Peppermint Leaf
The combination of peppermint’s menthol oils and tannins makes it a powerful decongestant. Improve breathing by steeping fresh or dried peppermint leaves in boiling water to create a sinus-clearing tea.
Peppermint has been one of the popular herbs known since antiquity for its distinctive aroma and medicinal value. The herb has a characteristic refreshing cool breeze sensation on taste buds, palate and throat when eaten; and on nasal olfaction glands when inhaled. This unique quality of mint is due to the presence of menthol, an essential oil in its fresh leaves and stem.
Peppermint oil is frequently used as an anodyne or analgesic to ease headaches when applied across the forehead and temples. The first report to suggest that peppermint oil helped to relieve headache was published in the British medical journal Lancet in 1879. But the first double blind, crossover study on the effect of peppermint oil in tension type headache was conducted in Germany in 1996. Researchers analyzed 164 headache attacks of 41 subjects and found that a locally applied ethanol solution of 10 percent peppermint oil significantly reduced pain in the experimental group within 15 minutes, and was as effective in relieving headache as the 1,000 mg. of acetaminophen given to the control group. (15)
Health benefits of peppermint
- Mint contains numerous plant derived chemical compounds that are known to have been anti-oxidant, disease preventing and health promoting properties. Total antioxidant strength (ORAC) of fresh peppermint herb is 13978 µmol TE/100 g.
- The mint herb contains no cholesterol; however, it is rich in essential oils, vitamins and dietary fiber, which helps to control blood cholesterol and blood pressure inside the human body.
- The herb parts contain many essential volatile oils like menthol, menthone, menthol acetate. These compounds effect on cold-sensitive receptors in the skin, mouth and throat, the property which is responsible for the natural cooling-sensation that it initiates when inhaled, eaten, or applied on the skin.
- The essential oil, menthol also has been analgesic (painkiller), local anesthetic and counter-irritant properties.
- Research studies have also been suggested that the compounds in the peppermint relax intestinal wall and sphincter smooth muscles through blocking calcium channel at cell receptor levels. This property of mint has been applied as an anti-spasmodic agent in the treatment of “irritable bowel syndrome” (IBS) and other colic pain disorders.
- Peppermint-herb is an excellent source of minerals like potassium, calcium, iron, manganese and magnesium. 100 g fresh herb provides 569 mg of potassium. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps control heart rate and blood pressure. Manganese and copper works as co-factors for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide-dismutase.
- Further, it is rich in many antioxidant vitamins, including vitamin A, beta carotene, vitamin-C and vitamin E. The leaves of mint also contain many important B-complex vitamins like folates, riboflavin and pyridoxine (vitamin B-6); and the herb is an excellent source of vitamin-K.
You have a greater chance of falling asleep if you are actually relaxed when your head hits the pillow, so drinking peppermint herb tea before bed is a great way to prepare yourself for a restive night of good, sound sleep. If you are suffering from sleep deprivation, you may want to try peppermint her tea for that reason alone; it has been shown to battle sleep deprivation quite effectively, which ties in to its overall benefit of helping to relax you for sleep. Stress, too, can be an inhibitor of sleep since tension, and tightness in your muscles make it harder to fall asleep. Drinking herb tea just before bed can be an easy and proven way to release the tension in your muscles, thereby allowing for a quicker path to restful sleep.
Soothing of Your Stomach
Drinking peppermint herb tea before bed can also lead to benefits for your stomach. If you have ever experienced any of the following–stomach aches, stomach pains, stomach cramps or diarrhea–you should have tried to soothe your stomach with peppermint herb tea. Anything that upsets your stomach is a hindrance to getting a good night’s sleep, yet just a cup of this tea should settle your stomach just fine so you can get on with the business of sleep.
Often called the “stomach healer,” peppermint herb tea also helps in the promotion of good digestion while also cutting down on heartburn. If you are trying to fall asleep and you ate dinner only a couple of hours before, you may experience heartburn, which will distract you from falling asleep. Again, just a cup of peppermint herb tea can help a great deal.
Immune System Benefits
Those times in the year when you are sick and falling asleep is hardly an option, you may wish you had drunk peppermint tea before bed more often. The reason is that peppermint herb tea acts as a great preventative force against catching the common cold or, worse, the flu. This kind of tea comes with good amounts of potassium, calcium and vitamin B, all useful agents in the fight against colds and flus.
Safety profile
Individuals with gastro-esophageal reflex disease (GRD) are advised to limit peppermint in their diet since compounds in mint leaves relax smooth muscles in the esophageal wall and sphincters by blocking calcium channels in them, which can aggravate their reflux condition.