What is Peppermint Essential Oil?
Peppermint isn’t actually its own form of mint, but rather a cross between two kinds of wild mint: water mint and spearmint. The plant grows in both North America and Europe. Peppermint has historically been used for health benefits, and its history stretches back thousands of years to ancient Greece.
While historical info isn’t necessarily scientific, the plant has been used to treat a wide range of conditions, and the conditions that it has traditionally been used to treat are now the subjects of concentrated study. However, peppermint itself isn’t as easy to use as its essential oil when it comes to health applications.
Peppermint oil is an essential oil that is taken from the leaves and flowers of the peppermint plant. It is called an essential oil because it is highly concentrated and it contains the components that lead to mint tasting and smelling the way that it does. Some argue that this means that peppermint oil should also offer the same health benefits as peppermint itself.
Peppermint Oil Capsules Benefits
Peppermint Oil for Hair
One of the most popular peppermint essential oil benefits is its ability to purportedly improve hair growth. This is due to peppermint oil’s status as a vasodilator, meaning that it helps stimulate blood flow to the areas where it is applied, including the scalp.
In many cases, male and female pattern baldness is caused by a lack of blood flow to the hair follicles. By applying peppermint oil and further stimulating blood flow to the hair follicles, it may be possible to stop hair loss from occurring and even to potentially stimulate further hair growth.
Peppermint Oil for IBS
One of the oldest historical uses of peppermint oil is as a treatment for IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). While there is thousands of years of anecdotal evidence to support this oil’s use as a source of IBS relief, this long-term use also inspired a few studies to be conducted on its effectiveness.
Research into peppermint oil as an IBS cure started all the way back in the 90s, but more recent studies have proven that it can be an effective remedy for the condition. The treatment is mainly effective when dealing with short-term IBS and the only real side effect that was noted as a bit of heartburn.
Peppermint Oil for Spiders
You may have heard of how peppermint oil can be used as a natural spider repellent, and making one isn’t too much of a challenge. To make your natural spider repellent, combine about five drops of peppermint essential oil with water and a small amount of dish soap in a spray bottle.
Keep in mind that peppermint oil isn’t as powerful as some purpose-made insect repellents, so you’ll end up having to use more of it than you would if you were using something like Raid. Yet another tactic is using peppermint plants to keep spiders away from certain spots in your home.
Peppermint Oil for Nausea
Peppermint oil aromatherapy has often been touted as a cure to nausea, but there hasn’t been a huge body of research or evidence about whether or not this is the case. However, a study has now been conducted to determine if peppermint oil diffusion could be used to help with their nausea.
The study consisted of an evaluation of 100 patients, and after the test was conducted, it was found that they had a lower rate of nausea. While some of the patients used a combination of aromatherapy and antiemetics, the ones who used only aromatherapy still showed a significant improvement.
How Can You Take Peppermint Oil?
As an Oil
One of the most common ways to use peppermint oil is to use the oil for topical applications. Keep in mind that you’ll experience peppermint oil benefits with even a small amount of the essential oil because of how concentrated it is.
Due to its strength, most people won’t drink peppermint oil directly, but they may end up diluting a drop or two of it into a large glass of water.
Peppermint Oil Capsules
As we just mentioned, peppermint oil has a pretty intense flavour, so if you’re trying to ingest it without giving yourself heartburn or otherwise making yourself sick, it may be a good idea to use peppermint oil capsules. These capsules can be found from most supplement stores, and they come in different dosages.