Mentha piperita, Peppermint

Common Names

Brandy mint, lamb mint

French= Menthe German= Pfefferminze

History

Medieval uses: Mint vinegar used as a mouthwash, mint sauce restored the appetite. Used for all stomach ailments & in treating venom and wounds.
For pain in “the side” after jaundice.
For ringworm, for bad scars or wounds. Against inflammations, treatment of stings and bites
Used in treatment of dysentery. For typhus fever. Colic. For hysteria.
For Colica passio (spasm in the heart); for casting (vomiting) that cometh of feebleness. For a sticking mouth. Fever in the stomach; tertian fever; for a running nose.

Also for sauces & jellies. Flavouring drinks

Medicinal uses

Spasmolytic, carminative, choleretic, diaphoretic, aromatic, nervine, antemetic, peripheral vasodilator with a paradoxical cooling effect, cholagogue, bitter. Locally antiseptic, antiparasitic, analgesic and antipruritic (please see Glossary)

Benefits

Intestinal colic, vomiting of pregnancy, flatulent dyspepsia, biliary disorders, common cold, dysmenorrhoea.

Specifically indicated in flatulent digestive pains, Mentha has a notable action on the lower bowel. Externally, peppermint oil or menthol is used in pain-relieving balms, massage oils and linaments. Menthol is cooling and anaesthetic when applied to the skin, increasing blood flow to the area over which it is applied. It may be used to relieve itching and inflammations. Inhalations of the herb and oil in boiling water are effective against upper respiratory or bronchial catarrh. Inhaled, it has a drying effect on the mucous membranes and ingested it has a settling effect on the gastric and intestinal mucosa. It is a useful remedy to increase concentration. It reduces nausea and is helpful in travel sickness. It promotes sweating in fevers and influenza. As a nervine it acts as a tonic, easing anxiety, tension and hysteria. In dysmenorrhoea it relieves the pain and associated tension.

The pharmacological actions of Mentha are largely due to the volatile oil, which is carminative and a potent spasmolytic, acting locally to produce visceral muscle relaxation. The volatile oil acts as a mild anaesthetic to the mucous membrane of the stomach, relieving nausea and the desire to vomit. It reduces the tone of the cardiac sphincter and relaxes the gastro-oesophageal sphincter, allowing expulsion of air in flatulent dyspepsia. It relieves colonic spasm and bowel irritability. Chronic disease of the pancreas also responds well to peppermint, as do abnormal fermentation processes in the intestine, for example, when the bowel flora is abnormal. Menthol is bactericidal and antiparasitic. Dissolved in alcohol, it is effective against ringworm and other fungal infestations. It is also four times as powerful an antiseptic as phenol. The flavonoids contribute to the spasmolytic activity, and flavonoids and phenolic acids to the choleretic activity - it promotes liver and gallbladder function.

Other uses

There are at least thirty species of mint. Peppermint is a popular flavouring for confectionery and liqueurs, as well as for toothpastes, mouthwashes and medicines. Mentha arvensis is prescribed in Chinese medicine for colds, headaches, sore throats and conjunctivitis. Rats dislike the scent of peppermint. According to Pliny, the Greeks and Romans crowned themselves with peppermint leaves during feasts and used it as a culinary flavouring.

Warnings

Prolonged use of the essential oil as an inhalant should be avoided as Mentha can irritate the mucous membranes Do not give any form of mint directly to young babies. It can reduce milk flow, so should be taken with caution during lactation.

References

Bradley, P.R. (ed.) 1992 British Herbal Compendium, Volume 1, BHMA, Bournemouth.

BHMA 1983 British Herbal Pharmacopoeia, BHMA, Bournemouth.

Culpeper, N. 1649 Complete Herbal and English Physician, 1990 reprint of the 1814 London edition of Culpeper’s Complete Herbal, Meyer, Illinois.

Grieve, M. 1931 A Modern Herbal, (ed. C.F. Leyel 1985), London.

Hoffmann, D. 1990 The New Holistic Herbal, Second Edition, Element, Shaftesbury.

Lust, J. 1990 The Herb Book, Bantam, London.

Mabey, R. (ed.) 1991 The Complete New Herbal, Penguin, London.

Mills, S.Y. 1993 The A-Z of Modern Herbalism, Diamond Books, London.

Ody, P. 1993 The Herb Society's Complete Medicinal Herbal, Dorling Kindersley, London.

Weiss, R.F. 1991 Herbal Medicine, Beaconsfield Arcanum, Beaconsfield.

Special thanks to www.purplesage.org.uk