Using Mint to Treat Upset Stomach

Mint is one of the most reliable home remedies for an upset stomach. After all, grandmas often hand out mints to combat indigestion, flatulence, and colic. In other words, they've long been using mint to treat upset stomach.

Mint's Medicinal Value

The two types of mint you're most likely to encounter are spearmint and peppermint. Although they once were considered the same plant, peppermint actually is a natural hybrid of spearmint. It's also the more potent of the herbs.

Peppermint owes part of its healing power to an aromatic oil called menthol. Spearmint's primary active constituent is a similar but weaker chemical called carvone.

Oil of peppermint contains up to 78 percent menthol. Menthol encourages bile (a fluid secreted by the liver) to flow into the duodenum, where it promotes digestion. Menthol also is a potent antispasmodic; in other words, it calms the action of muscles, particularly those of the digestive system.

Menthol's medicinal value has been borne out in numerous studies with animals and with humans. German and Russian studies show that peppermint not only helps to stimulate bile secretion but also may prevent stomach ulcers. The potent oil is also capable of killing myriad microorganisms that are associated with digestive and other problems.

Other studies, moreover, suggest that menthol may be useful in treating irritable bowel syndrome, a common but hard-to-treat digestive disorder in which the bowel contracts, causing a crampy type of adult colic.

Mint and Colonoscopy

Peppermint oil has also been used to stop painful cramping in patients undergoing colonoscopy. The oil is sprayed directly into the colon through the colonoscope tube. This strategy has been quite successful and is generally safer and cheaper than the drugs used to control cramping that patients have traditionally been given.

For more information on indigestion-related problems and how to solve them, visit the following:

• To see all of our home remedies and the conditions they treat, go to our main Home Remedies page.
  
• There are a number of herbal remedies that can quell stomach cramps, stimulate digestion, and help calm inflammation. Herbal Remedies for Digestive Problems has more information.
• To read about oral gas prevention, visit Home Remedies for Burping.
• To reduce gas, read our section on Home Remedies for Flatulence.
• For more serious illness advice, check out Home Remedies for Food Poisoning.
• Dealing with more frequent indigestion issues? Read about Home Remedies for Irritable Bowel Syndrome.