PEPPERMINT

Parts Used: Above ground portion.

Properties: Analgesic, Anodyne, Antibacterial, Antiparasitic, Antispasmodic, Antiviral, Aromatic, Carminative, Cholagogue, Diaphoretic, Digestive Tonic, Diuretic, Refrigerant, Stimulant, Stomach Tonic, Tonic, Vasodilator.

Internal Uses: Colds, Colic, Colitis, Cough, Crohn's Disease, Dysmenorrhea, Dyspepsia, Fatigue, Fever, Flatulence, Flu, Gallstones, Halitosis, Headache, Heartburn, Herpes, Hiccups, Indigestion, Irritable Bowel, Migraine, Morning Sickness, Nausea, Stomachache, Stress

Internal Applications: Tea, Tincture, Capsules, Syrup, Lozenges.

Peppermint is a stronger antiparasitic and antiviral than Spearmint. In general, Spearmint is considered a weaker medicinal than Peppermint. It is hypothesized that Peppermint benefits irritable bowels by inhibiting the hypercontractility of the smooth muscles of the intestines.

Topical Uses: Arthritis, Burns, Chest Congestion, Chickenpox, Cramps, Fever, Inflammation, Insect Bites, Insect Repellent, Itchy Skin, Measles, Morning Sickness, Muscle Soreness, Nausea, Neuralgia, Pain, Rheumatism, Scabies, Shock, Sinus Congestion, Toothache

Topical Applications: Essential oil is added to massage oils for chest congestion, pain and fever as it is cooling. Essential oil inhaled for sinus congestion, shock and nausea. Used to flavor toothpaste, mouthwash. Use as a bath herb to help one to feel cool and refreshed, as well as to treat bug bites, itchy skin, chicken pox and measles. Essential oil is used to scent soaps, repel mosquitoes and scabies. Use as a cool compress for joint inflammation, neuralgia and rheumatism.

Culinary uses: Spearmint is a better choice for culinary arts than Peppermint. Use fresh leaves as a liner for cake pans. Add either mint to yogurt, dishes, fruit salad, vegetable salad, hummus, split pea soup or tabouli salad. Use mint tea to dilute fruit juices or to make ice cubes. Mint jellies, candies, liqueurs. Mint improves the flavors of other medicines.

Energetics: Pungent, Cool, Dry.

Chemical Constituents: Essential oil (menthol, menthone, methyl acetate, limonene, pulegone), tannins, flavonoids, choline potassium.

Contraindications: Considered very safe and can be used by even the sickest of people. Plant Mint in your gardens where you don't mind it spreading as it has a tendency to take over.

Comments: This description applies to both Peppermint and Spearmint. Mint is one of the most ancient of all medicinal herbs. Mints tend to hybridize easily. Peppermint has long dark green leaves with a thick spike of flowers. Its peppery taste caused people to name it Peppermint. Spearmint, has a narrower spike of flowers and more wrinkled looking leaves. Spearmint's name is derived from Spire-Mint, as the flowers grow in the shape of a spire. In Mythology, Minthe was a lover of Pluto. His jealous wife Prosperine turned Minthe into a Peppermint plant. Ancient Athenians would rub the leaves of mint on their arms to improve their endurance.

-- Phil in KS (pemccoy@yahoo.com), February 26, 2002

Answers

If I plant mint in my garden (container, most likely to prevent taking over), how do I then use it for medicinal purposes. Just make a tea with it? Dried leaves or fresh?

If I were to want to extract the oil, how would I do that, or would it be WAY beyond me? (I can plant it, get it up, and know it smells good. I also know it's good for the stomach, but that's basically my entire knowledge on the subject!)

-- Christine in OK (cljford@mmcable.com), February 26, 2002.

Christine, here are some website links that deal with using peppermint in various ways. What I've read so far indicate that extracting the oil is pretty involved (I don't know anything about it personally), but you can dry peppermint, freeze it, and use it fresh in tea and recipes. Hope this helps some - I'll keep looking!

