Peppermint: The Essential Oil You Need for a Great Summer!
If there’s one essential oil you’ll want to have on hand this summer, it’s definitely peppermint. From motion sickness to tired legs, from hangovers to insect infestations, it has everything it takes to become your must-have for the summer.
A closer look at the various properties of refreshing peppermint essential oil.
Mentha piperita, peppermint essential oil
Refreshing peppermint is a perennial herb that is widely found in humid temperate regions. Its leaves are used in cooking and in the food industry in countless ways.
They enhance salads just as well as they flavor tea and many other beverages, liqueurs, sodas, and syrups. People have been drawn to its fresh flavor since ancient times: even the Egyptians were already cultivating it. From ancient times to the present day, peppermint has remained one of the most widely used plants for its therapeutic properties.
Peppermint essential oil is extracted from the leaves through steam distillation. It is highly concentrated in menthol, its most important chemical component—an alcohol that crystallizes into colorless needles. The essential oil has a powerful aroma and a strongly camphor-like scent.
It blends well with benzoin, eucalyptus, and lavender, marjoram, and lemon, rosemary, and its cousin, spearmint.
Peppermint: An Essential Oil for Relieving Digestive Discomfort
Peppermint is one of the best essential oils for freshening breath and relieving various digestive problems, particularly indigestion, nausea, and stomachaches.
It will stimulate bile production, tone the liver, and help expel gas from the intestines. It is therefore said to be carminative.
If you're having trouble digesting a meal, pour 25 cl of hot water into a glass and add a drop of peppermint essential oil along with a little honey.
Shake well and drink the mixture in one gulp. This same advice is recommended to relieve nausea and vomiting caused by food intolerance or motion sickness. Of course, you’ll find all kinds of peppermint essential oil-based coated tablets at pharmacies, drugstores, and health food stores.
Peppermint Essential Oil and Nasal Congestion
Caught off guard by the air conditioning, the fan, or a slightly chilly evening?
If you think you're coming down with a cold, simply mix three drops of peppermint essential oil with 3 drops ofmarjoram essential oil , and 4 drops of lavender essential oil in 5 ml ofvegetable oil, pour the mixture into a warm bath, and enjoy the feeling of warmth.
You can also sniff directly from the bottle or apply a few drops to a tissue to clear your nose instantly.
Peppermint: A Remedy for Heavy Legs
The cooling and pain-relieving properties of peppermint essential oil are extremely valuable for soothing tired legs or overheated feet.
Add 1% peppermint essential oil to a gel or spray and apply it to your sore limbs. Be sure to wait until the product has been fully absorbed into the skin before wiping it off.
Headaches and Hangovers: Peppermint Essential Oil to the Rescue!
Applying cold compresses soaked in peppermint essential oil to your forehead will relieve headaches, mental fatigue, stress, emotional distress, and even dizziness.
You can hold a bottle of gasoline under the nose of someone who has fainted to help them regain consciousness. For the same purpose, pour a few drops of peppermint essential oil into a diffuser or add it to an air freshener.
In hot weather, peppermint essential oil has a cooling effect. This is because the vasoconstriction it causes reduces blood flow. It is this property that makes it particularly effective for relieving heavy legs and soothing the sensation of heat in the body.
Peppermint Essential Oil for Mental Fog
Mint is a mental stimulant that awakens and clears the mind. It will help you think more positively and dispel negative thoughts. Finally, it has a calming effect when you're dealing with emotional distress.
Other Uses for Peppermint Essential Oil
Peppermint is excellent for repelling insects and rodents, which seem to particularly dislike its scent. By adding two or three drops of peppermint essential oil to a steam treatment, you can soothe your skin and eliminate bacteria.
It will then be helpful for people with acne, dermatitis, itching, scabies, and ringworm.
Precautions for Using Peppermint Essential Oil
Use it in small doses in your remedies: 0.5% is sufficient. Do not use during pregnancy or on children. Additionally, do not use peppermint essential oil with homeopathic remedies, and store the bottle separately.