Content
Peppermint does not occur in nature. This is a separate species of hybrid of Spearmint and Watermint, obtained at the end of the 17th century in England. It serves as a medicinal raw material for the pharmaceutical and perfume industries, as it contains the most menthol and essential oils.The medicinal properties and contraindications of peppermint are well known to official medicine and herbalists.
Only peppermint is used as a medicinal raw material.
Chemical composition and value of peppermint
Peppermint, in Latin - Menthapiperita, international scientific name Mentha × piperita, is a valuable medicinal plant. In countries with warm climates it is grown on an industrial scale, but the demand for raw materials is constantly growing.
Pharmacognosy of peppermint allows us to consider Russian varieties as one of the best, and the conditions of the southern regions as suitable for the development of the plant. There they collect two full-fledged harvests per year, each time receiving 17-18 centners of dry leaves per hectare after processing. The high cost of raw materials and steadily growing demand make the crop attractive for industrial cultivation by both large farms and small farmers.
The medicinal properties and uses of peppermint are determined by its composition. For the pharmaceutical industry, the highest content of essential oils in the aerial part is of greatest importance - from 3 to 5.5%. Of these, in turn, 50-60% comes from menthol.
Peppermint contains the most volatile compounds in the initial stage of flowering:
- leaves – up to 3%;
- flowers – 4-6%.
But it’s not only the strong menthol smell and the high content of volatile compounds that make it possible to distinguish peppermint from regular mint. The leaves of the former have a cooling effect on nerve receptors, while the leaves of the latter have a warming effect.
The composition of peppermint is not limited to menthol and essential oils. It contains:
- nutrients, including vital minerals and vitamins;
- flavonoids;
- organic acids;
- betaine, which is involved in cellular synthesis and is a hepatoprotector;
- polyphenols;
- anthocyanins.
Vitamin content of peppermint
The properties of peppermint are largely due to its vitamin content. Per 100 g of dry leaf there are in mg:
- vitamin A – 0.212;
- thiamine (B1) – 0.082;
- riboflavin (B2) – 0.266;
- pantothenic acid (B5) – 0.338;
- pyridoxine (B6) – 0.129;
- folate (B9) – 0.114;
- ascorbic acid (C) – 31.8;
- vitamin PP – 1.706.
The content of essential oils in peppermint is incomparably greater than in other types
Beneficial properties of peppermint
Even the smell of culture heals - it invigorates the tired, calms the irritated, and stimulates brain activity among intellectual workers and students. The properties of peppermint continue to be researched, for example, antitumor properties are interesting. Of the already well-studied ones, the most important are:
- sedatives;
- antispasmodic;
- vasodilators;
- antibacterial;
- anti-shock;
- antipyretics;
- antiviral;
- sweatshops;
- irritating nerve endings;
- painkillers;
- choleretic;
- anti-inflammatory;
- improving digestion and intestinal motility;
- absorbable;
- immunostimulating;
- vasoactive (affecting the lumen diameter and tone of blood vessels);
- diuretics;
- laxatives;
- anthelmintics;
- expectorants;
- tonic;
- reducing the secretion of gastric juice;
- enhancing the reflex activity of the endocrine glands.
The healing properties of peppermint for men
Some members of the stronger sex are afraid to drink mint tea because it supposedly reduces potency. At the same time, the grass is considered an aphrodisiac.
For men, a small cup of mint tea is enough to increase libido. Excessive amounts act as a sedative, so it all depends on the dose. Peppermint does not reduce potency, it simply calms, disinhibits, and relieves tension. After a day of work, this naturally causes drowsiness.
Another concern for men is that mint reduces testosterone levels. This is true, but in order for the level of the hormone in the body to drop, you need to drink several cups of a strong herbal infusion every day for a long time, not tea.
It has been experimentally established that peppermint immediately after consumption reduces sperm activity. A little, for a short time. So it can’t even be considered a contraceptive.
Mint is a medicinal plant. You should not forget about this, use it in moderation. Then the beneficial properties and contraindications of peppermint for the male body will be incomparable.
As a nice bonus, weed will help:
- get rid of dandruff;
- freshen breath;
- reduce sweating.
A cup of mint tea can only be beneficial for men
The healing properties of peppermint for women
Some peoples call mint a woman's herb. It actually reduces the level of male hormones. And if the stronger sex needs to drink liters of grass in order to achieve noticeable changes, then for women a large amount of testosterone in the body is unnatural. To reduce it, it is often recommended to drink mint tea before prescribing medications.Especially when the cause of hormonal imbalance lies not in a serious illness, but in stress, poor lifestyle, or taking certain medications. This often helps, including reducing hirsutism.
