Peppermint: benefits and recipes. Useful properties of peppermint, use in cooking, cosmetology and traditional medicine

Mint, including peppermint, is a very common spicy plant that is actively used in cooking and not only. This is a very unpretentious plant, and in home gardens it often grows like a weed. You can grow it in a flower pot on the windowsill and always have this wonderful spice on hand. This culture is unpretentious and at the same time very, very useful. In cooking, mint leaves are mainly used.

Properties and benefits of mint

The properties and useful properties of mint are largely determined by its composition, the content of natural menthol in its leaves.

Mint has the ability to calm our body and help improve its digestion. Brew mint tea or add mint leaves to your favorite tea for a great drink. The benefits of such a simple drink are wide - it gives the body a calming effect, improves blood circulation, and relieves us of headaches. Peppermint tea will relieve nausea and improve digestion. Peppermint tea will also help to relax, get rid of insomnia and irritation. That's how much we benefit from just one cup of mint tea. By the way, few people get bored of tea brewed on mint leaves.

Mint use

Now, more than ever, we actively use many spicy herbs in cooking, including mint itself. Mint always adds a touch of spice to the dish. For example, in such a dish as a leg of lamb with mint sauce, sauce plays an important role.

In order not to lose all the useful properties of mint, you need to add it to the prepared dish for a certain time before it is ready. Otherwise, it will spoil the taste of this dish, the minty pleasant taste can become simply bitter.

In many cold drinks and dishes, you need to add it in advance so that the essential oils of mint pass, for example, into such an interesting drink as mint kvass.

Peppermint is used quite often for cooking various dishes. It is added to dishes from poultry, meat, vegetables, fish, to many salads, desserts. Mint is used in the preparation of drinks and sauces.

It gives confectionery and pastries an unusually pleasant aroma, just remember mint gingerbread. Essential oils contained in mint have a pleasant aroma, fresh and refined taste. Dishes with mint help to improve mood.

You can also use mint leaves to decorate desserts, salads, main courses.

Mint perfectly flavors vinegar and vegetable oil. It is enough just to add sprigs of mint along with other herbs to bottles of vinegar or oil, let them stand in a dark place for about one or 2 weeks, and then use them with pleasure.

Peppermint can also be used in some marinades for fish, meat and poultry. Such marinades always carry a touch of freshness and marinade and meat, in which marinated meat is given a piquant taste.

It is appropriate to use mint, both fresh and dried.

Mint can be consumed in its natural form alone or mixed with other herbs. For example, it takes pride of place in the composition of suneli hops, where mint goes well with all the herbs included in the composition and perfectly complements this mixture.

Let's look at a few different options from the huge list of uses for peppermint in cooking. Let's start with the green fish marinade.

Green marinade for fish

• Peppermint - one bunch
• cilantro - one bunch
• Onions - shallots - three pcs.,
• Small lemon or lime - one pc.,
• Peanut butter - 150 grams,
• Salt.

Rinse cilantro, mint, onion - lemon and shallots thoroughly under running water, then dry.Finely chop the cilantro and mint. Peel and mince shallots. Grate the lemon zest. Squeeze out the juice from the lemon. Combine everything together with peanut butter and salt in a bowl, mix well. So, our fish marinade is completely ready. This marinade can be used to marinate fish for grilling, barbecue, or frying on the stove.

Mint sauce for baked meat

• Mint leaves - 15 g,
• Sand sugar - one tbsp. spoon,
• Shallot - one piece,
• Wine vinegar - three to four tablespoons,
• A pinch of salt.

Combine wine vinegar in a bowl (you can take any white or red one you like), granulated sugar and salt, stir so that the granulated sugar dissolves. Grind enough onion and mint, add to sugar and vinegar, mix it all up. Pour the mixture into a gravy boat. Peppermint sauce goes especially well with roast lamb.

You can speed up the cooking process of this sauce if you make it larger and use a blender to grind it.

mint salad

• Mint - one small bunch,
• Fresh cucumber - two pcs.,
• Tomatoes bull's heart - one or two,
• Chives - half a small bunch,
• Garlic - a couple of cloves
• Lemon juice - two tablespoons,
• Grape seed oil - two tablespoons,
• A mixture of peppers and salt.

