Herbal medicine recipes >>>> Homemade healing recipes with Mint

Homemade healing recipes with Mint.

As a cultivated horticultural plant, Peppermint is familiar to almost all people, but as a remedy, Peppermint is used at home very rarely due to the scarce knowledge about its practical use for the prevention and treatment of diseases.

In terms of its biological significance for pharmaceutical purposes, the Mint plant is interesting for the content of Menthol in its leaves, buds, flowers and seeds. Menthol and its esters make up 65% of all components contained in Peppermint essential oil. This is practically the main component that has a healing effect, which is expected from the use of Peppermint for medicinal purposes. The highest concentration of Menthol is found in the entire aerial part of the Mint of the species Mentha piperita L. (in everyday life this type of Mint is called "Peppermint"). Also, this variety of Mint is endowed with other names: “Medicinal mint”, “Pharmacy mint”, “Cold mint”, “English mint”. In foreign literature, peppermint is referred to as "peppermint". The same word may appear on the labels of foods or medications containing peppermint. Many products with Peppermint Menthol have this type of Peppermint in their name (e.g. chewing gums, candy, sodas, medicated lozenges, lollipops, syrups, elixirs, toothpastes, etc ). Such a specified name of the type of Mint on the label is necessary so that a person who purchases products with mint flavor understands that he expects a cooling effect and a pronounced spicy aftertaste from the taste of such products, for which this type of Mint got its name.

Everyone is familiar with the Menthol substance by its presence in many officially registered pharmaceutical preparations (for example: various drugs used for angina pectoris, throat sprays, mouth refreshing elixirs, ointments to get rid of headaches or antipruritic drugs - all cooling ointments and creams, medicated shampoos with a cooling effect contain Peppermint Menthol). Peppermint menthol is very effective in relieving vasospasm, soothing the skin or mucous membranes, as a sedative for the nervous system and as a distraction from itching, itching or other manifestations of skin and mucous irritation. These multiple curative and preventive properties of Menthol are manifested through its perceptibly strong cooling effect. In many of its medicinal applications, cooling Menthol acts as a distraction, which relieves pain by switching the action of nerve receptors in the skin and mucous membranes. Many effective ointments, creams, compresses and topical sprays, syrups and chewable tablets for coughs and sore throats are based on such distracting properties.

Peppermint essential oils (based on menthol, linalool, linalyl acetate, cineole, nerol, piperitone) act on the walls of blood vessels located close to the surface of the skin, and also reduce inflammation of the skin and mucous membranes due to the cooling effect and peppery sharpness, “working” in pairs. Thus, external lotions (applications) from Peppermint oils or its extracts (for example: juice of leaves, buds and flowers) soothe irritated skin or headache. The same effect is achieved when Peppermint infusions are used in drinks, affecting the gastrointestinal mucosa and the vascular walls of the capillaries located in the surface layers of the smooth muscles of the intestine, thereby helping to reduce the rate of intestinal motility (for example, in intestinal disorders) or removing inflammation in the intestinal mucosa.

Homemade Peppermint oil can be obtained by pressing the juice of leaves, buds and flowers, ground in a mortar, and highly concentrated Peppermint oil can be obtained at home using a household press for squeezing oils from the seeds of this plant. You can extract the extract of Menthol and other beneficial substances from the Mint plant at home by brewing leaves, flowers and buds in boiling water.

The most affordable and effective method to obtain healing substances from Peppermint at home is to pre-grind fresh leaves, buds and flowers in a mortar until juice appears, followed by the preparation of infusions (water or alcohol).

Preparing Mint healing products at home, one should take into account the fact that the concentration of its essential oils in the composition of infusions is of great importance in the preparation of therapeutic and prophylactic preparations from Peppermint. So, for example, infusions with a high concentration of essential oils of Peppermint do not have a calming and relaxing effect, but the opposite - excitatory nerve endings (nervous system) or irritating receptors of the skin and mucous membranes. For this reason, Peppermint infusions are prepared in a concentration consistent with the specific application of this infusion: for a calming effect and relieving irritation and spasms, infusions are prepared in a 1: 2 ratio (one volume of pureed Mint to two volumes of water), and for an irritating effect on the skin and the vascular wall, and for a stimulating effect on the nervous system, infusions are prepared in the inverse proportion of 2: 1 (two volumes of pureed Peppermint herb to one volume of water). Excessive heating of the solution (infusion) or oil of Peppermint increases the taste of bitterness, for this reason, infusions, teas or oils of Peppermint are recommended to be heated in a water bath.

