Peppermint Tea
Proven Health Benefits of Peppermint Tea
- Relaxes smooth muscles and relieves bloating and indigestion
- Promotes dental health and gives fresher breath
- Relaxes muscles, eases cramps and aches.
- Opens sinuses and helps fight cold
What is peppermint tea?
Peppermint is quite a popular shrub, although many more people have felt than seen it. The magic is in the leaves, which carry a peculiar penetrating scent, warmth, bitter taste and most known, a coolness when one inhales. Peppermint is a regular player in the candy, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries, because of its essential oil, Menthae piperitae aetheroleum – made up of menthol, menthone and limonene. Traditionally, peppermint was sought after for its sensory and medicinal properties and consumed in different ways; fresh or dry, ground or steeped. The fact that peppermint tea is relaxing and contains no caffeine is ironically getting more and more people hooked.
What is Peppermint Tea Useful For?
Peppermint tea has antibacterial properties and promotes oral and dental health. Studies have found the essential oils in peppermint to have inhibitory effects on 21 human pathogens and some 22 bacteria strains.1 It also shows antifungal, and antiviral properties. In the human body, these properties play themselves more in the mouth, preventing plaque formation and dental caries. Peppermint also shows up in some conditions of sore throat, where in combination with tea and lemon, gives fresher breath.2 Several studies have confirmed gut smooth muscle-relaxing activity of peppermint, giving relief to individuals with irritable bowel syndrome. Others have suggested that it helps liver and kidney function, preventing toxicity in the latter.
Health benefits
- Checks dyslipidemia
- Prevents tumor formation
- Antagonizes allergic reaction
- Reduces carcinogenesis
- Ache, pain and cramp relief
- Oral health
- Improves bioavailability of some nutrients
Nutrition
1oz of fresh peppermint leaves contain:- Calories: 0
- Proteins: 0 grams
- Carbohydrates: 0 grams
- Cholesterol: 0 micrograms
- Sodium: 0 micrograms
Toxicity
Peppermint tea, like anything else has its adverse effects on over-consumption, but it would probably be the last on your list of worries. The German Commission E, only cautions people with liver disorders and kidney stones, as well as those with direct allergenicity.1 Beyond that, peppermint tea is recorded as having no adverse effect on humans, because the amount of essential oil in the tea required to cause such effects is impractical to consume in a day.