Did you ever wonder why peppermint seems to be around a lot at Christmas? Maybe Santa is on to something. Since he has to fly around the world in one night he can't afford to make frequ ent pit stops due to abdominal cramping or pee breaks. I bet he spends the night with a peppermint stick. Peppermint is a great help to sufferers of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Interstitial Cystitis (IC). These conditions often cause cramping and spasms of the muscle in the bowel and bladder system. Recently peppermint capsules have been found to help IBS sufferers by acting on pain sensors in the GI system. Peppermint also acts as a muscle relaxant, especially in the gut. This, along with mint's breath freshening properties, is why some restaurant meals end with the staff giving you a hard mint.
Unike typical tea, such as black and green tea made from the Camellia sinensis plant, peppermint is a herbal "tea" or tisane. Most IC sufferers cannot tolerate typical black and green tea but often can drink herbal teas without trouble.
Peppermint tea is easy to make. Most grocery tea sections carry it in the herbal teas. It is also very easy to grow. Here is a page on how to grow mint if you enjoy the idea of cultivating your own. If you grow mint, you can either use the fresh leaves, or freeze or dry the leaves for later use. The tea is then made by steeping the leaves for a couple of minutes in boiling water. Then sweeten it (or not) to taste and enjoy either hot or chilled with ice.
Wether you grow your own or buy the prepared tea bags or hard mints, it is nice to have a non-prescription tummy-tamer when you have an IBS or IC flare. Brew a cup or pop a mint in your mouth and enjoy it's belly relaxing properties.