Cut the tomato cross on the cross and scald with boiling water, remove the skin. You can remove the seeds if you wish. Cut a tomato into a medium dice. Put it all in a bowl.

Peel the cucumbers, if necessary, from the skin, seeds and cut into a medium cube, add to the bowl to the cubes of tomatoes.

Schnitt - chop the onion and add it to the vegetables in our bowl. Separate the mint leaves from the twigs, put them together in a pile and chop. Then grind a little in your hands and add to the bowl with the other ingredients of our salad.

We clean the garlic, cut it finely and rub it together with salt and a mixture of different peppers in a mortar. Add grape seed oil, lemon juice to the crushed garlic. We mix everything well. Pour the dressing into the bowl with our salad. We mix. You can skillfully decorate the salad with mint leaves.

Non-alcoholic mojito

• One bunch of mint
• Lime - one pc.,
• Cane sugar - a couple of tablespoons,
• Ice - two glasses,
• Mineral water - bottle.

Separate the mint leaves from the branches. Cut the lime into eight wedges.
In a pair of tall glasses we place about twenty to twenty-five mint leaves, 1 tablespoon of cane sugar and mash (for example, using a pestle for a mortar). Mint leaves are gently crushed with sugar to get a stronger minty flavor and aroma. Squeeze the juice from 4 lime slices into each glass and put these slices there as well. We fill the glass with ice cubes and fill it all with mineral water. Serve non-alcoholic drink along with cocktail straws.

Mint tea

• Mint - one tablespoon
• Blackcurrant leaves - one tbsp. spoon,
• Lemon zest - a pinch
• Water - about 500 ml.

Dry leaves from blackcurrant, along with dry mint and lemon zest, put in a glass teapot, which we pre-rinse with hot water. Boil the water, cool it a little, to 90 - 95 degrees, and fill the kettle halfway, let the tea brew for two minutes, and fill it with the remaining water. If you eat dry blackcurrant berries, then they can also be added to the teapot,

2013 -10-20 16:23

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In the article we discuss peppermint - medicinal properties and contraindications to its use. You will learn the chemical composition of the plant, and how it is useful for women's and men's health. We will tell you how to use mint in the treatment of gastritis, pressure, runny nose and burns. Following our advice, you will learn how to prepare decoctions, infusions, oils and drops from the plant.

A little about mint - this is a herbaceous plant of the Lamiaceae family (lat. Lamiaceae). The Latin name is Mentha piperita. Other names: motherboard, breastplate.

Appearance (photo) mint

Genus Mint (lat. Mentha) unites 42 species of plants. Peppermint is a hybrid of the aquatic (lat. Mentha aquatica) and garden (lat. Mentha spicata) varieties.

Cultivation of mint is possible in gardens, on personal plots and at home. You will learn more about home growing from. It is grown on an industrial scale in the Voronezh region and the Krasnodar region.

This is an unpretentious plant that can be grown even on the windowsill. It prefers moist, loose soil. Mint is propagated by layering, cuttings and division of the rhizome.

The plant has a fibrous horizontal rhizome. The erect stem reaches a height of 100 cm. The shoots are branched, densely covered with leaves.

The leaves are opposite, pointed, oblong-ovate. The edges of the leaf plate are sharp-serrated.

Small light purple flowers are collected in semi-whorls and form spike-shaped inflorescences. Mint flowers in June-September.

The fruit consists of four nuts. The plant bears fruit very rarely.

The chemical composition of mint

What is in the medicinal herb?

• menthol;
• essential oil;
• routine;
• saponins;
• fatty oil;
• resins;
• phytosterols;
• tannins;
• ascorbic acid;
• caffeic acid;
• oleic acid;
• chlorogenic acid;
• ursolic acid;
• carotene;
• arginine;
• glucose.

Due to its rich composition, the plant has a whole range of medicinal properties..

Nutritional value and calories

100 g of mint contains 3.8 g of protein, 0.9 g of fat, 14.9 g of carbohydrates, 8 g of dietary fiber, and 78.6 g of water.