You cannot diagnose and treat yourself on your own - hormonal imbalance can be caused by various reasons. The same hirsutism is the first and most harmless sign of serious diseases, for example, ovarian dysfunction. In order not to remain infertile, a woman must receive full treatment, in which mint will act as an auxiliary agent. Doctors usually do not protest, but rather welcome the inclusion of this herb in therapy.
Peppermint normalizes the monthly cycle. On the one hand, it stops uterine bleeding, on the other, it enhances scanty discharge.
Benefits of peppermint during pregnancy
The benefits and harms of peppermint for women expecting a baby depend on the dose. If the expectant mother drinks 1-2 cups of tea with a couple of aromatic leaves per day, this will only help the pregnancy proceed smoothly:
- has a beneficial effect on the nervous system, reduces anxiety;
- helps get rid of the companions of toxicosis - nausea, dizziness;
- improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, relieves heartburn, bloating, constipation;
- reduces blood pressure;
- Thanks to its antibacterial and antiseptic properties, it treats mild forms of colds without medications;
- relieves swelling.
Contraindications include intolerance to menthol and other components that make up peppermint. You should not drink tea in large doses.Starting from the 36th week, you should completely abandon it, unless your doctor advises otherwise.
Other contraindications to self-administration of peppermint by pregnant women include:
- low pressure;
- any problems with the kidneys, liver.
What are the benefits of peppermint during breastfeeding?
Peppermint reduces lactation. When breastfeeding, you should not drink tea with it, use cough syrup and lozenges that contain herbal components to treat throat diseases.
But peppermint will be useful at the stage of weaning the child from the breast. The herb has shown high effectiveness in the treatment of mastopathy, especially caused by milk stagnation.
When breastfeeding, it is better to avoid mint and lemon balm.
Can peppermint be given to children?
Doctors do not have a consensus on this matter. But everyone agrees that children under 3 years of age should not be given infusions and decoctions of peppermint. Later, you need to consult with a pediatrician and take your time - the light has not converged on this medicinal herb.
The characteristics of peppermint are such that it acts as a sedative. It has a very strong impact on a child’s body. All parents have their own criteria for behavior; even teachers cannot always correctly determine whether it is worth calming a child with medications. This is the task of doctors.
Peppermint should be introduced into your child’s diet gradually, starting with one leaf. And only when parents have the opportunity to watch the baby for at least an hour. If after a cup of tea he becomes lethargic and drowsy, you need to forget about mint for at least six months.If hives, swelling, itching, or any discomfort appear, you should immediately consult a doctor.
What does peppermint treat and how to take it correctly
Peppermint effectively treats many diseases - from acne to pre-heart attack conditions. It is usually used in therapy:
- of cardio-vascular system;
- hypertension;
- respiratory organs;
- colds;
- Gastrointestinal tract;
- musculoskeletal system;
- nervous system;
- skin diseases.
To alleviate conditions with gallstones and kidney stones, peppermint is used only under the supervision of a doctor.
For a good sleep
Insomnia is often caused by internal tension, overwork, depression, stress, and anxiety. To help you fall asleep, sometimes drinking tea with a few peppermint leaves is enough.
In especially advanced cases, it is good to drink fruit juice with a high content of sucrose, for example, grape or pineapple, adding a teaspoon of ground peppermint to it. This increases serotonin levels, which promotes sleep. The effect is no worse than that of a sleeping pill, but much tastier and healthier. You must drink it slowly, in small sips.
In the room of a hyperactive child who cannot be calmed down and put to sleep in the evening, it is recommended to hang several sprigs of peppermint. Or place dry leaves on the nightstand next to the bed.
For a cold
Peppermint, along with viburnum and raspberries, is one of the most effective home remedies for colds. The disease, in addition to elevated temperature and inflammatory processes, is usually accompanied by loss of appetite, general weakening of the body, pain, and insomnia. When treating this “bouquet,” peppermint has an advantage over berries.
Everyone knows how to drink regular tea with this herb. In severe cases, a drink is recommended that acts as a balm and helps cope with the disease without medications. If a person is allergic to some component, it is simply removed from the recipe.
Pour boiling water over mint, raspberry jam, and lemon to taste. Add 1/4 tsp. ground ginger and turmeric. Cover with a lid, wrap, leave for 30 minutes. Add honey to taste. Drink 5-6 glasses a day.
Tea with mint and lemon helps with colds
How to take peppermint for cough
Coughing is the body’s way of getting rid of substances accumulated in the respiratory tract, including phlegm. Sometimes it is caused by smoking or neurosis. Peppermint helps get rid of a dry, nervous cough, enhances mucus production, prevents the proliferation of microbes, and treats inflammation.
An excellent remedy is tea made from peppermint, lemon, and honey. If drug treatment is not taking place at the same time, you can add 1/4 tsp per glass. turmeric.
Is it possible to take peppermint for gastritis?
