As with many herbal products, the medicinal properties of peppermint have hardly been researched.
Dream time
Barbara Intermill
I like traditions. So I’ll admit that if I listen to Christmas carols on the radio before my turkey meal is digested, I’m a little bothered. And why do they call the day after Thanksgiving “Black Friday” when I say thank you for leftovers?
That said, I love the holiday season. And as soon as the turkey soup is ready and we’ve swallowed the last dressing and the cranberry sauce, I’m ready for the transition from orange and pumpkin to all red, green … and peppermint.
Why peppermint? Some say we began our Christmas obsession with this flavor in 1670 when a choir director handed a peppermint flavored treat to children attending a living nativity scene. Peppermint candy canes came on the market a few centuries later.
In addition to creating a holiday mood, are there any health benefits from consuming peppermint? According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (www.nccih.nih.gov), peppermint is a cross of two types of herbs – spearmint and water mint. The leaves and the oil extracted from the leaves and flower parts of the plant are believed to have health properties.
As with many herbal products, however, the medicinal properties of peppermint have only been sparsely researched. Some small studies suggest that peppermint oil capsules can help relieve abdominal pain and possibly some symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. Warning: These capsules have been specially coated so that they don’t disintegrate until they reach the small intestine. Pure peppermint oil, researchers say, is likely to make digestive problems worse.