Calorie content per 100 grams - 70 kcal.

How to prepare and store

Harvest mint in June - July, cut only fully bloomed plants. Collect during the day in dry weather, when there are no dew drops on the leaves.

It is better to carefully cut the plant, and not tear it with your hands. You can harvest both whole bushes and individual leaves. Put the cut mint in the shade, in the sun it will lose most of the essential oils, and hence its beneficial properties.

Immediately after collection, rinse under cold running water, dry thoroughly on paper or regular towels for several hours. Then spread the mint in one layer on paper, dry in a shaded and well-ventilated place for 3-5 days.

Store in glass jars or linen bags. Shelf life - no more than 2 years.

How to choose a spice

When buying a spice in a store, pay attention to the packaging, it should be:

• tight, check if it is not damaged or opened;
• opaque to keep the sun out.

Also remember to check the expiration date and pay attention to whether the spice is stored in a dry place in the store, out of direct sunlight.

Beneficial features

The healing properties and contraindications of the plant lie in its composition. The main component is menthol, which normalizes the functioning of the cardiovascular, nervous, digestive and genitourinary systems.

Peppermint is used to treat diseases of the digestive system. It eliminates heaviness in the stomach, flatulence and has a choleretic effect. Effectively relieves attacks of nausea, has a calming effect on the gastric mucosa.

Also good for the liver and gallbladder. It is used to cleanse these organs of toxins and toxins, it helps to remove stones.

Mint decoctions, infusions and teas are used for bronchopulmonary diseases. The plant eliminates inflammatory processes in the bronchi and helps to remove sputum from them. Mint relieves cold symptoms and has a diaphoretic effect.

It is also used in dentistry. The plant disinfects the oral cavity. It is useful for stomatitis, gingivitis, periodontal disease.

Mint for women

The benefits of peppermint for women's health are its beneficial effect on the condition of the skin and hair. The plant has nourishing, strengthening and protective properties.

Mint is used in gynecology for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. A decoction of the plant is added to sitz baths. Such procedures have analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects.

Mint for men

Plant-based medicines increase potency and normalize blood circulation in the pelvic organs. Mint has a negative effect on men's health only with a regular overdose. The herb is useful in moderation - 1-2 glasses of mint tea per week.

A decoction of the herb is used externally to wash the feet. This procedure helps eliminate unpleasant odors and reduces sweating.

Application in cooking

Fresh and dried mint leaves are used in cooking. The spice is added to sauces, salads, drinks. The grass is combined with lamb, poultry, cheeses, fruits and vegetables.

Peppermint oil is used in the confectionery industry. It is added to pastries, creams, desserts.

Application in cosmetology

Peppermint essential oil is used in cosmetology

Peppermint extract is used in the cosmetics industry. It is added to creams, lip balms, masks and hair shampoos.

Peppermint regulates sebum production, tightens pores and purifies the skin. Plant-based cosmetics are used to care for oily and combination skin.

Mint is suitable for any type of hair. Peppermint shampoos and balms nourish dry hair, reduce oily scalp and improve the appearance of curls.

Mask for the face

Mint nourishes and tones the skin. A decoction of the plant is used to wipe the face in the morning and evening. Peppermint oil is combined with other ingredients and masks are prepared based on them. Such products are suitable for problematic and oily skin.

Ingredients:

1. Yellow clay - 1 tablespoon.
2. Peppermint essential oil - 2 drops.
3. Almond oil - 2 teaspoons.
4. Lemon oil - 1 drop.
5. Water - 1 tablespoon.

How to cook: Dilute the clay with water, stir until smooth. Add oils and stir.

How to use: Wash your face, blot excess liquid with a dry cloth and apply a mask. Wash off with warm water after 15 minutes, when the clay dries. After the procedure, moisturize the skin with cream.

Result: The mask increases the blood supply to the skin, eliminates inflammation and reduces the fat content of the epidermis.

Hair Mask

A decoction of the plant is used to rinse the curls after shampooing. Mint extract is added to ready-made hair care cosmetics or homemade masks are made on its basis. They are suitable for oily hair types.

