Congratulations to Messi and Team Argentina. That was an epic FIFA World Cup final (imo)!
Did you know that Argentina has a tea ritual before the match? Yup, it's yerba mate. According to the New York Times, the Argentina soccer team brought 1,100 pounds of yerba mate to their World Cup match in Qatar. That's a lot of tea.
They weren't the only team to ship yerba mate into Qatar. Uruguay's packed about 530 pounds, while Brazil's national team brought 26 pounds.
Yerba mate (also known as mate) is a popular herbal tea and can be brewed hot or cold. It comes from leaves of a plant (named yerba mate) which is native to South America. Mate is popular in Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina -- for hundreds of years.
It is intended to provide energy without the jitters or the crash of coffee.
"It can help to increase endurance, aid in digestion, ease the signs of aging, eliminate stress, and relieve insomnia," Elvira de Mejia, PhD, a professor in the department of food science and human nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told PopSugar.
The Argentina team sipped on yerba mate before every match. The saying goes that tea brings people together and in this case, it brings out team bonding!
Here at Babooshy, we have a mate blend with moringa and butterfly pea flowers called Rise and Shine. Check it out.
Will you drink tea like Messi? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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