Inflammation of the inner walls of the stomach is accompanied by pain, colic, loss of appetite, nausea, and bad breath.Dizziness, vomiting, nervous tension, drooling, and heartburn are often observed.
Peppermint infusion will help cope with all the causes and symptoms of high or normal acidity. To prepare it, 1 tsp. dry crushed leaves are poured with a glass of boiling water, covered with a lid and heated in a water bath for 15 minutes. Wrap up and leave for 45 minutes.
Take 70-100 ml warm half an hour before breakfast, 15-20 minutes before lunch and dinner. Drink in small sips.
Does peppermint help with pancreatitis?
There can be many reasons for inflammation of the pancreas - from heredity and alcoholism, to worms and allergies. But most often pancreatitis occurs as a consequence of a duodenal ulcer or gallstone disease.
Peppermint cannot cure the pancreas, but it will help alleviate the condition. For this, 1 tbsp. l. dry leaves, pour 0.5 liters of boiling water, cover, wrap, leave for 30 minutes, filter. Three times a day, half an hour before meals, drink 1/3 glass. At this time, sugar cannot be eaten in any form; sweeteners are completely excluded from the diet.
Is it okay to have mint if you have diabetes?
High blood sugar is the result of insufficient or complete cessation of the body's production of insulin. A very tasty cocktail can relieve the condition. A glass of freshly squeezed grapefruit is mixed with a tablespoon of mint juice. In winter, the last ingredient is replaced with a teaspoon of leaf powder. Two glasses a day are enough.
Grapefruit and mint juice will help with diabetes
Does peppermint increase or decrease blood pressure?
High blood pressure and impaired vascular tone are already treated with peppermint preparations. The tincture can be taken as an auxiliary or prophylactic agent. To do this, pour 0.5 liters of boiling water over a tablespoon of dry leaves, heat it in a water bath for 15 minutes, and leave for 45 minutes. Strain, mix to taste with honey, apricot, raspberry, hawthorn or sea buckthorn jam. Drink during the day. The course is a month.
Peppermint uses
The plant has found application in all areas of life. Peppermint is used:
- official and traditional medicine for the treatment of a wide range of diseases;
- cosmetology;
- perfume industry;
- for preparing cocktails, teas, various dishes;
- when sanitizing premises;
- to repel insects;
- as a spicy aromatic plant;
- to decorate the area.
Medicinal uses of peppermint
The properties of peppermint have been well studied and are widely used in official medicine. It is included in many dosage forms. It is difficult to name a disease for which there is not at least one drug containing mint. The most famous:
- alcohol tincture;
- peppermint oil;
- Validol;
- Zelenin drops;
- mint tablets;
- Pectusin;
- Menovazin;
- aerosols Camphomen and Ingakamph;
- Anestezol suppositories;
- Olimethine;
- Efkamon ointment;
- balm Zvezdochka;
- Boromenthol.
In cosmetology
Peppermint is included in proprietary and homemade cosmetic and hygiene products.Its demand is explained by its anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and antibacterial properties. Peppermint essential oils irritate nerve endings, which causes blood flow and enhances skin regeneration.
Facial skin care
Water and alcohol infusions, lotions made from peppermint disinfect the skin, treat cuts and irritations. They are especially useful for eliminating excess oil, blackheads, and pimples.
To treat purulent inflammation, simply mash a few fresh mint leaves and apply to the skin. After 20 minutes, the paste is washed off with cool water.
Mint:
- tones the facial skin;
- strengthens capillaries;
- removes toxins;
- improves blood circulation;
- relieves inflammation and irritation;
- reduces itching;
- protects against the appearance of wrinkles;
- relieves fatigue from the eyes.
For irritated, oily, aging skin, rubbing with ice cubes from frozen mint infusion or decoction is useful. The procedure is done in the morning and evening.
Mint water is an excellent remedy:
- for removing makeup;
- skin cleansing;
- preparing the face for applying the cream.
Men can replace anti-shave products with mint decoctions or infusions. They have the ability to tone and soothe irritated skin.
Mint protects facial skin from fading
Hair care
Peppermint is an ingredient in many shampoos and other hair care products. Rinsing with a decoction of this herb has the ability to eliminate dandruff, reduce itching, and relieve fatigue. In hot weather, this procedure cools the scalp.
In folk medicine
Traditional medicine uses peppermint to treat the same ailments as official medicine. Only he does not use drugs, extracts or extracts, but teas, infusions and decoctions.
Peppermint tea
To prepare mint tea, just pour 3-5 leaves into a glass of boiling water and leave for 5-10 minutes. If desired, you can combine the herb with black or green tea leaves. Sugar, honey, lemon are used as additives.
Decoction
Pour 2 teaspoons of crushed leaves into a glass of boiling water and cover with a lid. Heat in a water bath for 15 minutes. Wrap up. Leave for 30 minutes. Strain.
