Is eating peppermint harmful to the body?

An aromatic crop with special economic value. Lamiaceae peppermint is a perennial herb. It is found in most parts of China.

China is one of the main exporters of peppermint oil and menthol. Mint stems are 30-60 cm high. The single leaves are opposite, oblong-lanceolate, with coarse serrations on the edges, slightly pubescent and glandular points on the surface, and have a spicy and cool aroma when rubbed.

Blooms purple, reddish or white flowers in autumn. Although peppermint is highly adaptable, it is particularly suitable for warm, moist, sunny environments and fertile, well-drained sandy loam soils. Peppermint stems and leaves contain peppermint oil, also known as peppermint**, which can be extracted by distillation.

Peppermint oil is frozen and crystallized by fractionation to extract menthol, and the remaining oil is called menthol oil, which still contains about 55 menthol. Peppermint oil and brain can be used to prepare summer medicines such as cooling oil and peppermint lozenges, and are also spices for food and cosmetics. Peppermint stems and leaves have the effects of dispelling wind and heat dissipation, relieving pain, strengthening the stomach and expelling phlegm, and are mainly used to treat colds, headaches, coughs, sore throats and other diseases.

Plant form: perennial herb, 10 80 cm high, the whole plant has a fragrance. The rhizome is creeping.

The stems are erect, square, branched, pubescent. Leaves opposite, lanceolate, ovate or oblong, apex acutely pointed or acuminate, base wedge-shaped, margins finely serrate, sparsely pubescent and glandular scales on both sides. Axillary inflorescences; bracts lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, marginal hairs; calyx bell-shaped, pubescent and glandular scales, with 10 veins, 5 lobes; Corolla bluish-purple, pale red or white, crown eaves 4-lobed, upper lobes apex 2-lobed, larger, stamens 4.

Small nuts ovate. The flowering period is 8 October, and the fruiting period is 9 November. Jiangsu, Henan, Anhui and Jiangxi have large areas of cultivation.

1. The dietary value of peppermint.

Peppermint has dual functions of medical and edible, and the main edible parts are stems and leaves, and it can also be juiced. In terms of eating, mint can be used as a flavoring agent, as a spice, and can also be paired with wine, tea, etc. Every 100 grams of dried mint contains grams of water, protein and fiber, which can provide kilojoules.

Peppermint contains menthol, which freshens breath and has a variety of medicinal properties, relieves abdominal pain, gallbladder problems such as spasms, and also has antiseptic, diuretic, phlegm, stomach and digestive effects. Consuming large amounts of peppermint can cause insomnia, but small doses can help with sleep.

2. Edible contraindications of mint.

Those with yin deficiency and blood dryness, hyperactive liver yang, and excessive sweating should avoid taking mint leaves. It should be avoided by women during pregnancy. And because peppermint has the effect of inhibiting milk secretion, breastfeeding women should not use it more; And because of the aroma and pungent dispersion of peppermint, patients with lung deficiency cough, yin deficiency, fever and sweating should also be used with caution.

In addition, the components of peppermint are easy to volatilize and fail due to heat, so it is advisable to put it in after the water is boiling. It has the effect of awakening and exciting, so it is not advisable to drink too much to avoid sleep trouble.

1. There are many ways to eat mint, its taste is fresh, the appearance is green, and it is also a vegetable with medicinal value, so there are many ways to eat it, and you can choose how to eat it according to your needs.

Fresh mint leaves can be eaten raw, directly clean the mint leaves, and then you can eat directly, raw mint its cool taste is very heavy, can play a very good role in refreshing the mind, and can also play a role in clearing heat and detoxifying, both convenient and effective.

The second is to eat mint soaked in water, whether it is dried mint or fresh mint, it can be eaten by soaking in water, and it can also play a good medicinal effect if soaked in water, and the taste of mint soaked in water is more sweet, and you can also add seasonings according to your own taste.

Peppermint can also be eaten as an adjunct to dishes, because the fresh taste of mint is very strong, so it can cover up the fishy smell and achieve the effect of flavoring, and it can also be eaten with meat foods, the texture and taste will be better.

2. Peppermint is a kind of cool medicinal material, itself is not suitable to eat too many plants, which can easily lead to the aggravation of cold in the body, thereby causing spleen and stomach deficiency and cold, especially long-term consumption of large quantities, may cause physical discomfort.

If you eat too much peppermint, it may also cause a toxic reaction, because peppermint contains menthol and peppermint oil, and menthol and peppermint oil have a strong paralyzing effect on mammals.

3. There are a lot of things that can be soaked in mint, and you can decide the ingredients for soaking water according to your actual needs, for example, if you need tea with a strong tea aroma, then you can choose to soak roses together.

If you like a tea with a better taste, you can choose to use rosemary and mint leaves to soak in water, which will have a richer taste and aroma, which can play a good role in refreshing the mind.

4 mint is very varied, there are as many as 25 kinds in total, and the common ones in our lives are 4 kinds, namely peppermint, spearmint, lemon mint and catnip, such as peppermint, spearmint, lemonmint, these three are edible mint, and catnip is not, it is not a plant of the mint genus, so it is not edible, generally used in cats.