grow, and Native American tribes traveled great distances to consume and trade Yaupon. Ancient vessels have been discovered to contain traces of Yaupon, as far south as Mexico where the Native Americans traded with the Mayans, exchanging Yaupon forCacao. When paired together, Yaupon and Cacao was consumed as a sacred ceremonial drink. Both Yaupon and Cacao contain theobromine.
Yaupon was ubiquitous among the Native Americans of the Southern United States, used in native traditional medicine to:
Calm nerves
Create a stimulative effect
Purify water
Suppress and induce appetite
Induce sleep, dreams and visions by the medicine men who smoked it
Regulate female menstrual cycles
Heal skin as a salve for rashes and wounds
Fend off bacteria due to the plant’s anti-bacterial properties
Create fermented tea
Purify body, mind and soul as part of The Black Drink Ceremony, which involved fasting, drinking, chanting and purging
The earliest European settlers valued Yaupon, as well. They attributed the extraordinary health and longevity of the native population to Yaupon use and consumption. At the time, the average European life span was 45 years while the Native Americans were living well into their seventies.
Early settlers traded with the natives for Yaupon, sending it back to Europe under several different names. The English called it Carolina Tea, South Seas Tea and Cassina. Spanish settlers referred to Yaupon as Indian Chocolate because of itssweet flavor. The French referred to Yaupon as Appalachine after the Appalachacola Indians that had taught them about the plan. Yaupon was also known as Liberty Tea, sent to Boston to replace imported tea after the Boston TeaParty.
In the United States, southerners have a long history of using native plants to brew tea. For generations, southerners have wild-harvested Yaupon as well as other indigenous medicinal plants like Sassafras, Spanish Moss, Nettles and White Oak.
Yaupon is known to be rich in a wide variety of bioactive compounds, mainlypolyphenols and alkaloids, which play an essential role in their health benefits.
Yaupon’s Health Promoting Compounds:
Quercetin-rutinoside (Saponin) – anti-viral, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory
Kaempferol 3-rhamnoside – antioxidant, cardiovascular support, anti-cancer,anti-microbial, neuro-protective
Kaempferol 3-rutinoside – antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-allergic
Isorhamnetin – antioxidant flavanol
Cytotoxin – potent antioxidant activity
Chlorogenic Acid – antioxidant, slows release of glucose in bloodstream
Caffeine, theobromine, theophylline and theacrine offer focus, energy andstamina
In vitro studies suggest polyphenolic and flavanol compounds extracted from Yaupon leaves have a chemo preventative effect
Polyphenols in Yaupon
Polyphenols are micronutrients that we get through certain plant-based foods. They’re packed with antioxidants, and potential health benefits. Polyphenols can improve or help treat digestive issues, weight management, diabetes, neurodegenerative disease and cardiovascular disease.
Alkaloids in Yaupon
The magic is in how all these compounds “stack together,” making Yaupon the ideal beverage to accompany both mental and physical exercise.
Caffeine: This is an alkaloid in Yaupon, representing 1% to 3% of the dry leaf.The caffeine found in tea and coffee is the same molecule, the only difference being that it is proportionately more present in coffee. The caffeine content in the Wild Yaupon leaf is relatively low, however, our research farm has increased caffeine levels in our fields of organic Yaupon. The season of the harvest and climatic variations influence caffeine levels too. Caffeine is a strong stimulant to the nervous system. It is the only alkaloid to cross the brain-blood barrier. Yaupon is special in how it delivers its energy thru its unique caffeine pathway.
Theobromine: Stimulates the soft muscle tissues in the body, thus smoothing out the caffeine effect.
Theophylline: Functions as a bronchial dilator of sorts, helping to dilate veins and blood vessels, hence improving circulation. Theophylline is known as a respiratory stimulant. Simply put, theophylline makes the caffeine and theobromine energy work more efficiently.
Theanine: Acts like a time release capsule for the energy, stretching it out.
