Mint is the name for over a dozen plant species, including peppermint and spearmint, that belong to the genus Mentha.
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These plants are particularly known for the cooling sensation they impart. They can be added to foods in both fresh and dried forms.
Green Mint Chocolate Chips
Mint is a popular ingredient in several foods and beverages, ranging from teas and alcoholic drinks to sauces, salads and desserts.
While eating the plant offers some health benefits, research shows that several of mint’s health benefits come from applying it to the skin, inhaling its aroma or taking it as a capsule.
This article takes a closer look at eight science-based health benefits of mint.
While not typically consumed in large quantities, mint does contain a fair amount of nutrients.
In fact, just under 1/3 cup or half an ounce (14 grams) of spearmint contains (1):
![Chocolate Chocolate](/uploads/1/2/3/7/123730577/875422267.jpg)
- Calories: 6
- Fiber: 1 gram
- Vitamin A: 12% of the RDI
- Iron: 9% of the RDI
- Manganese: 8% of the RDI
- Folate: 4% of the RDI
Because of its dynamic flavor, mint is often added to recipes in small amounts, so consuming even 1/3 cup may be difficult. However, it’s possible you may come close to this amount in some salad recipes that include mint among the other ingredients.
Mint is a particularly good source of vitamin A, a fat-soluble vitamin that is critical for eye health and night vision (2 ).
It is also a potent source of antioxidants, especially when compared to other herbs and spices. Antioxidants help protect your body from oxidative stress, a type of damage to cells caused by free radicals (3 ).
Summary Although not typically consumed in large quantities, mint contains fair amounts of several nutrients and is an especially good source of vitamin A and antioxidants.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common digestive tract disorder. It is characterized by digestive symptoms like stomach pain, gas, bloating and changes in bowel habits.
Although treatment for IBS often includes dietary changes and taking medications, research shows that taking peppermint oil as an herbal remedy might also be helpful.
Peppermint oil contains a compound called menthol, which is thought to help alleviate IBS symptoms through its relaxing effects on the muscles of the digestive tract (4 , 5 ).
A review of nine studies including over 700 patients with IBS found that taking peppermint oil capsules improved IBS symptoms significantly more than placebo capsules (6 ).
One study found that 75% of patients who took peppermint oil for four weeks showed improvements in IBS symptoms, compared to 38% of the patients in the placebo group (7 ).
Notably, nearly all research showing IBS symptom relief used oil capsules rather than raw mint leaves.
Summary IBS is a common digestive disorder. Several studies have shown that taking peppermint oil capsules improved the symptoms of IBS patients.
Mint may also be effective at relieving other digestive problems such as upset stomach and indigestion.
Indigestion may occur when food sits in the stomach for too long before passing into the rest of the digestive tract.
Multiple studies have shown that food passes through the stomach quicker when people take peppermint oil with meals, which could relieve symptoms from this type of indigestion (8 , 9 ).
A clinical study in people with indigestion showed that a combination of peppermint oil and caraway oil taken in capsules had effects similar to medications used to treat indigestion. This helped improve stomach pain and other digestive symptoms (10 ).
Similar to IBS, studies highlighting mint’s ability to relieve indigestion used peppermint oil rather than fresh or dried leaves.
Summary Several studies have shown that peppermint oil can speed up how quickly food moves through the stomach, relieving digestive symptoms associated with indigestion.
In addition to ingesting mint, there are claims that inhaling the aroma of essential oils from the plant could provide health benefits, including improved brain function.
One study including 144 young adults demonstrated that smelling the aroma of peppermint oil for five minutes prior to testing produced significant improvements in memory (11 ).
Another study found that smelling these oils while driving increased alertness and decreased levels of frustration, anxiety and fatigue (12).
However, not all studies agree that peppermint oil could benefit brain function. One study found that although the aroma of the oil was invigorating and led to less fatigue, it had no effect on brain function (13).
More research is needed to help understand how it may work and investigate whether peppermint does, in fact, improve brain function.
Summary Some studies show that smelling the aroma of peppermint oil may improve memory and alertness, while other studies show no effect. More research is needed to further understand the effects of mint on brain function.
Breastfeeding mothers commonly experience sore and cracked nipples, which can make breastfeeding painful and difficult.
Studies have shown that applying mint to the skin can help relieve pain associated with breastfeeding.
Green Detox Chocolate Mint Tea
In these studies, breastfeeding mothers applied various forms of mint to the area around the nipple after each feeding. Typically, they used an essential oil on its own or mixed with gel or water.
One study showed that applying peppermint water after breastfeeding was more effective than applying expressed breast milk in preventing nipple and areola cracks, which resulted in less nipple pain (14 ). Besplatno skidanje muzike mp3 download bez registracije.
Another study similarly showed that only 3.8% of mothers who applied a peppermint gel experienced nipple cracks, compared to 6.9% of those who used lanolin and 22.6% of those who used a placebo (15 ).
Furthermore, an additional study showed that both the pain and severity of nipple cracks decreased in mothers who applied menthol essential oil after each feeding (16 ).
Summary Applying mint essential oils in various forms appears to be effective in preventing and treating nipple cracks and pain typically associated with breastfeeding.
Many over-the-counter cold and flu treatments contain menthol, a primary compound in peppermint oil.
Many people believe menthol is an effective nasal decongestant that can get rid of congestion and improve airflow and breathing.
