Peppermint (Mentha × piperita)also known as M. balsamea Willd, has been used medicinally for thousands of years. It has a pleasant taste and is a popular flavoring for food and drink. It is also used as a fragrance.
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Uses
Peppermint has a wide variety of health and medicinal uses. It is used to help treat the common cold, to calm inflammations and to soothe digestive problems.
Benefits
Peppermint tea, brewed from the plant’s leaves, is one of the most widely consumed herbal teas. The leaves have a high flavonoid content and one bag can provide a substantial amount of antioxidants.
Peppermint has traditional folk medicine use as a pain reliever and research has substantiated the assertion.
In animals, peppermint leaves have been observed to protect the liver against certain toxins.
Peppermint may play a role in relieving symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. Furthermore, vecause peppermint has a relaxing effect on smooth muscle tissue (usually cited to provide sore throat relief), it has even been reported effective when administered via enema to patients experiencing colonic spasms during barium enemas.
Some studies even suggest peppermint may have anticarcinogenic effects.
Cautions
When used orally, it may cause heartburn, perianal burning, blurred vision, nausea and vomiting. Heartburn is related with the release of the oil in the upper GI tract, which relaxes the lower oesophageal sphincter, facilitating the reflux. The same occurs in the cases of hiatal hernia. This particular undesirable effect is minimized by an appropriate pharmaceutical formulation. **Peppermint essential oil should always be in an enteric-coated tablet or capsule for internal use although even with enteric-coated capsules, anal burning, rashes, headache, muscle tremors, diarrhea, and ataxia have been reported. (AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook)
Interactions
None are recorded.
Other names
n/a
References
Source: GlobalHealingCenter, http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/health-benefits-peppermint-leaf/
HerbWisdom, http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-peppermint.html
Naha.org, https://www.naha.org/naha-blog/peppermint-safety-info/