Well when it comes to herbal teas, mint teas are among the most popular tea infusions, with peppermint tea probably being the most well known to the general tea drinker. Nevertheless, spearmint tea is a great contender, as a matter of fact, its closely related to peppermint tea with regard to its active ingredients, so if haven’t already discovered this health boosting tea, there are many reasons to also include this herbal tea in your diet. Let’s have a look at some of the health properties and benefits of these wonderful mint tea selections, and find out if there is a preferred choice when it comes to choosing a health tea. So here we go, peppermint tea vs spearmint tea!

Peppermint Tea: Peppermint tea is renowned for its soothing effect on cold and flu symptoms due to the active ingredient Menthol, which acts as a mild anesthetic and adds a cooling sensation, but the properties and health benefits stretch a lot further than this. The antimicrobial, meaning antiseptic, properties further add to the pluses of this energizing tea as it can aid in reducing inflammation and infections. Furthermore peppermint tea can also help boost the immune system due to its antioxidant qualities, and it may also act as a pain reliever for menstrual pain as it relaxes the muscles, and hence reduces the cramps associated with it. Other health benefits include increased alertness and heightened levels of energy, as well as digestive relief such as reduced bloating and gas buildup, but spearmint tea is also well noted for the latter. Peppermint is actually a cross breed between spearmint and watermint, so they obviously have some similarities, but let’s have a peek at its closely related herbal tea cousin.

Spearmint Tea: Spearmint health benefits mainly cover the areas of stomach distress and interestingly enough also anti-androgenic treatment. Spearmint tea may be used for relief of flatulence and digestive issues such as diarrhea  and indigestion, and may also be useful for people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. However, for IBS sufferers peppermint tea may also provide a similar effect. Other health properties of spearmint tea include nausea and headache relief as well as minor pain management. On a different note, spearmint tea may also be useful in the treatment of mild hirsutism, a condition of male pattern hair growth in women, due to its androgen level balancing properties, but further research needs to be done to back up these otherwise very promising studies. Spearmint tea is very similar in aroma to peppermint tea, but contains less menthol and is rich in limonene and mint L Carvone.

Well, now we have finally reached the tricky question, peppermint tea vs spearmint tea, which herbal tea is healthiest? It’s obvious that both peppermint tea and spearmint come with tremendous health benefits and giving more credit to one, probably wouldn’t be fair, so depending on your symptoms and situation, you may find one to be slightly more targeted than the other. However if doing a simple comparison, you may find peppermint tea to be more beneficial for cold and flu symptoms and spearmint tea the preferred choice for nausea and stomach upset. But, both herbal choices absolutely makes the cut for being wonderful health teas, so why not boil the jug and make your choice, spearmint or peppermint tea?

Source

The post HEALTH: Which is Better For IBS Symptoms – Peppermint Tea Vs Spearmint Tea? appeared first on GigiOnThat!.