Spearmint, or Mentha spicata, is one of my favourite herbs. Did you know it goes far beyond mojitos & mint juleps, offering amazing health benefits!? Health & beauty à la menthe!
Contents of this post:
1. Please meet: Mentha Spicata aka Spearmint
2. Food and health à la menthe
3. Beauty à la menthe
The Fragrant Spearmint
Unlike its widely known sibling, Peppermint, Spearmint has richer, softer and sweeter flavours. She contains less menthol & menthone and so has less of that slightly pungent “mintness” and doesn’t leave a cooling sensation.
You probably know it from chewing gum, toothpaste, lip balms, the Moroccan (Touareg) tea or Nanah mint tisanes: this is the plant, this is the taste.
Spearmint & Food: Benefits for Health
Let me just make you a list. I think it’s pretty impressive:
1. Spearmint oil is a potent (and tasty) carminative.
2. Spearmint tea is antiandrogenic – it can help women who suffer hirsuitism by reducing testosterone levels in the blood (source) and androgen levels in women with PCOS (source).
3. Spearmint has strong anti-oxidant and modest antifungal properties, which isn’t just fine for everyone but also makes it an excellent herb for our meat-indulgent friends (source).
Touareg tea in a Moroccan style glass
Delicious organic Pukka 3 Mint tea (you see an illustration based on their packaging in this post opener above).
Food uses to try: touareg tea/ Nana mint tisane, green sauce, falafel seasoning, green smoothies, green bean recipes (stews and salads: excellent!), spicy shortbreads, yoghurt/ soy yoghurt sauce, dressings for green salad, virgin cocktails…
Knock yourself out! 🙂
Beauty à la Menthe
Mostly found in lip balms (and obvisouly in toothpaste etc.) for its sweet and summery fragrance, my absolutely favourite Spearmint-based beauty product is a Balm Balm fragrance. 
Amazingy balm, available in both a vegan and a beeswax quality
Spearmint organic Eau de Parfum, Balm Balm. (You can find the full review of this simple and pure EdP here)
So yes, I’m a big fan of this delicious plant.
I love a cup of warm Spearmint tea after a dinner out (where my special diet needs aren’t catered to very well);
I enjoy a tiny glass of hot Spearmint tea on hot summer days, Morocco style;
I am absolutely delighted at having perfected my very own “After Eight” tea recipe of Spearmint tea with cacao;
Whenever I can get hold of fresh leaves, nothing can hold me back from chopping it into smoothies, salads and vegan stews.
[…] your recipes on simple, seasonal fresh ingredients (cucumber, citrus fruits, and herbs such as mint, dandelion, nettles; add berries in […]
[…] oils. Infuse it with one drop of essential rose oil for a rejuvenating massage or with on drop of essential mint oil for a refreshing scalp treatment and forget all your […]
[…] me through the most interesting moments of 2014. Here they are with individual reviews: 1 Balm Balm, Spearmint; 2 The 7 Virtues, Patchouli of Rwanda; 3 Acorelle, Orchidée […]
[…] Here are five fragrant favourites, all perfectly unisex but none really innocent: 1 Warm, oriental, powdery Eau de Toilette ORCHIDÉE BLANCHE by Acorelle –> read my full review. 2 Citrusy-fresh and sweet with invigorating verbena/vervain, VERVEINE ARGUME by Acorelle (hint: would be lovely for a Vampire Diaries fan) –> read my full review. 3 VINTAGE 13 by Abel Organics: a strong, sandalwood-based, peppery and intensely spicy 100% organic fragrance –> read my full review. 4 The 7 Virtues’ latest gem: PATCHOULI OF RWANDA – sweet and delicious with freesia and tea leaves, lush and juicy with grapefruit, this EdP is sparkling and rich, a real head-turner –> read my full review. 5 SPEARMINT Single Eau de Parfum by Balm Balm is invigorating and lovely for the sporty type –> read my full review. […]
[…] favourite on hot summer days is the Moroccan-style spearmint/ nana mint tea. Brew fresh leaves and let cool a bit. Lukewarm drinks refresh you much better than icy […]
I had that very Pukka tea about an hour ago! Right now I’m having a passionate affair with lemon thyme – delightful – none of the overpowering of thyme, delicious in homemade lemonade, with seafood, other herbs in a raw green sauce, as tea, added to smoothies…
YES! lemon thyme is so versatile. I love it too! as you said, it just ads such zest to recipes ❤
I also love me a lemon thyme tisane in autumn: great to prevent a sore throat and as a treatment when under the weather.
Mmmm… a cup of spearmint tea would be just the ticket right now. But the cupboard is bare of spearmint and it’s nearly midnight, so it will have to wait for another day. Actually, I usually like rooibos tea at this time of night.
oh yes, rooisbos is excellent in the evening. however you need to pick a really good quality, and then stick with the brand – I’ve tasted rooibos teas that were as exciting as a pair of old socks!
oh and for the late hours I also like a purely herbal/spice-based chai (so no black or green tea) with a little rice or almond milk. so soothing!