Have a Healthy Mint-ality this Holiday Season
Move over pumpkin spice! It’s peppermint’s time in the spotlight. Pumpkin spice loyalists, you need not worry—your flavor is still available. It is just taking a back seat to a “refreshing” seasonal flavor.
My daughter is elated. Everywhere we go, she has the option to add peppermint to her favorite delights. She continually tries to convince me to jump on the mint wagon, but I remain ada-mint that I will not suffer from FOMOOM (fear of missing out on mint). It’s not that I do not enjoy mint, I just choose to add it to my diet in other ways. After all, this popular herb has health benefits.
Mentha, commonly known as mint, comes in many varieties, but peppermint and spearmint are the ones that are most commonly available. Mint may be used fresh or dried. I have pineapple mint in my freezer right now. I acquired it from a neighbor and use it as a refreshing addition to salads. I did not want the unused stems to go to waste, so I froze the leaves in lemonade, as cubes, to be added to beverages at a later time. That’s a tip for you: If you find that you have more fresh herbs than you can use, don’t panic. You can save them for future use. Depending on the herb and how you plan to use it, freeze it in broth, juice, or water, and then add the cube to your recipe when needed.
Back to our cool herb. Throughout history, mint has been used for its medicinal properties.
Suffering from indigestion or an upset stomach? Native Americans would brew a tea using wild mint leaves to ease stomach discomfort. “Tea, in general, is very beneficial for numerous reasons, but mint tea in particular has been shown to help with digestion and some irritable bowel symptoms,” Kathleen Zelman, MPH, RDN, LD, a registered dietitian nutritionist at No Nonsense Nutrition, LLC, in Marietta, GA, told WebMD. It does this by causing the muscles of the stomach to relax and by improving the flow of bile, helping food to digest and pass through the stomach more quickly. This relieves pain and bloating. A friend recently shared Moroccan mint tea with me, and I was sold.
When consuming mint, do you experience a sensation of taking a breath of fresh air? Rosmarinic acid, an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent, is present in mint. In a 2019 study, rats with asthma responded to rosmarinic acid comparably to those treated with dexamethasone, a corticosteroid medication used to relieve inflammation and suppress the immune system. In some cases, the response was even more favorable than those treated with dexamethasone.
When my son needs to use his inhaler, he often follows up with a stick of mint-flavored gum. Mint can counter an unpleasant flavor, but menthol, a component of mint, as reported by the National Institutes of Health, can reduce the perception of breathlessness.
Even if you don’t enjoy its taste, you may still reap health benefits from mint. In capsule form, it has been used to treat stomach discomfort. The Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges notes, “Studies show that taking peppermint oil capsules reduces symptoms and pain associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).”
A 2024 review of 10 studies on aromatherapy found that inhaling peppermint oil successfully reduced nausea and vomiting in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. It is important to note that essential oils are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treatment of ailments; therefore, the quality may vary.
You might find this article interesting, as I did: Instant effects of peppermint essential oil on the physiological parameters and exercise performance, published in the National Library of Medicine. It describes a study that showed significant gains in performance in a group that received peppermint oil to the tongue over the control group that received a placebo of mineral water. I hesitate to take to heart the results though, as the study group was small and limited to athletic males.
So, if your holidays would not be complete without your favorite mint-infused beverage, the aroma of mint wafting in the air, or a tingle of mint on your tongue via a variety of edibles, delight in your minty madness while the season overflows with options.
But just as I warned in Let’s Give ‘Em Pumpkin to Talk About (about overindulging in pumpkin spice goodies), loading-up on sugary treats and beverages enhanced with peppermint will diminish the healthful benefits. Don’t worry, I will not go Grinch-mode. If the excite-mint of the season’s bonus flavor is overwhelming, go for it. After all, the season is short, and as I encouraged you in It’s OK to Indulge, just don’t overdo it. Enjoy!
Contributing writer Denise Lum is a Health and Fitness Coach raising her family in Alameda. Contact her via [email protected] or FitnessByDsign.com. Her writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Denise-Lum.
