May Help Reduce Stress and Improve Arthritis Pain

Using spearmint to treat arthritis-related joint discomfort may be beneficial. An extensive assessment of both human and animal experiments came to the conclusion that the essential oils extracted from this mint had pain-relieving properties. Similar to this, a normal cup of twice-daily spearmint tea reduced stiffness and physical disability in a 16-week study of 62 persons with knee arthritis, whereas a cup of spearmint tea rich in rosmarinic acid reduced the same symptoms and discomfort.

High blood pressure may be reduced with spearmint. Despite the lack of human studies on this potential characteristic, certain scientific data points to the possibility that this herb may have advantageous benefits in this area. (-)-Carvone, a substance found in spearmint, has been demonstrated to function similarly to calcium-channel blockers, drugs used to lower blood pressure. In fact, a common blood pressure medicine called verapamil was demonstrated to be 100 times less effective at suppressing blood vessel contractions than (-)-carvone in one animal study.