Mint is a wonderfully fresh and healthy herb that we mainly know from fresh mint tea. You can also use dried mint to make tea. You need less dried mint than fresh mint for a cup of tea. This is because water absorbs the flavors from dried leaves better than from fresh leaves. If you let a tea bag with mint leaves steep for 5 minutes, it will taste much more like mint than if you put much more fresh mint by weight in a teapot. NB! This article is written from the personal view of the author and may contain information that is not scientifically substantiated and/or in line with the general view.

Contents:

• The origin of currency
• Coin in ancient times
• Mint against nausea and headache
• Mint, good for digestion
• Sugared mint leaves
• Drinking tips mint
• Mint eating tips

The origin of currency

According to Greek mythology, mint originated from the jealousy of a deity. Pluto was the ruler of the underworld. The Greek goddess Persephone, the wife of the god Pluto, had a girlfriend. This friend’s name was Mintha. They were good friends, but Pluto didn’t want the two to do so much together. He became very angry at this situation and turned Mintha into a plant.

Coin in ancient times

Mint was known to the ancient Egyptians. In the Middle Ages, this low-growing plant was in every herb garden because mint was considered healthy. Mint was seen as a medicinal herb. The odor alone already has an antibacterial effect. Mint soothes cramps in the intestinal tract. Mint is made from menthol, which is not only a fresh flavoring but was used in ancient times as a healing agent. Menthol was used in a migraine marker or menthol marker with which you could apply menthol to your head. This makes some types of headaches disappear. Menthol was also used in combination with oil, also called peppermint oil. Peppermint oil was used to cure itchy skin diseases. Colds and flu were cured with menthol. The antibacterial effect caused mucous membrane infections to disappear. Menthol used to be a means of repelling snakes.Source: Miansari66, Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Mint against nausea and headache

Nausea goes away as soon as you smell mint. The same applies to some types of headaches. If you rub mint on your forehead and nose you may notice that the headache disappears. As far as nausea is concerned, there are many travelers who always carry a small bottle of mint oil with them. They smell it as soon as nausea occurs. Menthol gives the stomach peace. This of course also applies to drinking peppermint tea or a menthol-based sweet.

Mint, good for digestion

Mint has more influences on digestion than just soothing the intestines. It promotes digestion. It also promotes the functioning of the salivary gland. In this way, enzymes are activated that promote digestion. In this way the symptoms of indigestion are soothed. In addition, the antibacterial effect ensures that the mouth becomes cleaner. Of course, mint leaves are included in many recipes for natural mouthwashes.

Sugared mint leaves

In the past, a sweet was made from fresh mint leaves by sugaring mint leaves. They proceeded as follows. First, they picked a pile of mint leaves and placed them loose in a bowl. Then an egg was broken and the egg white was separated from the yolk. The egg yolk was not used further. The egg white was placed in a bowl through which the mint leaves were removed. In another bowl was icing sugar. The leaves dipped in egg white were mixed with powdered sugar. The leaves were left to dry separately on a plate.Source: Uwe W., Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA-3.0)

Drinking tips mint

Mint is tasty in fresh drinking water. You can make a jug of water and add some fresh mint leaves to it. The combination with lemon and lime is also possible. Mint is the seasoning in tea mixes. If you need an herb that doesn’t taste particularly good, such as peachweed or plantain, you can add mint to it. Fresh mint tea is tasty, but you need relatively more of it than dried mint. If you have mint in the garden, it is relatively easy to dry mint yourself so that you can also drink mint tea in the winter.

Mint eating tips

Mint is a nice fresh herb for a pasta meal or potato variation. It is a good idea not to fry or cook mint, but to cut it fresh on your plate and mix it with your food when you spoon it onto your plate. You can of course also sprinkle this green herb over your food just before you eat. This way, optimal healing power is preserved. If you cook mint you will notice that the taste can become dominant. Make a mint sauce by boiling water with mint and pouring it over a bowl of flour while whisking. The sauce is ready immediately! This tastes great over vegetables such as cauliflower and broccoli. You can also fry an onion with garlic and mix that with the mint water, which will give the sauce even more flavor and you will only use natural, fresh flavourings. In Thai cuisine, mint is added to soups. Add some mint and red pepper to the soup to give it a Thai character. Indian raita is yogurt with mint. When you mix plain yogurt with mint, walnuts and honey you have a delicious dessert.

read more

• The healing power of chives
• 10 mouth freshening herbs
• The healing power of wall
• Herbs on the windowsill