Peppermint

If anyone has grown peppermint before whether in a garden or in a planter on a window sill, you know that it grows like a weed.  I bought my peppermint from an organic farm in May of this year and I have had an abundance of mint this whole summer.  Even when some leaves have dried up and have fallen many more new leaves come up right after.   My mint grows in a planter in the kitchen.  I try and use it as often as I can but peppermint has such a strong flavor that I have to be in the mood to want to eat it.  But today while looking at it thriving in my kitchen I decided to satisfy a craving and at the same time write about peppermint and all the benefits of using this herb.

Peppermint is actually a hybrid plant and is a cross between spearmint and watermint.   It’s indigenous to the Middle East and Europe with the majority of the world’s production of peppermint being in Morocco.  In the United States most of the peppermint is grown in Oregon and Washington.

 

Besides peppermint being cooling and refreshing to the taste buds their are other benefits such as it:

• aids digestion.
• helps heartburn.
• can aid in alerting the mind.
• relieves intestinal gas.
• has memory enhancement properties.
• relaxes nerves.
• helps circulation.
• deters pests such as ants and flies.
• helps with nausea.