Peppermint Tea Benefits: Your Guide to Good Health

Good health is the key to success and growth. In today’s world of constant rush, pollution, and competition, it is important to take care of yourself so that you can perform well in your personal and professional life. Peppermint tea benefits our health in many ways. Peppermint tea is one of the most useful herbs that have a range of benefits starting from stress-relief to improvement of digestion. Here are some of the benefits of peppermint that you might like to consider in order to improve your health:

1. Cures Stomach Upset: The menthol in peppermint tea has a cooling effect that helps in several ways during an upset stomach. It relieves the stomach muscles, thereby reducing cramps.
2. Helps in Easy Digestion: Peppermint tea is known for making digestion easier. Menthol increases the bile juice in the system, which helps in digesting the food faster. It moves the gas throughout the body and avoids bloating or cramps.
3. Takes Away Bad Breath: Peppermint tea has antibacterial bodies that kill the germs and bacteria that cause bad breath. The aromatic qualities of peppermint help to replace bad breath.
4. Resistance against Cold and Flu: Peppermint tea helps in building immunity, which keeps away the common cold, flu and other infections. A hot cup of peppermint tea might be the best way to release your headache and provide relief for your cough and sore throat.
5. Improves Concentration: Peppermint tea has proved to have an influence over the hippocampus area that controls our concentration and clarity of thought. Hence, peppermint tea significantly improves mental awareness and focus.

Peppermint Tea Benefits Skin and Hair

Apart from the variety of health benefits we just discussed, peppermint tea also has a significant influence over skin and hair. It is one of the most natural and herbal ways to treat your skin and hair problems. Here are some of the skin and hair benefits of peppermint tea that might interest you.

Peppermint tea benefits our skin in many ways:

• Removes Acne: Acne is one of the most common problems that torment us, especially during our teenage years. There are a bunch of chemical products to treat acne, but peppermint tea might be one of the most efficient and herbal ways to control them. Though the process is slow and you need a lot of patience, the cooling qualities of menthol are extremely nourishing for people who have oily and pimple-prone skin.
• Revitalizes dull skin: Your skin is exposed to harmful sun rays and pollution almost all the days of the week, which can make it dull and greasy. Peppermint tea helps in cleaning the pores of your skin and rejuvenating it with a natural glow.
• Relieves Skin Irritation: Many of us have sensitive skin and are afraid to go outside for the fear of rashes and skin irritation. Peppermint tea is loaded with antioxidants, which help in reducing skin irritation and rashes. You can also find it useful in case of insect bites or skin inflammation.

Peppermint tea benefits our hair in many ways:

• Accelerates Hair Growth: Peppermint tea has the ability to boost blood flow as it calms the blood vessels. This, in turn, boosts the growth of your hair as the blood reaches the hair roots. If you are troubled by hair fall or poor growth of hair, try consuming peppermint tea to solve your problems.

Peppermint Tea Side Effects

Peppermint tea has a variety of health benefits, but it is not devoid of its side effects. There are many negative sides of consuming peppermint tea that you might not have heard before. Here we will elaborate on some of the important side effects of peppermint tea that might be useful for your knowledge.

1. Elongates digestive disorders: Sometimes you may have a serious digestive disorder that remains undiagnosed because of long-term use of peppermint tea. It is advisable to consult your doctor for digestion problems before trying to cure it with peppermint tea.
2. Reduces blood sugar level: Peppermint tea is known to reduce blood sugar levels and might be harmful if consumed in large amounts. If you are on drugs for diabetes, the peppermint tea might interfere with that. People with diabetes need to check with their doctors before they start consuming peppermint tea.
3. Instigates allergies: Some people might be allergic to peppermint tea. The allergies instigated by peppermint tea might give you a sore mouth, headaches or/and unsteady feet. Immediately consult a doctor when you find these symptoms and always remember to stay away from peppermint tea.
4. Harmful for Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease: If you have Hiatal Hernia or Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), it is advisable to not take peppermint tea. Though some people may find relief with peppermint, most of them have complained of worsening symptoms when they have GERD.
5. Emmenagogue effects: Pregnant women should refrain from consuming peppermint tea due to the Emmenagogue effect. The peppermint oil might stimulate blood flow in the uterine and this might cause risk to the pregnancy. Lactating women should also try to stay away from peppermint tea, just to be safe.
6. Not recommended for children: The flavor and aroma of peppermint tea are too strong for children and babies. It may have a burning effect on their throats and might cause difficulty in breathing. If you are thinking of trying to give peppermint tea to your child, make sure to consult your doctor about it.

When to Drink Peppermint Tea

Peppermint tea benefits the best when consumed as an after-dinner snack. We usually crave sweet stuff right after we have our dinner. Skipping dessert and introducing peppermint tea instead, might make a lot of change in your lifestyle and health. The relaxing qualities of peppermint tea make it an ideal choice after dinner, at the day’s end.

