Mint

One of the herbs we eat each morning is Mint. We pick a few leaves and dice it up along with some Centella asiatica (Gotu Kola). This we eat mixed with our cereal.
The reason we do this is to increase the anti-oxidants and polyphenols in our diet.

Binomial name : Mentha sp

Common name : Mint
-we have Mentha cordifolia and also Mentha suaveolens (apple mint)

The name Mentha and Mint are from the Greek Minthe. According to mythology Minthe was a greek water nymph who angered Hade's wife ( Persephone) and she turned her into this aromatic herb.

The flavour is something that we like and mint does have some quite useful medical and nutritional qualities. Whether having a few leaves each day really does any good is a moot point though.

Description:



It is a low growing herb about 100mm high with a spreading habit. The leaves are 4-6cm long and 3cm wide. There is a well known aromatic scent when the leaves are crushed. If you look carefully there is a square shape to the stems of this plant.

Historical Use :

Mentha species have been used by humans probably for thousands of years wherever it was found (Europe and Asia). It has a long record historically for uses such as to relieve diarrhoea and gut pains. Hippocrates, Aristotle and Pliny all wrote about it as a useful plant and it continued to be recorded from then in various historical writings. Extracts of mint are widely used today in confectionary, toothpastes etc (but I would not be at all surprised to learn that mint flavours and scents are chemically made instead).

Nutritional :

As quantities eaten of this plant are quite small , there is not much nutrients provided in terms of daily requirements. However , it does have Vit A, C , Calcium, Folate and also some Omega 3 Fatty acids. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of problem chemicals present such as oxalate.

Pubmed search: search term: Mentha

Abstract 5: This one was really interesting. A crude extract of Mentha inhibited rabbit bowel contractions by way of blocking the Calcium channel. Now there is a class of blood pressure lowering medications called Calcium Channel blockers which have a side effect of causing constipation. Thus I would suspect that Mint would also help lower blood pressure!
Abstract 17: Showed that Mint has polyphenols and good anti-oxidant activity.
Abstract 23 : In this abstract a special variety of Mint had good anti-inflammatory activity and reduced cartilage breakdown in vitro ( - ie test tube, not live animal model)

search term : Mentha cordifolia

Abstract 1 : an extract of this herb was found to contain an analgesic compound ( menthalactone) that had equivalent analgesic activity to a drug in Australia called Ponstan (Mefanamic acid).
This drug is commonly used for dysmenorrhoea ( painful periods). Interesting how some of these herbs keep coming up with pain relieving compounds.


Conclusion: a flavoursome herb that has worthwhile benefits when eaten. This is another herb from our childhood in New Zealand - a traditional thing was for mint sauce on the lamb roast for Sunday dinner.



Tom