Theacrine: Adds stamina to the energy pathway. When your mind wants to stop the body, theacrine keeps you truckin’.
A Little Science About Yaupon
Antioxidant Activity: It is widely accepted that the counteraction on oxidative stress is mainly attributable to the existing phenolic compounds, especially chlorogenic acids (like mono- and dicaffeoylquinic acids) as well as flavonols, since in vitro antioxidant capacity has been confirmed to be positively correlated with their concentrations. In order to better retain the contents and stability of health-beneficial antioxidants in Ilex teas, more attention should be paid to the adjustment of industrial processing methods and the improvement of packaging methods.
Anti-Inflammatory Activity: The inflammatory response is usually accompanied by the activation of macrophages, neutrophils, and various released inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α),interleukin (IL)-1β, -6, and -12, triggering histological damage to specific tissues. Reduction of the exudate concentration, reestablishment of the balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4 and-10), and suppression of the pro-inflammatory enzyme activity areconsidered to be major therapeutic targets in inflammation treatment.
Antibacterial Activity
Lipid-Reducing Activity: For the lipid-reducing molecular mechanism, triterpenoid saponins (200 mg/kg/day) derived from latifolia was reported to lower lipids by the inhibition of sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs) via enhancing AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK phosphorylation in a non-alcoholic fatty liver disease mouse model. In addition, Yerba Mate aqueous extract was reported to improve plasma lipid profile both in vitro (3T3-L1 cells model) and in vivo (mice model), probably by inhibiting adipogenesis via down regulating the expression of adipogenes is related genes (Creb-1 and C/EBPα).
Regulation of Gut Microbiota: More recently, growing attention has beenpaid to the effect of tea beverages on gut Enhanced probiotic colonization was observed in a broiler chicken model fed with ground Yerba Mate leaf supplement (0.55% inclusion rate). Moreover, Ilex kudingcha extract (400mg/kg) was demonstrated to change the diet-disrupted gut microbiota composition to normal state and increase their diversity in HFD-fed mice. It was reported that polyphenols from I. latifolia played a critical role in establishing the structure of gut microbiota, since dietary polyphenols, especially dicaffeoylquinic acids (diCQAs), exhibited low bioavailability in the upper digestive tract, and reached the colon with an intact form and interacted with the colonic microbiota, contributing to the amelioration ofthe intestinal flora. In addition, Xie et al. reported that diCQAs from Kudingcha enhanced the diversity of intestinal microbiota in vitro and promoted the generation of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) through gut microbiota, which in turn provided nutrients and energy for the optimization of gut microbial profile. Therefore, the interaction between tea consumption and intestinal microbes can further improve the microbial colonization and promote human health.
Anti-Cancer Activity: In fact, the cytotoxic action against diverse cancer cells, such as breast cancer, oral cancer, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and colon adenocarcinoma cells, was reported in Yaupon Holly leaves. Several studies also elucidated the anti-cancer molecular mechanisms. It was reported that caffeoylquinic acids in Ilex tea extracts were able to activate the pro-apoptotic factors caspase-3 and caspase-9 in TCA8113 cancer cells, and
caspase-8 and caspase-3 in HT-29 human colon cancer cells, accompanied with the decreased expression of the inflammatory mediator NF-κB, which regulates cell proliferation, anti-apoptosis, and cell metastasis. Overall, induction of cancer cell apoptosis and suppression of chronic inflammation could be two main mechanisms of the anti-cancer activity of Ilex
Cardiovascular Protective Activity: Research on cardiovascular protection isIlex tea has great potential to be used as a preventive or therapeutic ingredient against cardiovascular diseases.
Anti-Obesity Activity: In recent years, reports have shown that caffeinated beverages from the genus Ilex, can reduce body weight and have great potential to be developed into anti-obesity drugs
Anti-Diabetic Activity: The consumption of herbal teas prepared from Ilex species is likely to be beneficial for the treatment of
Neuroprotective Activity: The caffeinated beverages from the genus Ilex also show neuro-protective activity.
