This natural South American drink works like Ozempic — and can lower your risk of heart disease

Skinny jab? Try skinny juice.

A natural, plant-based drink enjoyed for centuries in South America may help you reach your weight loss goals the same way GLP-1 medications do.

And it puts Ozempic’s $1,000-a-month bill to shame, costing just a few bucks at supermarkets and on Amazon.

Yerba maté is a plant native to southern parts of South America, including Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. The leaves are brewed into an herbal tea, traditionally inside a mate gourd. It tastes earthy, bitter and a bit like green tea.

For years, it’s been linked to weight loss — and a new study published in the journal Nutrients in February found that it makes the body behave similarly to how it does on semaglutide drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.

In the study, mice were given yerba maté for four weeks. The researchers found that at the end of the trial, the critters had “significantly” higher levels of GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) in their blood.

Why does that matter? GLP-1 is a hormone that your gut creates after you eat. It plays a role in regulating your blood sugar, and also tells your body when you’re full so you stop eating.

Drugs like Ozempic mimic this natural GLP-1, making people feel fuller faster, which typically leads them to eat less and ultimately lose weight.

But yerba maté seems to stimulate the body into producing more GLP-1 naturally, resulting in the same feelings of fullness and reduction in appetite.

The study’s authors at Brigham Young University said their findings suggest that the tea could prove promising for management of metabolic disorders.

This is just the latest research to show that that yerba maté can be used as a weight loss aid. A 2019 study found that it stimulates the breakdown of fats, while a study conducted in 2015 found that people who drank it for three months lost body fat.

Maté also contains caffeine, which has been shown to promote weight loss as well.

However, registered dietitian Scott Keatley, the co-owner of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy, warns that maté isn’t really a direct replacement for Ozempic or Wegovy.

“We’re talking about effects that are subtle and short-lived — not the metabolic reprogramming that happens with GLP-1 drugs [like Wegovy],” he told Women’s Health. “No one’s dropping 15% of their body weight from sipping maté.

“If someone enjoys yerba maté and wants a gentle nudge toward appetite control, there’s no harm in incorporating it as part of a comprehensive weight management strategy. But relying on it as a Wegovy alternative? That’s misleading and oversells what this drink can do.”

Still, the drink has been linked to other benefits that may make it worthwhile.

One study done in 2023 found that it’s antimicrobial and can help protect against bacterial infections.

Meanwhile, another found that overweight women who drank it every day had lowered their bad (LDL) cholesterol levels after 12 weeks. High levels of LDL lead to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.