Helpful Links to Uses for Peppermint

http://www.chamomiletimes.com/herbs/peppermint.htm

http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshelf/substances_view/0,1525,812,00.ht ml

This one I liked best.

http://www.goodthings4u.com/peppermint.html

Anyone else know more about this?

-- Phil in KS (pigfarmerphil@yahoo.com), February 26, 2002.

Also found this bit of information on extracting the oil. Found it to be VERY simple and interesting! Hope it helps - enjoy!

TINCTURE

Tinctures are easy to store and use. Prepare the herbs by chopping or grinding them. You may tincture several herbs together if you are creating a formula. Put them in a jar and cover with about an extra inch of brandy or vodka. This will help to preserve the herbs and extract both the water-soluble and alcohol soluble properties. Alcohol must be at least 50 proof to have good preservative qualities. Vodka is the purest grain alcohol. Water is a good medium to extract gums, mulilage, saponins and tannins, but not so good for oils and resins. Alcohol is ideal for extracting fats, resins, waxes and most alkaloids. It is an excellent preservative and is quickly assimilated. The substance used to extract the herbs is known as the menstrum. The herbs you are tincturing are known as the mark.

Shake daily. Strain after a month, first with a strainer and then through a clean undyed cloth, squeezing tightly. Pressing the herbs through a potato ricer while still in the cloth can be helpful. Bottle in amber glass bottles. Compost the mark. Label and date. Store away from heat and light. Take tinctures by putting 1 dropperful in a bit of hot water.

Tinctures may also be made using vegetable glycerin rather than alcohol. This is best when making tinctures for those that are alcohol intolerant as well as for children, pregnant and nursing mothers. Glycerin is both a solvent and preservative that has an effectiveness somewhere between water and alcohol. It is naturally sweet, pleasant tasting and helps to extract mucilage, vitamins and minerals and tannins from plant material. It is good for herbs high in tannins but doesn't extract resins well. It is slightly antiseptic, demulcent and healing when diluted. Glycerites are usually prepared using 1 part water to 2 parts glycerin. Glycerites have a shorter shelf life than tinctures prepared with alcohol, about 1 to 3 years.

Apple cider vinegar, preferably organic can also be used as a menstrum. Look for vinegar with 5.7% acetic acid or thereabouts for a long shelf life. It is also a digestive tonic and can be used to season food. Warm the vinegar first before pouring over the herbs. Avoid using a metal lid or it will rust. This type of tincture will have a shelf life from 6 months up to 4 years.

Tinctures made in alcohol will last for many years.

-- Phil in KS (pigfarmerphil@yahoo.com), February 26, 2002.

I had no idea it was that good. I grow it around the house away from the other herbs because I then dry it and ground it some and use in three of my soap receipes. I sell herbal soaps. I buy Peppermint essential oil too.

-- debbie (bwolcott@cwis.net), February 27, 2002.

Phil, a tincture and an essential oil aren't the same thing. To make peppermint essential oil you'd need some sort of distilling apparatus and several pounds of peppermint.

Peppermint essential oil is great for helping you stay alert. I take a bottle in the car with me when I'm driving on long road trips.

-- Sherri C in Central Indiana (CeltiaSkye@aol.com), February 28, 2002.

Thanks Sherri - I realized that after reading a bit more ... sorry about the mixup! Look forward to hearing from you!

-- Phil in KS (pigfarmerphil@yahoo.com), February 28, 2002.

if you use fresh mint for th tincture, the oil is contained within it, howsomever, it is not the essential oil. does work for shingles,tho.

one warning is due, anyone with acid reflux can aggravate it with peppermint [and sage and ginger]

for delicious peppermint tea, get the water to just almost boiling, pour over your leaves, do not cover the cup or pot and do not steep very long. over-cooked peppermint tea tastes awful.

-- carol (kanogisdi@yahoo.com), March 03, 2002.