Cup of mint tea is an effective painkiller

news ^ | 25 November 2009

[Dan B Cooper]

A cup of Brazilian mint tea has pain relieving qualities to match those of commercially available analgesics, a study suggests.

Hyptis crenata has been prescribed by Brazilian healers for millennia to treat ailments from headaches and stomach pain to fever and flu.

Working on mice, a Newcastle University team has proved scientifically that the ancient medicine men were right.

The study is published in the journal Acta Horticulturae.

[Dan B Cooper]

"The taste isn't what most people here in the UK would recognize as a mint" Graciela Rocha Newcastle University

[SERKIT]

Former Ambassador Joe Wilson enjoyed sipping sweet mint tea with his yellow cake.

[wastoute]

Actually it would be nice to discover an effective analgesic that wasn’t addictive.

It would certainly simplify my life.

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Good for an upset tummy, too (without sweetener). :)

[Dan B Cooper]

Hyptis crenata (Brazilian Mint) is a shrub species of flowering plant in the Lamiaceae family, the Mint Family. The genus Hyptis is commonly known as the bushmints. It is traditionally used for pain relief in Brazil. It supposedly contains a substance similar to aspirine. It’s analgesic qualities have been supported by a study[1].

For the whole BBC story on this herb visit http://docsaleeby4.blogspot.com/2009/11/hyptis-crenata-brazilian-mint-tea-as.html

[ClearCase_guy]

"I have good news and bad news, Mrs. Smith."
"Give me the bad news first."
"The test came back positive. I'm afraid you have cancer, and due to your age, I am not allowed to offer you any medical treatment."
"What's the good news?"
"There's a really great mint tea from Brazil that you can use to mitigate the pain you'll be feeling in a few months."

[libertyhoundusnr]

It’s also effective for arthritis when you back it up with a couple hits off a joint.

[stuartcr]

Non-addictive analgesics, provided for free, from God.

[dangus]

I’m a little puzzled why this is news. Wintergreen mint has long been known to contain salicylic acid, also known as aspirin. (The “salis” in “salicylic” refers to the Latin name for willow trees, where it was originally derived.)

[dangus]

Like morphine, aspirin, ether, ...

[stuartcr]

I believe morphine is addictive. What I mostly meant was those analgesics that do not require chemical processing before use.

[Vaduz]

Psssssssst it ain’t mint.

[dangus]

Morphine is all-natural, and “unprocessed” (beyond extraction and purification), and highly addictive. (To my own surprise, it’s heroin that is the processed version.) Aspirin is effective straight from the willow inner bark (you can make a tea with it), or even eaten as fresh wintergreen. Most drugs are discoveries, not inventions.

[dangus]

>> Most drugs are discoveries, not inventions. <<

(Well, I should say that most drugs start OFF as discoveries. Then scientists find out why they work, and search for the chemical variant that is safest, has the fewest side effects, and is the most effective.)

[stuartcr]

Yes

[stuartcr]

I believe opium came before morphine, as it doesn’t really require any extraction or purifying. Unfortunately it’s addictive.

[SunkenCiv]

A cup of Brazilian mint tea has pain relieving qualities to match those of commercially available analgesics

In Kentucky they're called juleps.