Daily cup of mint tea recommended to help us refresh our health habits
As we enjoy the sun, it’s the ideal time to think about freshening up our health needs.
A timely new scientific review from the Tea Advisory Panel (TAP) – A Narrative Review on the Mechanistic Actions and Potential Health Benefits of Peppermint and Spearmint Teas[1] – points to one refreshingly simple change we can all make.
Drinking just one or two cups of mint tea a day has been shown to have great potential when it comes to protecting us from a wide range of ailments affecting everything from our gut to our joints and hormones.
Study co-author and tea expert Dr Tim Bond comments, “The list of health areas regular mint tea (peppermint or spearmint variants) consumption could help support includes brain health, heart health and digestive health. It may also help to reduce arthritic pain and improve sleep, so it really has potential as a simple health hack.”
“The benefits of mint tea are thanks to its polyphenol, antimicrobial, anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory and blood pressure lowering effects, making it an easily achievable action to put on our list of health-focused objectives for 2025,” adds study co-author and fellow TAP expert Dr Emma Derbyshire.
First things first, if we want to be successful at sticking to these new healthy habits, we’ll need our brain firing on all cylinders to help us maintain them.
“We found scientific evidence to back up the brain health benefits of drinking mint tea,” says Dr Tim Bond, adding, “For example, research carried out in the UK found that peppermint tea significantly enhances the speed of memory, long-term memory and alertness. In this particular study, a group of healthy young adults were given 200 ml – or one large cup – of peppermint tea consumed over 10 minutes.”
Next, it’s important to look after our hearts to ensure they keep the blood flowing to all our vital organs. Indeed, supporting the heart is just one of a range of ways civilisations throughout history have put mint products, including mint teas, to good use.
Dr Emma Derbyshire points out one UK study highlighting the potential heart-protective properties of mint, explaining that, “In one clinical trial, participants were asked to drink 50 μL of peppermint infusions diluted in 100 ml of water twice a day for 20 days, while the control group received a peppermint flavoured placebo. The group who received the peppermint drink experienced significantly greater reductions in blood pressure and triglycerides – both important markers of a healthy heart – than the group who received the peppermint flavoured placebo.”
Many of us naturally up the amount of exercise we do as the outside temperature rises heading into spring, but joint pain can really put a spanner in the works of our best intentions. Thankfully, this is another area of our health where mint tea could have a positive impact.
Dr Tim Bond explains, “Researchers conducting a clinical study with triallists consuming two 300ml cups of spearmint tea a day for 16 weeks, found that the group experienced a significant reduction in knee arthritis pain compared with the control group. The researchers said that spearmint tea could be a useful remedy to help ease the pain from knee osteoarthritis.”
“Researchers attribute the pain-reducing power of mint to its anti-inflammatory effects, which could be due to its rosmarinic acid – a plant polyphenol,” says Dr Emma Derbyshire, adding, “So, it may be worth drinking a few cups a day to ease your joints into your fitness plans for spring.”
The study also suggests that we should be trusting our gut when it comes to simple and effective steps to ease an upset stomach.
People commonly pop the kettle on to make a mint tea when they’re struggling with indigestion and there’s scientific evidence to explain why that might be. Dr Emma Derbyshire comments, “To take one study as an example, researchers have found that peppermint tea has a relaxing effect on the tissue of the gastrointestinal tract.”
She adds, “Research also shows that tea produced from spearmint leaves have traditionally been used in the treatment of digestive disorders, along with complaints such as headaches, fevers and other minor ailments.”
Besides these benefits to help us spring into spring, other advantages of mint tea reported by the new TAP study included supporting women’s hormonal health, supporting oral health, treating acute respiratory tract infections, and preventing type 2 diabetes.
Dr Tim Bond concludes, “Including mint tea – peppermint or spearmint - in our daily diet could help get our body and brain into mint condition, by supporting our gut health, brain health, joint health, and sleep – among a myriad of other health benefits. Having these basics in place could be the support we need to stay on track with our wider list of healthy habits we want to start or stick to as we spring into spring.”