A small treat after dinner is something most of us cannot do without. Since peppermint tea also helps with digestion, it is considered the best after-dinner beverage that would help your body to digest the day’s intakes. Apart from being delicious, it will help you get rid of gas, acidity, heartburns and bloating.

The best part about peppermint tea is that it has no added sugar and is good for people with high blood sugar levels. It also has no calories, which makes it a perfect drink for the health freaks, who hate gaining extra pounds. Consuming peppermint tea without sugar is the most helpful as it reduces your hunger cravings and leaves you with a cool, soothing effect.

Make sure to grow your own peppermint tea, or buy the one that has no added chemicals and preservatives. Go for organic produce to see the best results in your system.

Peppermint Tea before Bed

Like we have discussed before, peppermint tea is best consumed after dinner. But why is peppermint tea the best choice before going to bed? What are the specific health benefits that make it ideal as a ‘drink before bed’? Here we will look at some of the reasons why peppermint tea should be consumed before bed:

• Contains no caffeine: Most teas contain caffeine, which makes them unfit for consumption before bedtime. Caffeine promotes alertness and boosts you with energy instead of calming your body and mind. Peppermint tea provides all the benefits of herbal tea and gives you good sleep at night.
• Helps with morning sickness: Many people, especially pregnant women suffer from morning sickness. A cup of hot peppermint tea at night before going to bed might improve your morning sickness and reduce nausea. It works on various levels starting from good digestion to calming your stomach muscles, which help in controlling morning sickness.
• Prevents formation of gas overnight: Accumulation of gas inside the body is more harmful than you would like to think. It is not only painful but also makes the people around you uncomfortable. Drinking peppermint tea before going to bed at night might help your body to move the gas throughout your body, instead of accumulating in a certain area.

Peppermint Tea Recipe

Taking care of the digestive system helps you to prevent many diseases. Surrounded by processed and chemically altered foods, we must take care of what we eat and how we can help to keep our digestive systems functioning. Other than healthy eating habits you must also develop the habit of relaxing your stomach muscles. Peppermint tea benefits our digestive system in many ways.

Here is a list of three peppermint tea recipes that you can make easily any time:

1. The Basic Mint Tea

• You will need one spoon of fresh peppermint leaves, one to two cups of water and half tablespoon honey.
• Crush the leaves to release their flavor. Boil the water and let it cool for a minute. Add the crushed peppermint leaves and cover your pan with a lid. Keep it covered for ten minutes. The more you steep it, the flavor becomes stronger.
• Squeeze a lemon if you and add the honey after you have poured the tea.

2. Iced Mint Tea

• You will need one spoon of fresh peppermint leaves, two cubes of ice, two cups of water, and one spoon of honey.
• Crush the leaves and pour it in your blender. Add the two cubes of ice and add the water. Pour the honey and some lemon juice if you like and mix them for two minutes.
• The mixing depends on how much shredded you want the ice to be.

3. Ginger Mint Tea

• You will need one tablespoon of fresh peppermint leaves, two cups of water, one tablespoon of shredded ginger, and a spoonful of honey.
• Crush the peppermint leaves. Pour the water in a pan and bring it to boil. Turn off the heat and add the ginger and peppermint leaves. Cover the pan with a lid and steep it for ten minutes. Add a slice of lemon if you like and mix the honey.

Peppermint Tea Caffeine

Caffeine upsets our system in many ways. Though we love drinking coffee and caffeinated products, many of us are dependent on it. Be it job stress or a tight deadline, caffeine always gives us that extra push to get our job done. But, how many of us are aware of what caffeine does when it enters our body. Overconsumption of caffeine can lead to serious health complications and even slow the metabolism rate.

Sleeplessness is another major side effect of caffeine that affects almost one-third of the global population. This is due to overconsumption of caffeine products like coffee, Coca-Cola and other products. Lack of sleep can greatly harm your physical well-being and cause serious illness like insomnia. 5-6 hours of sleep is a must for a properly functioning body.

Herbal teas greatly help in our body to relieve from toxicities and peppermint tea is a great choice for its natural properties. Peppermint tea benefits our sleep, digestive system and improves blood and gas circulation throughout the body.

Many of us often question whether peppermint tea contains caffeine or not. Scientifically, peppermint is an herbal plant. Herbal plants do not have caffeine in them. Therefore, herbal teas do not contain caffeine.

Peppermint Tea Weight Loss

Peppermint tea benefits weight loss. It is an aromatic drink that is very low in calories and can suppress unwanted hunger. The strong scent of peppermint leaves suppresses our hunger and can even reduce sudden cravings. So, if you really crave for a snack, make yourself a cup of peppermint tea to get relieved from the craving. Peppermint also increases our body temperature. This helps essentially in faster metabolism.

We must give an effort if we want to live a healthy life. The more concerned we become about ourselves and our loved ones, the longer we get to live healthily and happily. It is essential to take small steps in learning to love yourself.