Infusion
A tablespoon of crushed peppermint flowers or leaves is poured into a glass of boiling water. Close the lid - essential oils tend to evaporate. Wrap up and leave for 30 minutes. Strain. If you do not drink it within a day, store it in the refrigerator for no more than 2 days.
Tincture
Pour 10 g of dried peppermint leaves or flowers into 100 ml of vodka. Infuse for a week in a sealed glass container at room temperature, placing it in a dark place. Shake the container periodically. Strain. Store in a glass bottle in a cool place, protected from light.
Toning baths
An excellent tonic is a bath with aromatic dried herbs, which include peppermint. To prepare it, take a tablespoon:
- thyme;
- rosemary;
- peppermint.
Pour in a liter of boiling water and cover with a lid. Leave for 15 minutes. Strain and add to the bath. It is not recommended to do the procedure for more than 15 minutes.
In cooking
Peppermint is used in cooking as a spicy and aromatic plant for preparing drinks and various dishes. It has a strong, pleasant, spicy aroma and refreshing properties.
Peppermint is widely used as a flavoring in the alcoholic beverage industry. Dried leaves are used to flavor vinegar and tea. The shoots are placed in jars when pickling cucumbers.
Peppermint is used in the preparation of many cocktails. Fresh leaves decorate desserts and other dishes.
Peppermint is an ingredient in many cocktails.
What dishes are peppermint added to?
When preparing dishes, dried and fresh peppermint leaves are used. They go well with stewed vegetables, especially cabbage, leeks, and legumes. The herb is added to marinades, sauces for cheese, meat and fish dishes. Mint is added in small quantities to some soups.
The leaves are used to decorate and add a refreshing taste to desserts. Mint is an ingredient in candy, and mint candies are especially popular. It is indispensable for sweet sauces.
For weight loss
Although mint is low in calories, there are no diets based on it. Tea made from flowers and leaves is used as a weight loss aid due to the following properties:
- It has a calming effect. When a person goes on a diet, he experiences stress. Especially if you like to eat delicious food. Peppermint helps put the nervous system in order, thereby reducing the likelihood that someone losing weight will “fall off” the diet.
- Increases the flow of bile. This promotes digestion and the breakdown of fats.
- Destroys pathogenic microorganisms in the gastrointestinal tract.
- Soothes the stomach and intestines.
At home
Aromatic peppermint oils improve the health of the air in the house and destroy pathogenic microorganisms. They are even used to sanitize premises contaminated with mold fungi.
Rodents do not like the mint smell. It can be planted around buildings in the private sector. True, this saves only during the growing season of the plant.
You can mix dry mint leaves with baking soda and scatter them evenly over the carpet. Vacuum after an hour. This will refresh the product if it is not possible to have it cleaned, and will destroy the dust mites living there.
The aroma of mint, especially peppermint, will repel mosquitoes, ants, fleas, and flies. But as soon as it disappears, the insects will return.
The mosquito bite will itch less if you rub it with a fresh mint leaf. Pepper is the most effective due to its high menthol content.
Unlike cats, mosquitoes don't like mint very much.
Contraindications to the use of peppermint
You need to be careful with all medicinal herbs; whether they bring benefit or harm depends on the dose. Peppermint is no exception. Of course, to die, you need 400 g of essential oil, and it contains no more than 3% in the leaves and up to 6% in the flowers.
Using simple mathematical calculations, 4 kg of medicinal raw material (a plant without roots and stems) is obtained at a time. It is physically impossible to eat so much. If anyone tries, they'll just vomit.
But these are extremes. Even if taken in moderation, mint can cause allergies. Most often, the reaction occurs to menthol, but other components can also be the cause.
Side effects of peppermint usually appear with long-term use. If a person drinks tea with fresh or dried leaves several times a week, it’s okay. But when infusions or decoctions are regularly consumed without taking breaks, this can lead to the following consequences:
- venous tone decreases, which provokes an exacerbation of existing diseases - varicose veins, thrombophlebitis, hemorrhoids;
- constant drowsiness prevents you from getting up in the morning and makes it impossible to drive;
- headaches begin;
- Reproductive function is temporarily reduced.
There are rare but documented cases of urinary incontinence. After a month of using mint in infusions, decoctions and tinctures, you definitely need to take a break. An exception is when therapy is carried out under the supervision of a doctor, and he monitors the patient’s condition.
Direct contraindications to the use of peppermint include:
- low pressure;
- lactation;
- phlebeurysm;
- low acidity;
- allergy to peppermint;
- male and female infertility.
If menthol is poorly tolerated, even tea with peppermint should be avoided
If menthol is poorly tolerated, even tea with peppermint should be avoided
Conclusion
The medicinal properties and contraindications of peppermint are incomparable when used correctly. You can drink tea in moderate doses constantly, but you need to take breaks when taking decoctions and infusions.