When making infusions from Peppermint at home, one should not lose sight of the properties of Peppermint as a spice (spicy plant), which, when used in large quantities, irritates the gastrointestinal mucosa, activates excessive enzymatic activity, which is dangerous for people suffering from a number of gastrointestinal diseases, associated with inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, ulcers and erosions of the gastrointestinal mucosa, as well as with a naturally increased tendency to enzymatic activity .

Usually there are no problems when using Peppermint as a home remedy, but there are a number of Peppermint medicinal recipes that require special (pharmaceutical) care in preparation.

Peppermint Alcohol tincture.

To prepare an alcohol tincture from Peppermint, you will need one glass of fresh Peppermint leaves ground in a mortar and 34 ounces of Vodka, Whiskey or Cognac with a maximum alcohol strength. Put the grated leaves of Peppermint in a light-colored glass dish with an airtight lid and pour Vodka (Whisky or Cognac). Leave at room temperature (in a dark place) to infuse for four weeks. Strain the resulting infusion, pour into a hermetically sealed dark glass container and store at room temperature. Alcohol tincture from Peppermint is used externally in a concentrated form for compresses and rubbing with a warming effect, diluted Mint alcohol tincture (1 volume of tincture: 3 volumes of water) is used for rinsing the mouth and throat (without swallowing).

Infusion of Peppermint for baths.

Peppermint fresh leaves, buds and flowers (only leaves can be used) grind in a mortar and pour boiling water in the proportion: one volume of crushed fresh Mint to one volume of boiled water. Insist four hours and filter. Store the infusion in an airtight container in the refrigerator or other cool place. Warm the infusion in a water bath or by diluting it with hotter water. Baths are prepared to relieve irritation and inflammation on the skin (can be poured into a bath to rinse the whole body), to relieve inflammation in the joints, to prevent and treat hemorrhoids, to relieve inflammation and itching of the genital organs, as well as for any other cases requiring removal itching, pain or inflammation when applied topically. A diluted half strength infusion of Peppermint can be instilled into the nose for a runny nose to improve nasal breathing. A concentrated infusion of Peppermint, diluted 1:3 with warm boiled water, can be used to gargle and rinse the nose.

Therapeutic Peppermint tea.

Ordinary teas are not brewed with Peppermint due to the fact that they acquire a specific bitter taste and an excessive cooling effect, but for the purposes of activating enzymatic activity or the use of bitters required for medical reasons to stimulate digestion, teas with a therapeutic effect are prepared from Peppermint.

Pre-dried Peppermint leaves, buds and flowers (only leaves can be used) pour boiling water in proportion: one tablespoon of Peppermint per glass (cup) of boiling water. Allow to cool to room temperature. It turns out tea leaves Peppermint for future tea. For tea drinking, use half of the infused tea as a brew with the addition of boiled water to heat the tea. Do not heat the brew itself on fire, so as not to increase the bitterness of the drink. Add sugar to taste to the finished tea. It is appropriate to add fruits and berries (fresh or dried) to Peppermint tea to improve the taste - strawberries, strawberries, apricots, peaches, grapes, plums, apples, pears are more suitable for mint taste. If it is customary to drink smoothies or vegetable juices at home, Peppermint tea leaves can be added to carrot, tomato, beetroot, pumpkin, peach, apricot or pomegranate juices.

The obvious question arises, where to buy fresh or dried Peppermint, which is practically not found in pharmacy sales. To prepare Peppermint according to homemade healing recipes you can independently grow this type of Mint in your garden or windowsill (balcony). The Peppermint plant is unpretentious in cultivation (it grows like a weed), in a potted culture it requires only regular watering like any houseplant. One has only to take into account the appearance of the Peppermint plant when choosing a container for growing a plant as a room crop, since Peppermint has a superficial branching root system (at a depth of no more than 6 inches), but separate roots extend from it, which can grow to a depth of 39 inches, which allows the plant to vary in growth (from 12 to 39 inches). From the main stem of Peppermint, creeping stems depart, which bend to the surface of the earth and take root themselves. Thus, the plant grows very quickly on its own, filling the entire volume and surface area of the container. Peppermint is an annual plant that dies off when cold weather sets in and requires annual reproduction of plantings, but under room conditions the plant lengthens its life span and will gradually die off with a reduction in daylight hours. These features of growing Peppermint for the home apothecary garden must be considered.