However, multiple studies show that menthol has no decongestant function. That being said, research also shows that menthol can subjectively improve nasal breathing (17 , 18 ).
This means that although menthol doesn’t work as a decongestant, it can make people feel like they are breathing through their nose easier.
This is likely to provide at least some relief to those affected by a cold or the flu.
Summary Although menthol does not function as a nasal decongestant, it can provide some relief to cold and flu symptoms by subjectively improving breathing through the nose.
Mint-flavored chewing gum and breath mints are some of the first things people reach for when trying to prevent or get rid of bad breath.
Experts agree that most of these products can mask foul-smelling breath for a few hours. However, they only cover up bad breath and don’t reduce the bacteria or other compounds causing bad breath in the first place (19 , 20 ).
On the other hand, drinking peppermint tea and chewing on fresh leaves may be able to both mask bad breath and kill bacteria, as test-tube studies have highlighted the antibacterial effects of peppermint oil (21 ).
Summary Breath mints and chewing gum can mask foul smells for a couple hours but aren’t an optimal long-term solution for bad breath. Peppermint tea and chewing on mint leaves may be more beneficial in reducing bacteria that cause bad breath.
You can easily add mint to green salads, desserts, smoothies and even water. Peppermint tea is another popular way to incorporate it into your diet.
However, many of the studies showing the health benefits of mint didn’t involve eating the leaves with food. Instead, mint was taken as a capsule, applied to the skin or inhaled via aromatherapy.
When using mint for health purposes, it is important to evaluate what you are looking to achieve and how the plant was used in the research for that particular purpose.
The list below should help summarize some of the research discussed above.
- Eating fresh or dried leaves: Used to treat bad breath.
- Inhaling essential oils: May improve brain function and cold symptoms.
- Applying it to the skin: Used to reduce nipple pain from breastfeeding.
- Taking capsules with food: May help treat IBS and indigestion.
Summary Mint can easily be added to your diet, though most of the research showing health benefits involved taking it as a capsule, applying it to the skin or inhaling it via aromatherapy.
Mint makes a delicious and healthy addition to many foods and beverages.
Although mint is easy to add to many dishes, research demonstrating its health benefits has mainly used mint taken in capsules, applied to the skin or inhaled via aromatherapy.
Mint’s health benefits range from improving brain function and digestive symptoms to relieving breastfeeding pain, cold symptoms and even bad breath.
You really can’t go wrong adding some mint to your diet.
Detoxifying Green Apple Smoothie- made with spinach, kale, green apple, cucumber, lemon and agave. Packed full of healthy nutrients and cleansing fiber to help you glow from the inside out.
Happy November! I have a feeling this is going to be a good month.
Because anything that starts with an extra hour is always a plus, am I right?
Right, and anything that starts with a detoxifying green smoothie is even better.
Especially if you’re coming off a weekend filled with pizza, wine and candy, like me.
Those of you that follow me on Snapchat (username: makingthyme) might have seen that we spent part of Halloween in Napa, drinking wine, and picked up pizza on the way home from The Cheeseboard in Berkeley…holy cannoli, that’s some good pizza!
As far as the candy goes, I was actually pretty good and only ate one piece, a mini 3 Musketeers…which tasted awful. I’m not sure if it was because it was stale or because my taste buds have become accustomed to high quality candy like Justin’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, but that was enough for me to keep my hands out of the candy bowl.
Green Detox Chocolate Mint Cake
But either way, if you had too much candy or too many glasses of wine, this detoxifying green smoothie is just what the (holistic) doctor ordered!
The ingredients in this smoothie make it more like a juice, but you don’t need a juicer to make it and you don’t have waste the pulp.
It’s made with two powerhouse greens, kale and spinach which are packed with fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, iron and calcium. Pretty much everything you need to feel to a champ!
Because kale can be a little difficult to break down in a smoothie, a high speed blender works best for this recipe. However, if you don’t have one you can always replace the kale with more spinach.
The touch of sweetness from the agave (or honey, if you’re not vegan) cuts the bitterness of the lemon and the kale, leaving a light and refreshing flavor that’s easy to drink. If you want something a little sweeter to share with your children, you can try adding a half of banana.
Trust me, if you’re feeling a little rundown or in need of a pick-me-up, this is the perfect cure. Cheers to good health!
Detoxifying Green Apple Smoothie
Yield:12 ounces
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
![Green Detox Chocolate Mint Green Detox Chocolate Mint](/uploads/1/2/3/7/123730577/580052305.jpg)
4.5 / 5 (10 Reviews)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup packed kale leaves, stems removed (or spinach*)
- 1 cup packed spinach leaves
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 green apple, cored and diced
- 1/2 cucumber
- 1/2 teaspoon agave nectar (or raw honey)**
- 1/2 cup filtered water
- 3 ice cubes*
Directions:
Cut the cucumber in quarters lengthwise then slice off the inner corner of each one to remove the seeds. Roughly chop it then add to the blender along with the remaining ingredients.
Blend on high until smooth, transfer to a glass with a straw, then let the detox begin!
*Spinach is much easier to drink in smoothie form than the kale so feel free to omit the kale if you like.
**If you’d like to make this a green juice, simply leave out the ice and agave. Use a fine mesh strainer (with a spatula to help it along) or a nut milk bag to separate the pulp. I like to blend the leftover pulp with another 1/2 cup water then strain once more before composting.
Did you try this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out by leaving a comment below or sharing a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #makingthymeforhealth. I love hearing your feedback!