Peppermint benefits – How it can help you get better. It is a plant with a rather pleasant aroma, but also a large number of medicinal properties. Like any medicinal plant, mint has contraindications for use, which I will discuss in detail in this article.
This miracle plant has a tonic effect and helps prevent certain diseases. It is worth learning more about it, as well as what diseases it deals with quickly, and in which case it can be harmful to the body.
Contents
The Basic Composition of Peppermint:
The composition of the herb includes a large amount of menthol oil, it is thanks to this component that mint is often used in pharmacy. Menthol is extracted from the leaves of the plant, and the drugs are made from it. According to statistics, the leaves contain about five percent of menthol oil, and six percent of the beneficial product is present in the inflorescences.
If you use menthol essential oil locally, it will have an irritating and cooling effect. The tool has a pronounced bactericidal effect. Menthol is present in every part of the plant, but there is much more of this substance in the leaves and inflorescences than in the trunk. The use of mint tea is recommended for severe menstrual cramps; the drink allows you to reduce severe attacks and pains during women’s days.
In addition to the fact that mint leaves have bactericidal properties and relieve pain during menstruation, they have a fairly rich and useful composition:
– various vitamins are present in the leaves, such as vitamins C and B;
– carotene;
– tannins and various bitterness;
– organic acids;
– beneficial trace elements (sodium, phosphorus, magnesium and calcium);
– fiber;
– proteins and fats;
– resin compounds;
– carbohydrates;
– sugar
The plant has useful properties for the body, so mint helps:
– eliminate pain attacks;
– has an anti-inflammatory effect;
– dilates blood vessels, thereby reducing pressure;
– calms the nervous system ;
– restores intestinal function and normalizes its mobility;
– improve the functioning of the entire digestive system;
– stimulates good bile drainage;
– improves brain function;
– stimulates the work of memory;
– improves attention and helps to concentrate;
– has an anti-cancer effect;
– helps in the treatment of herpes ;
– actively rebuilds the body with tuberculosis;
– is used to treat pneumonia;
– relieves the acute symptoms of menopause;
– eliminates the symptoms of PMS ;
– helps in the treatment of gynecological diseases.
While peppermint has a long list of medicinal properties, it also has many contraindications that should not be underestimated. It is best to consult your doctor before starting treatment.
Healing properties of peppermint :
Tea with the addition of mint is especially useful, it has a positive effect on the nervous system of the body, and the mint itself has a diuretic effect, so it is used for swelling.
Main healing properties:
– It helps to eliminate pain syndromes of various origins, also relieves spasms and widens the vascular network. Thanks to the latter effect, mint helps lower blood pressure and, in addition, improves overall blood circulation in the body.
– Peppermint is used by people to prepare medicinal nasal drops, they help to cope with a runny nose, even with a strong cold. Many preparations for the stomach are made on the basis of the extract of this herb, because the herb has healing and bactericidal properties.
– The plant has a beneficial effect on the entire digestive system and relieves the digestive tract. In addition, the herbal extract is added to bactericidal ointments that are used in the inflammatory process of various origins.
It helps relieve nausea as well as eliminates puffiness and relieves symptoms of heartburn. You can use tea based on a medicinal plant to get rid of stomach pain.
Although peppermint has a very pungent aroma, it helps treat asthma attacks, but only if the patient is intolerant to this plant. Peppermint helps to get rid of increased gas formation, is an excellent tonic, but at the same time gently calms down before bedtime.
Peppermint helps fight an infection that is spreading through the respiratory tract. Most often, infusions and decoctions of the plant are used for bronchitis, colds and pneumonia.
– The medicinal plant has a positive effect on the functioning of the heart muscle, as mint helps to improve blood circulation in the body.
Despite such a wide list of medicinal properties of peppermint, the plant has contraindications. For example, you should not use peppermint in case of intolerance, an allergy to menthol in the composition may also occur.
Used in traditional medicine:
Peppermint has been used by people since ancient times, many healers use decoctions and infusions of this plant when inhaling for colds. Such solutions are also used internally when treating diseases of internal organs and relieving the inflammatory process.
