A new study suggests that a cup of Brazilian mint tea has the same pain relieving qualities as commercially available analgesics.
We’re not talking normal mint tea here, as you might infer from some headlines, but rather the Brazilian plant Hyptis Crenata.
Prescribed by Brazilian healers for centuries to treat conditions as varied as headaches and stomach pain to things like fever and flu, a Newcastle University team has scientifically proven that this humble plant truly does have pain-relieving properties.
In order to mimic the traditional treatment as closely as they could, the Newcastle team conducted a survey in Brazil to see how the medicine is usually prepared and how much should be used.
Most often a decoction, involving boiling the dried leaves in water for a half an hour, allowing the liquid to cool before drinking it.
The team then used the traditional preparation on mice. When the mint was given to the mice as a tea in a dose to equal the ones prescribed by traditional healers, the preparation was as effective at easing pain as a synthetic aspirin style drug known as Indometacin.
Lead researcher Graciela Rocha, a Brazilian native who recalls being given the mint tea as a child said: “Since humans first walked the Earth we have looked to plants to provide a cure for our ailments – in fact it is estimated more than 50,000 plants are used worldwide for medicinal purposes.
Besides traditional use, more than half of all prescription drugs are based on a molecule that occurs naturally in a plant. What we have done is to take a plant that is widely used to safely treat pain and scientifically proven that it works as well as some synthetic drugs.
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Mint Tea Is An Effective Painkiller Continued…
“Now the next step is to find out how and why the plant works.”
As to the taste of the tea, it is more like a sage than what we might recognize as a mint flavor. Probably not the easiest for most of us to get down, but then it does offer a natural pain reliever so the taste might be worth it.
This research is being presented at the 2nd International Symposium on Medicinal and Nutraceutical Plants held in New Delhi, India, and will appear in the society’s journal Acta Horticulturae.
Clinical trials to assess the effectiveness of the mint as pain relief for people will be the next step. And it’s important to note that this isn’t the first time a plant has been the basis of some breakthrough drug. Remember aspirin and digoxin?
Chronic pain takes control of your life, and a big part of pain management is regaining that control and living with your pain.
According to the American Pain Foundation, there are over 50 million Americans dealing with chronic pain, 25 million experiencing acute pain because of surgery or an injury.
There are options to deal with pain, so talk with your doctor to find one that’s right for you. There are different things that need to be considered before you undergo any treatment, by medication or alternative therapies.
Daily Health Bulletin
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