In this page I plan to collect information from various sources about various mint plants, how they affect the body, and my personal insights into the mint family group of plants.
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Table of Contents
Spearmint
Identification & Attributes
- Has rounded square stem.
- The “teeth” on the leaves are rounded
- Does not have a significant amount of Menthol, so it doesn’t make your mouth feel colder like Peppermint
- Repels mosquitos
Peppermint
Identification & Attributes
- Has squared stem.
- The “teeth” on the leaves are sharper, coming to a point
- Contains Menthol, which causes your mouth to feel colder when Peppermint touches your mouth
- The Menthol helps sooth the stomach, that’s why Peppermint tea is used for stomach aches.
Penny Royal Mint
- Toxic to ingest for humans and pets
Anecdote: Anxiety from Too Much Spearmint
My personal story with mint is that I love to use spearmint with my tea combo composed of Green Tea, Ginger and honey. I added about 5-6 spearmint leaves per serving (each serving was about 3 small 4oz cups), and drank about 2 servings a day. After 2-3 days I developed an unpleasant pressure between my chest that reminded me of what I would feel from extreme anxiety. After I stopped drinking the tea combo, the symptoms deceased. Note that I used to drink the tea combo I mentioned before without the spearmint, and I didn’t suffer any symptoms until I added mint leaves to my drink.
So the take away is that spearmint (tea) in excess may cause some unpleasant pressure between your chest. If that occurs, stop consuming the spearmint. Why this happens, I don’t know. Leave a comment if you do.