Ingredients:

1. Peppermint oil - 2 drops.
2. Jojoba oil - 20 ml.

How to cook: Heat jojoba oil in a water bath to 36-37 degrees, add mint oil, mix. The amount indicated in the recipe is for medium length hair.

How to use: Rub the resulting mixture of oils into the scalp with massage movements. Comb your hair with a fine-toothed comb to distribute the mask throughout your hair. Wrap your head with polyethylene, warm with a towel and keep the product for 2 hours. The mask can be left on all night. Next, rinse your hair with water and lemon juice (1 teaspoon of juice per 1 glass of water) and rinse with shampoo.

Result: The mask prevents hair loss, accelerates their growth and improves appearance.

Application in traditional medicine

In home medicine, decoctions, infusions, drops and oil are made from mint.

In folk medicine, mint leaves are used as medicinal raw materials. Raw materials are harvested during the flowering period of the plant. For the therapeutic use of medicinal herbs, infusions, decoctions, and oils are prepared on its basis.

Like any other medicinal plant, mint has its own consumption rate, the excess of which leads to negative consequences. The daily norm of fresh mint leaves - up to 15 g, mint drinks - no more than 2 glasses.

You have learned about the uses and contraindications of peppermint. Let us consider in more detail the recipes for the preparation of medicines based on plants.

Decoction for gastritis

A decoction of medicinal herbs normalizes the digestive tract, cleanses the body of decay products and increases appetite. The drink is used to prevent and treat gastritis and other stomach disorders.

Ingredients:

1. Leaves of the plant - 1 tablespoon.
2. Water - 500 ml.

How to cook: Pour boiling water over mint leaves, put in a water bath and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, warm with a towel and leave for at least 15 minutes.

How to use: Take ½ cup 3 times a day.

Result: The drink reduces the acidity of gastric juice, eliminates inflammation and pain.

Infusion of pressure

Ingredients:

1. Dried herb - 1 teaspoon.
2. Water - 200 ml.
3. Honey - 1 teaspoon.

How to cook: Grind the leaves, pour boiling water, cover and let it brew for 20 minutes. Dissolve a spoonful of honey in your drink.

How to use: Take 1 tablespoon of drink 3 times a day.

Result: Infusion reduces blood pressure, calms the nervous system and normalizes sleep.

Oil for burns

This oil is used as an antiseptic for the treatment of skin diseases and the restoration of the epidermis after burns. The remedy eliminates inflammation and accelerates the healing of the skin.

Ingredients:

1. Dried mint - 100 gr.
2. Vegetable oil - 200 ml.

How to cook: Cut the raw materials, put them on the bottom of a glass container, pour oil heated to 37 degrees and close the lid tightly. Infuse the remedy for 8 weeks. Shake the oil periodically. Strain the finished product through cheesecloth and store in the refrigerator.

How to use: Apply the oil on the damaged areas of the skin and leave until completely absorbed.

Result: The tool accelerates regeneration, softens the skin and prevents scarring.

Cold drops

Mint drops are used to treat a runny nose and relieve inflammation of the upper respiratory tract. They effectively eliminate hoarseness. Menthol is an ingredient in pharmaceutical preparations for the treatment of the common cold.

Ingredients:

1. Plant leaves - 10 gr.
2. Water - 300 ml.

How to cook: Grind mint leaves, pour boiling water over them, cover and leave for half an hour. Strain the finished product through a double layer of gauze. Store in refrigerator.

How to use: Place 2 drops in each nostril.

Result: Drops facilitate breathing, relieve inflammation and swelling of the sinuses.

For more information about mint, see the video:

Application for weight loss

Mint is used for weight loss. Tea is brewed and added to food during the cooking process. The smell of mint reduces appetite, and the chemicals in its composition soothe the nervous system. By removing the overexcitation of the central nervous system, the feeling of hunger is also dulled. The process of losing weight becomes less disturbing.

Mint cleanses the body of toxins. And if you add a piece of ginger to tea, the drink will help speed up your metabolism.