In addition, peppermint helps to relieve nervous tension, improve brain function, normalize the emotional background, and improve night sleep.
Useful recipes:
– To improve sleep and normalize the emotional state. Just take two mint leaves and add to a glass of green or black tea. They drink such a drink just before going to bed.
– A bath with the addition of mint decoction will be equally useful. To prepare the product, it is enough to put one tablespoon of dried mint in a pot and pour one liter of boiling water, boil such a composition for about five minutes and let it cool. The finished decoction is filtered through a sieve and poured into a water bath. The therapeutic bath is taken at bedtime for fifteen minutes.
– Peppermint benefits To eliminate the symptoms of nausea, bowel cramps, heartburn and belching. Two tablespoons of dried mint should be added to half a liter of boiling water, in this form the product is left to infuse for fifteen minutes, after which it is filtered through a sieve. Take the infusion four times a day, one time is enough to use about 50 ml of the drug. And although peppermint in this case has healing properties, still the plant has contraindications that should be remembered.
Convulsions, rheumatic pain, inflammation of the skin, joint pain and itching. A special infusion of 200 ml of boiling water and one tablespoon of mint helps with all this. Flooded mint with boiling water should remain in the thermos for half an hour. Such a mixture also helps with diseases of the liver and gall bladder. Drink a drink every two hours, it is enough to take one tablespoon of the drug at a time. You can use the infusion for aggravating intestinal colic or any digestive problems.
– Cough:
This drink perfectly helps to fight colds, and also has a positive effect in the treatment of cough. For such a solution, 300 ml of water and two tablespoons of peppermint are used. Pour the mint with boiling water and let it brew for an hour and a half. Drink the decoction at least five times a day, just one tablespoon.
– For pharyngitis, laryngitis and tracheitis. In this case, inhalation based on decoctions of peppermint helps, it also has a positive effect on the condition of a patient with angina.
– Headache:
With mild pain, traditional medicine recommends applying mint leaves to the forehead, they must first be slightly kneaded. You can also use a special tincture in the form of a compress. To prepare the product, you need to prepare a quarter cup of dried peppermint, the same amount of water, and three-quarters of a glass of vodka. The ingredients are mixed and covered with a lid, after which the drug can be administered for two weeks.
– Acute toothache:
It is enough to lightly knead the mint leaf in your hands, and then apply it to the sore spot, which will relieve a severe attack of pain.
Main contraindications:
The healing properties of peppermint are quite diverse, and we have already talked about them in detail, now it is worth describing all the possible contraindications, as well as the side effects of using the plant.
Contraindications:
– Low blood pressure. The use of mint with too low blood pressure is strictly prohibited, as solutions based on this plant dilate blood vessels and, in addition, lower blood pressure. If a person suffers from low blood pressure, peppermint can lead to serious health problems.
– Varicose veins:
This disease is a categorical prohibition on the use of mint for medicinal purposes. You should not use tea with the addition of this herb, so as not to aggravate the situation.
– Allergy It is worth considering that an allergic reaction can occur not only with the use of a plant, but also simply with the smell of peppermint. If you know about an allergy to menthol, you should refrain from using peppermint.
– For men. According to experts, mint has a positive effect only on the health of women, while men in men has a negative effect on sexual function and reduces libido.
Peppermint During Pregnancy:
Peppermint has some contraindications during pregnancy, but due to its medicinal properties, it can be used by expectant mothers in a minimal amount. During pregnancy, a woman should pay more attention to her health, so you should not use herbal treatment without consulting a doctor. In addition, mint can lead to negative consequences for the fetus, so it is allowed in very small amounts after consulting your doctor first.
As you know, during pregnancy, the emotional background in women changes, tea with the addition of mint will help to cope with it.
One glass should not contain more than three leaves of the plant. In addition, this tea eliminates nausea in the first months of pregnancy and improves the general well-being of the future mother. Mint will additionally saturate the body with useful substances and help avoid catching a cold.