One of the best ways to combat cholesterol is to consume mate, a traditional Argentine drink with a bitter taste that, according to scientists from the University of Illinois (USA), increases the levels of “good” cholesterol in any of its 84 varieties known . And everything indicates that its benefits are due to an increase in the levels of the enzyme paraoxonase-1, which plays a cardioprotective role , as announced by the authors of the research in the journal Planta Medica .
Interestingly, this drink also has a devastating effect on colon cancer-causing cells , which commit suicide (known as apoptosis) when the concoction is added to them in vitro. In that case, it is due to caffeoylquinic acid , which damages DNA and causes cells to initiate a process of induced death or apoptosis. The compound could lead to a remedy against this disease, the leading cause of cancer death among non-smokers.