To prepare tea, a few mint leaves are brewed in a glass of boiling water or green tea, drink 1-3 cups a day. Do not overdo this drink if you have low blood pressure or bradycardia.

Contraindications and side effects

Before starting treatment with mint-based products, you should consult with a specialist. The doctor will prescribe the appropriate dosage and course of administration. An overdose of mint leads to drowsiness.

Contraindications to the use of herbal medicines:

• low blood pressure;
• During pregnancy and breastfeeding;
• children's age up to 6 years;
• individual intolerance.

You learned about the benefits of peppermint medicines and contraindications to their use. Let's summarize.

What to remember

1. Mint is widely used in cooking, cosmetology and home medicine, and is also used for weight loss.
2. Useful properties of mint and contraindications to its use are in the composition of the plant.
3. Plant-based products have antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic effects.
4. Before using mint as a medicine, you should consult a specialist, especially during pregnancy.

A bit of history:
Mint is the oldest aromatic plant known and used by man even before our era.
Written monuments testify to the ancient origin of the plant. There is a mention of her in the Gospel of Matthew (chapter 23 line 23). Mint was known to the Arabs, Chinese, Japanese and enjoyed well-deserved fame in medicine. The ancient Greeks and Romans treated mint with respect. They believed that the smell of mint enhances mental abilities and refreshes the mind, so noble people and scientists wore mint wreaths on their heads. They washed their hands with mint water, rubbed floors and tables with leaves to improve the air in living quarters and create a cheerful mood.
Mint, like many other spicy plants, has its own mythological history and owes its name to the heroes of Greek myths. The lord of the underworld, Hades, fell in love with a beautiful nymph named Minta, but Persephone (Hades' wife) turned the nymph into a nondescript grass because of jealousy. Hades' attempts to disenchant his beloved were unsuccessful, and then he gave the plant a wonderful aroma. From the Greek name "minthe" the plant got its Latin name "mentha", and passing into the Slavic languages, it changed into the modern Russian word "mint".
The mint genus includes about 50 species. Various species, both wild and cultivated, were used, which were bred in gardens to improve varieties. The most common varieties are: pepper, curly, long-leaved, field, flea mint.
Peppermint is native to England. From there, she came to the European continent, to the countries of Asia and America. Peppermint is a spicy-aromatic herbaceous plant known since ancient times and used as a spice.
As an industrial crop, it is grown in 40 countries, including Ukraine, Moldova, the Krasnodar Territory, but it is found in a wild state in many countries.

Seasoning Description:
Peppermint (Mentha piperita L.) is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Lamiaceae family. It has other names: English mint, cold mint, chill, peppermint, yartiz (Azerbaijan), katvahot (Armenian), pitna (Georgian)
This type of mint is a cultivated plant bred in the 17th century by the method of multiple hybridization on the basis of two types of water mint and spearmint.
Wild peppermint often has an unpleasant, pungent odor.
The spice is mint leaves - dried or fresh. The leaves emit a pleasant smell, have a refreshing cooling taste.
Dosing it, like many other spices, should be small. Peppermint is not always combined with other spices.

Application in cooking:
Peppermint flavors tea, fruit drinks, kissels, compotes, kvass, syrups, spirits and liquors.
It is used in spice mixtures. It improves the taste and aroma of many sauces, is added to marinades for fish and meat, and mint oil is made. Peppermint is used to prepare many dishes from beef, lamb, lamb, poultry, various (especially fruit) salads. It is used as a seasoning for vegetables, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, legumes. Cabbage, carrots, peas, leeks are stewed with it.
Dry ground mint will add freshness and aroma to confectionery, buns, cookies, it is put in mint gingerbread, dryers, pies.
Peppermint flavors tobacco and chewing gums, while mint drinks are refreshing and refreshing during the hot summer months.

Application in medicine:
Essential oil "Menthol" is used as a bactericidal, vasodilating, analgesic and choleretic agent. It is part of gastric tablets, validol, valocordin, corvalol, Zelenin drops, mint drops, and ointment for the common cold.
Mint essence is added to various toothpastes, powders, colognes, elixirs, etc.
Mint stimulates appetite, improves digestion, relieves nausea. In a mixture with other herbs, mint is prescribed for hyperacidity, pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases, gynecological bleeding. Mint baths are known to be soothing.

