Mint and its Health Effects

Mint or Mentha spicata aka Mentha viridis, Spearmint, Naana, Pahari Pudina and Menthe Verte, belongs to the Lamiaceae family which includes Basil, Rosemary and Sage. The Mentha Genus comprises 25 species and a multitude of varieties and natural hybrids. To name a few varieties Pennyroyal, Apple mint, Dahurian Thyme, Asian Mint, and a few hybrids Peppermint, Ginger Mint and Sharp toothed Mint. But it is Mentha spicata or Spearmint that dominates world cultivation and consumption.

The word Mint is derived from the Latin Mentha, which finds its roots in the Greek word Minthe. A Naiad Nymph was Minthe in Greek mythology, that is a spirit being who watched over a specific water features like a stream, spring or lake. For Minthe it was The Cocytus a large river in the underworld, on whose banks new souls who could not pay the ferryman wondered for one hundred years. Well Hades/Pluto the GodKing of the Underworld, brother to Zeus and Poseidon, flashed by in his golden chariot one day and Minthe was duly swept off her feet. Consequently Hades was about to have his way with her in the backseat of his chariot, when his GodQueen Persephone appeared and turned Minthe into the aromatic plant Genus we know today. This myth I noticed is fairly similar to Tulsi or Basil in that a nymph gets turned into a plant as a transgression of passion, so too speak.

Although found in five continents it is believed that Mint originated in the Mediterranean. Evidence for the cultivation of M. sylvestris or Horse Mint, from around 5000 BCE has been found at Aleppo, in Northern Syria, one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. Mint propagates through seed but also through vigorous underground runners. This can account for the survival and continued cultivation of the many sterile natural hybrids like Peppermint which is a cross between Watermint or Mentha aquatica, and Mentha spicata.

Spearmint is certainly most widely used as a culinary herb the world round though most predominately for sweet dishes in the west and savoury in the east. There are of course many exceptions one is the British Mint Sauce for Lamb. In beverages it is used in a plethora of ways for flavour, including the famous Cuban drink Mojito and the Moroccan Touareg Tea. In sweet dishes it is used because the sharp fresh flavour acts as a counterbalance to sugar giving the ability to make the dish sweeter than would otherwise be possible without overdoing it. In the Far East it is used for the same reason but the counterbalance is with the hot spices like chillies.

But as much as we eat Spearmint in meals the biggest consumer product of Spearmint today is chewing gum. The chief compound responsible for that fresh coolness is Menthol found at only 15000 ppm (parts per million) in the essential oil, but a significantly higher quantities in the hybrid Peppermint. Carvone is the top compound in Spearmint coming in at over 51% of its total pharmacological content. It is the (-) Carvone present in Spearmint that gives its unique smell compared to Peppermint or any other Mint. It’s opposite compound (+) Carvone is found in high concentrations in Caraway and Dill. There are over 338 known compounds present in Spearmint which produce over 670 activities in the human body when ingested by whatever means.

Spearmint has 35 Cancer Preventative effects that are known to have a preventative action toward initial cancer development. (ALANINE, ALPHA-PINENE, APIGENIN, ASCORBIC-ACID, BETA-CAROTENE, BETA-IONONE, BETA-MYRCENE, BETA-SITOSTEROL, CARVONE, DIOSMETIN, EUGENOL, FIBER, GERANIOL, GLYCINE, JASMONE, LIMONENE, LINALOOL, LINOLEIC-ACID, LUTEOLIN, MENTHONE, METHIONINE, MUFA, MYRISTIC-ACID, NIACIN, OLEANOLIC-ACID, OLEIC-ACID, PANTOTHENIC-ACID, PULEGONE, RIBOFLAVIN, ROSMARINIC-ACID, SERINE, STIGMASTEROL, TYROSINE, URSOLIC-ACID, VANILLIN)

Anti-bacterial‘s have 35 compounds present that are proven Ant-bacterial’s or Antiseptics which only kill off bacterium. (1,8-CINEOLE, ACETIC-ACID, ACETOPHENONE, ALPHA-PINENE, ALPHA-TERPINEOL, APIGENIN, ASCORBIC-ACID, BENZALDEHYDE, BETA-IONONE, BETA-SITOSTEROL, BORNEOL, CARVACROL, CARYOPHYLLENE, DELTA-CADINENE, ETHANOL, EUGENOL, GERANIOL, JASMONE, LIMONENE, LINALOOL, LUTEOLIN, MENTHOL, MENTHONE, MYRCENE, OLEANOLIC-ACID, P-CYMENE, PERILLYL-ALCOHOL, PHENETHYL-ALCOHOL, PINENE, PULEGONE, ROSMARINIC-ACID, SABINENE, TERPINEN-4-OL, THYMOL, URSOLIC-ACID)

