The Many Uses of Mint

Home
>
Alternative Medicine
>
The Many Uses of Mint

There are many varieties of mint plants. If you want to brew tea, you go Swiss mint, apple mint or variegated peppermint. To flavor up your cooking, spearmint is the standard. Try Corsican mint for its carpet-like quality as a ground cover in your garden.

Spearmint has long been used for medicinal purposes. Since the ancient times it has been commonly used to whiten teeth and soothe bites of all kinds. Peppermint provides the most widely used essential oil in medicines. Mint is said to aid with digestion-hence, that chocolate mint thins after dinner is not just tradition.

Thinking of growing mint in your own backyard? Chances are, you already have one without knowing it! However, if you do need to have mint planted, it grows like crazy. You should plant it in containers so that it is easier to control.

Mint produces an intense aroma and intricate pale purple flowers. Although indigenous to Europe and the Mediterranean, varieties of mint are now cultivated throughout the world.

Japanese mint is the source of menthol, a major essential oil used in flavoring prepared foods. It's so easy to extract mint from the leaves for a variety of purposes, such as making mint candy or even mentholated chewing gum.

If you just don't have the time to plant mint in your garden, you can find the dried leaves available commercially.

To harness the medicinal properties of mint, you can just use it chopped,like any herb, or infuse it into a liquid. For infusion, pour a hot liquid over the mint sprigs and allow it to steep for 30 minutes to an hour, the longer the stronger the mint aroma.

Lorna Mclaren has more information regarding a wide variety of Herbal Alternatives at http://www.123-nutrition.com

In The News:

Yahoo! News: Top Stories

Bush signs jobless benefits extension (AP)

AP - With no end in sight to economic bad news, President George W. Bush on Friday ensured that millions of laid-off workers will keep getting their unemployment checks as the year-end holidays approach.

Stocks show moderate advance after sell-off (AP)

AP - Wall Street took a break from two days of steep selling to show a moderate advance Friday as energy, technology and financial stocks mostly rose.

Iraqi Shiites burn Bush effigy to protest US pact (AP)

AP - Thousands of followers of a radical Shiite cleric protested a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security deal Friday, burning an effigy of President George W. Bush in the same square where Iraqis beat a toppled Saddam Hussein statue five years ago.

Gov't: AG doing better after collapse (AP)

AP - Attorney General Michael Mukasey was feeling better Friday after collapsing during a speech, a spokeswoman said, reporting that hospital medical tests showed no signs of a stroke or cardiac-related problem.

Kenya: Somali pirates make $150M in a year (AP)

AP - Somali pirates have collected more than $150 million in ransoms over the past year, Kenya's foreign affairs minister said Friday, calling on ship owners not to pay when their vessels are hijacked.

Wal-Mart names Duke to succeed Scott as CEO (AP)

AP - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, unexpectedly announced Friday that its chief executive will retire in February and be replaced by the head of its international division.

Palin pardons turkey while others slaughtered (AP)

AP - Gov. Sarah Palin has granted the traditional Thanksgiving pardon to one lucky turkey, but the video that shocked some viewers captured what was happening in the background.

Madonna, Ritchie granted preliminary divorce (AP)

AP - The show-business marriage that began in a Scottish castle came to an end in a drab London courtroom Friday as Madonna and Guy Ritchie were granted a preliminary decree of divorce.

For toilet-less Vermont library, a new chapter (AP)

AP - When you gotta go, you gotta go. But for decades, when you had to go in the Roxbury Free Library, you really had to go somewhere else, that is.

Americans still giving, despite economic meltdown (AP)

AP - As more Americans turn to charity amid worsening economic gloom, operators of food banks and other aid groups are relying on the surprisingly resilient generosity of their neighbors and finding that even when times are tough, people still give.

Obama on track to name Clinton as top diplomat (Reuters)

Reuters - Retired Marine Gen. James Jones emerged as a leading contender for White House national security adviser as President-elect Barack Obama worked on Thursday to assemble his foreign policy team.

Pressure grows on Obama as world economy deteriorates (Reuters)

Reuters - US stocks recovered some ground on opening on Friday, though Citigroup fell further, amid continued fear that central bank moves to stabilize financial markets might not be enough to prevent a prolonged global recession.

Attorney General Mukasey sounds well: White House (Reuters)

Reuters - President George W. Bush spoke with U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Friday and the top U.S. law enforcement official sounded well after collapsing during a speech, the White House said.

Bush signs law extending unemployment insurance (Reuters)

Reuters - President George W. Bush on Friday signed into law an extension of unemployment benefits, the White House said.

Thousands protest in Iraq against U.S. troops pact (Reuters)

Reuters - Followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr marched on Friday against a pact letting U.S. forces stay in Iraq until 2011, toppling an effigy of President George W. Bush where U.S. troops once tore down a statue of Saddam Hussein.

Citigroup shares slide as bank mulls merger and asset sales (Reuters)

Reuters - Citigroup Inc shares fell sharply again on Friday as the second-largest U.S. bank by assets mulled a variety of options including a possible merger or asset sales to restore the bank's health and investor confidence, a source said.

Verizon staff had unauthorized access to Obama's cell (Reuters)

Reuters - Verizon Wireless said on Thursday that some employees had gained unauthorized access and viewed a personal cell phone account held by President-elect Barack Obama that is now inactive.

Islamists on trail of Somali pirates (Reuters)

Reuters - Dozens of Somali Islamist insurgents stormed a port on Friday hunting the pirates behind the seizure of a Saudi supertanker that was the world's biggest hijack, a local elder said.

Use of nuclear weapons more likely in future: US intelligence (AFP)

AFP - The use of nuclear weapons will grow increasingly likely by 2025, according to a bleak US intelligence report that warns that US global dominance is likely to weaken over the next two decades.

Thousands of Sadrists protest Iraq-US military pact (AFP)

AFP - Thousands of Shiite followers of the firebrand anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gathered in Baghdad on Friday to protest a security accord that would allow US troops to remain in Iraq until 2011.

The Many Uses of Mint

Alternative Medicine Alternative Medicine