[Pete_D]

They also tested with synthetic caffeine and coffee-extracted caffeine, but didn't find much difference. Page 6 of the study has a graph, and this excerpt:

> 3.2. Caffeine, independently of its origin, abrogated lipid accumulation via regulation of lipogenic genes in vitro

> Mate tea and fractionated caffeine and decaffeinated samples were assayed for their anti-adipogenic potential in 3T3-L1 adipocytes (Fig. 3). Synthetic caffeine (SC) and caffeine extracted (CO2 super-critical extraction) from coffee (CC) were also evaluated. All samples but DM [decaffeinated mate] significantly (p < 0.05) reduced lipid accumulation (from 20.6 to 40.7%) (Fig. 3A).

We already knew caffeine had various effects on fat metabolism, so the most interesting part of the study is probably the "but not other phytochemicals in mate tea" part.