Along with the summer heat, the season of herbs has come, and among the many useful plants, mint and lemon balm should be especially highlighted. What are the benefits of mint for the human body and how to use fresh mint for cooking? Mint has been used in cooking for centuries. It is put in desserts, drinks, meat dishes. Today I have prepared for you some interesting ideas for using mint not only for food, but also for our health and beauty.

It so happened that I had a whole bunch of fresh mint at my disposal. What to do with it so that it does not disappear in vain in the refrigerator? I was interested in recipes based on mint. Before that, I usually made only mint tea and mint lemonade, the recipes of which I will also indicate in this post.

The benefits of mint for the human body

Mint contains a lot of menthol, which accumulates in its leaves. It has an analgesic effect, and is also good as an antispasmodic and antiseptic. Menthol is good for blood vessels, helps with pain in the intestines and stomach. Decoctions and infusions are prepared from mint, which help relieve headaches, spasms, and nausea. Mint-based ointments help treat coughs and relieve muscle pain. They also take hot peppermint baths.

Menthol is added to drops to treat the common cold. Fresh mint juice is mixed with white wine and used as a general tonic. Peppermint oil is excellent for headaches: it is rubbed into the skin (an alcohol solution of 1: 4 is used). It is also used for inflammation of the skin and as part of inhalation for coughs.

Peppermint essential oil for hair

Peppermint essential oil is also widely used to promote hair growth. It is enough just to add a few drops of mint oil to a portion of shampoo with each hair wash or add it to burdock oil (2 tablespoons of mint oil for 2 tablespoons) and rub into the hair roots and lubricate their tips.

Mint for facial skin

Mint for facial skin can be used as a tonic lotion. It is as easy to prepare as mint tea. We take the color of fresh mint or its leaves - one tablespoon of finely chopped greens, pour a glass of boiling water, cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, cool and use to wipe the skin of the face and décolleté.

Mint in cooking: application, interesting recipes

In addition to the healing properties of mint, its amazing taste and smell are also used, adding it to dishes, drinks, spice mixtures. The benefits of fresh mint for culinary purposes were evident 100 years ago. I found confirmation of this in an old cookbook that contains some interesting and even funny recipes with mint. I will write them for you in the form in which I found them in books and give some explanations.

How to make mint tea from fresh mint

The main benefit of mint is its soothing properties. In a stressful situation, you can simply brew a cup of tea from mint leaves. But how to make mint tea: brew fresh or dry leaves, or add something else? There are many ways to prepare mint tea, but you can use the simplest one: choose a tea of ​​your choice - green or black without any impurities, and add a few mint leaves or sprigs. For 1 liter of boiling water, add 3 teaspoons of tea and 1 large sprig of mint, let the tea brew for 7-10 minutes.

Mint drink made from fresh mint

Making a mint drink from fresh mint is as easy as making plain lemonade. Take 2 lemons, a few tablespoons of sugar (to your taste) and 2 large sprigs of fresh mint. Squeeze juice from lemons, add sugar and pour 1 liter of boiling water. Allow the mixture to cool, tear off the leaves from the sprigs of mint and crush them well with your hands. Add mint leaves and ice to lemonade.

Old Russian recipe - mint vodka

Touches such an ingredient in this recipe as a bucket of vodka))) I'm not a big fan of strong drinks, so it's hard for me to judge how good this recipe is. But I hope that there will be those who are interested in old recipes for alcoholic beverages, and who love to cook homemade wines, liqueurs and tinctures.

Mint gingerbread

1 kg = 2.441933 pounds, so 1 pound is approximately 410 grams. Potash is potassium carbonate that was used as a baking powder for heavy gingerbread in Russian cuisine. Today, more suitable baking powders are sold in our stores, which can be used according to the instructions indicated on the package. By mint water, you should probably understand a decoction of mint leaves. I want to try this simple recipe in high season for mint.