Anti-Oxidant’s with 28 Compounds that have an anti-oxidant effect on the body. (ALANINE, APIGENIN, ASCORBIC-ACID, BETA-CAROTENE, BETA-SITOSTEROL, CAMPHENE, CARVACROL, DIMETHYL-SULFOXIDE, DIOSMIN, EUGENOL, GAMMA-TERPINENE, HESPERIDIN, HISTIDINE, ISOMENTHONE, LUTEOLIN, METHIONINE, MYRCENE, MYRISTIC-ACID, OLEANOLIC-ACID, PALMITIC-ACID, ROSMARINIC-ACID, STIGMASTEROL, TERPINEN-4-OL, TERPINOLENE, THYMOL, TRYPTOPHAN, URSOLIC-ACID, VANILLIN)

Anti-inflammatory’s have 26 compounds supporting reduced inflammation, which is the intricate reaction of blood vessel tissue to various stimuli resulting in inflammation of that tissue. (1,8-CINEOLE, ALPHA-PINENE, APIGENIN, ASCORBIC-ACID, BETA-PINENE, BETA-SITOSTEROL, BORNEOL, CARVACROL, CARYOPHYLLENE, COPPER, DIOSMIN, EUGENOL, HESPERIDIN, LIMONENE, LINALOOL, LINOLEIC-ACID, LUTEOLIN, MAGNESIUM, MENTHOL, MUFA, OLEANOLIC-ACID, OLEIC-ACID, ROSMARINIC-ACID, STIGMASTEROL, THYMOL, URSOLIC-ACID)

An Antiseptic effect is supported by 25 compounds that reduce infection in external open, damaged or torn skin. (1,8-CINEOLE, ALPHA-PINENE, ALPHA-TERPINEOL, ASCORBIC-ACID, BENZALDEHYDE, BENZYL-ALCOHOL, BETA-PINENE, CARVACROL, CARVONE, ETHANOL, EUGENOL, FURFURAL, GERANIOL, LIMONENE, LINALOOL, MENTHOL, MENTHONE, OLEANOLIC-ACID, OXALIC-ACID, PHENETHYL-ALCOHOL, PINENE, SABINENE, TERPINEN-4-OL, THYMOL, ZINC)

“It will not suffer milk to cruddle in the stomach, and therefore it is put in milk that is drunke… (Spearmint)” Gaius Plinius Secundus - Naturalis Historia 77CE

Spearmint has a long medical history and is regarded in the shadow of its hybrid Peppermint to be one of the oldest known medicines dating back archeologically to 13,000 - 25,000 BCE. Peppermint has a greater dominance over Spearmint medicinally for its higher essential oil content and strength. But whereas Peppermint can be too strong for the likes of babies and children, Spearmint steps in with its milder constitution. In the herbal world it is valued for this and used primarily as an Anti-Pyretic, Diuretic, Carminative, Stimulant and Anti-spasmodic. But it has other purported uses too and here some of them are together with number of supporting compounds.

Astringent (causes shrinkage of the mucous membranes slowing mucus flow e.g. colds and flu) (1)

Bronchitis (to relieve inflammation of the bronchi in the lungs e.g. viral infection) (1)

Cancer (help prevent or slow the growth of malignant cells) (35 preventative) (17 actively retard growth)

Cancer (Stomach) (1)

Carminative (prevents or eases the formation of gases in the alimentary canal) (6)

Diuretic (increases flow of water from the renal system) (12)

Fever (an Antipyretic action or to reduce body temperature during a fevered condition only) (6)

Nausea (is a condition that can be brought about from a great deal of causes but results in nausea that could leading to vomiting, and Spearmint would be an anti-vomiting or Anti-emetic medicine) (0)

Nervine/Neuralgia (has a favourable tonic effect upon the Nervous system or calming effect on the nerves themselves) (There are 24 compounds that have a sedative effect, 2 narcotic, 1 neurodepressant, 1 psychoactive, etc.)

Sore (open wound) (45)

Spasm (aids in the involuntary contraction of muscles and organs) (24)

Stimulant (excitement of the central nervous system) (5)

There are quite a few more applications to this age old herb that we have been using for well over 15000 years and cultivating for the last 7000 years. As new pharmacological discoveries of the compounds effects individually and combined is progressing more rapidly now so the secrets of this plant are revealed. It would seem that Spearmint’s long time reputation is deserved for both its gastronomic and medicinal properties. It is from this global reputation that the world grows and consumes over 1 500 000 Kg’s every year. Not bad for Minthe, a nymph who started out by a river in the underworld.

Another Mojito for thought? C=;}

In this series: Basil Chives Dill Oregano Parsley Rosemary Sage Thyme Conclusion