Herbal Thursday: Peppermint
Peppermint’s Path to Restoration: Whether you grow it, sip it, or breathe it in, peppermint delivers relief where you need it most.
When the summer heat turns up, your body craves cooling herbs that calm your system and support detox. Peppermint is more than a refreshing flavor on the end of your toothbrush. It’s also a powerful ally for digestion, mental clarity, and relaxation. In this week’s Herbal Thursday, discover how this ancient herb supports your sovereignty, and learn a simple peppermint ritual you can start today.
It's the way we’re designed. Our bodies crave cooling herbs in the summer heat. A cross between water mint and spearmint, Peppermint (Mentha × piperita) offers a fresh burst of relief for your digestion, your muscles, and your mood. This aromatic herb has soothed people for thousands of years and remains a go-to for herbalists today.
🌱 A Timeless Remedy
Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans all prized peppermint for its stomach-settling powers. In Europe, it became a favorite for easing headaches and calming the nerves. The plant’s unique mix of menthol, menthone, and essential oils gives it its signature coolness and health benefits. (1)
🧬 What Science Says About Peppermint
Modern research confirms peppermint’s soothing properties. Studies show it helps relieve digestive discomfort, calming irritable bowel symptoms, among several other benefits.
Digestive Aid: Peppermint oil relaxes muscles in the digestive tract, easing stomach discomfort, especially Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). People also reach for peppermint tea to relieve nausea and vomiting. Even just the scent of peppermint (aromatherapy) relieves the nausea experienced during chemotherapy. (2, 3)
Headache Relief: Topical peppermint oil can reduce headache intensity, especially of tension headaches, likely by relaxing muscles and cooling the skin. Aromatherapy can bolster mood, which may contribute to headache stress. (4)
Mental Focus: Peppermint’s scent has been shown to improve both alertness and memory. In one study, 20 after drinking peppermint tea, participants had improved accuracy and speed of memory over control. In another study, a few drops of peppermint oil on the tongue improved reaction time up to an hour later. (5)
Decongestant: If you’ve ever been congested — which is literally everyone — then you should know about the use of menthol to clear sinuses. When nothing can break through a clogged nose, generally peppermint can. It’s a remedy used throughout cultures and time, and a study in 2023 connects the dots. (6)
💡 Detox & Sovereignty Connection
A relaxed digestive system — thanks to peppermint — means better detox. When your gut moves smoothly, waste and toxins exit your body more easily. Plus, peppermint calms the nervous system, shifting you from stress mode to rest mode, where true detox happens.
Peppermint also supports your vagus nerve, the body’s detox highway, by promoting digestive ease and calming tension.
🍹 A Simple Ritual: Peppermint Sun Tea
2 tablespoons dried Peppermint (or a handful fresh)
1 quart spring water or distilled water
Place herbs and water in a glass jar. Let sit in direct sunlight for 2–4 hours. Strain, chill, and enjoy over ice with a slice of lemon.
Sip slowly and feel your body cool from the inside out.
🌿 Peppermint and Vagus Nerve Activation
Breathing in peppermint’s scent while sipping tea can activate your vagus nerve, calming your heart and improving digestion. Feeling overfull? The cooling effect of peppermint on the digestive system will actually lower blood pressure and heart rate. (7)
Nature’s simple tools work on many levels!
🌱 How to Grow Peppermint
Would you like the brilliance of peppermint right in your own backyard? Peppermint is one of the easiest herbs to grow — and one of the most enthusiastic. Read: it’ll spread everywhere if you let it! Once it finds a comfy spot in your garden, it tends to spread like wildfire through underground rhizomes. But with a few tricks, you can enjoy the benefits without losing control of your space.
Where and How to Plant
Peppermint loves:
Moist, rich soil — it thrives with compost or worm castings mixed in
Partial shade to full sun — more sun equals stronger oils, but it tolerates dappled light
Consistent watering — don't let the soil dry out completely
Start with a young plant or cutting and bury it just deep enough to cover the roots. Keep the soil moist until established.
How to Contain the Spread
Peppermint’s underground rhizomes can quickly overrun a garden bed if left unchecked. Here's how to keep it in check:
Use a pot or container: This is the simplest method. Bury a large pot in your garden soil, letting just the rim peek out. This contains the roots and prevents spreading. Now, some people will say you need drainage holes to keep the plant from overwatering, but the rhizomes may find their way out. Try a terra cotta pot, which will help draw water away from the roots, and line the bottom with stones before planting your peppermint.
Create a barrier: Install a deep root barrier (at least 18 inches) around your peppermint patch if planting in-ground. Make sure the barrier is made from natural materials. You don’t want the roots to take up any toxins that may leach from the barrier material.
Harvest often: Regular cutting of stems encourages healthy, bushy growth and slows root expansion. In other words, if the plant has to put energy into restoring lost stems above ground, it has less energy to expand its reach beneath the surface.
Pull runners: Keep an eye out for rogue runners trying to escape. Gently tug them out by hand. This is easiest after a rain or watering.
Peppermint is a vigorous companion once you set healthy boundaries. Like all powerful herbs, it teaches you balance.
Peppermint Knows Where to Go
Peppermint isn’t just a kitchen herb. It’s a plant with purpose.
Whether it’s soothing an upset stomach, calming a hot head, or clearing blocked sinuses, peppermint has a way of knowing exactly where it’s needed. Ancient herbalists called it an “intelligent herb.” Why? Because its essential oils don’t just float around randomly — they target tension, inflammation, and congestion like Nature’s own heat seeker.
It’s on a mission to cleanse, to cool, and to remind us that healing is not linear. It’s radiant. It moves in all directions at once. Just like peppermint.
If peppermint’s running wild in your garden, maybe it’s telling you something. Is it time for you to cool the heat?
So whether you’re sipping it in a cool tea, rubbing the oil into tired muscles, or giving it a safe place to grow, peppermint shows up with power and precision. Let it remind you: healing can be refreshing, even invigorating. And sometimes all you need is that first, minty breath to shift your whole day.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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