Researchers Claim Mint Tea May Be Effective Alternative Medicine

There may be a natural way for some people to treat headaches, stomach pain and fever, which could be a timely discovery given that it’s flu season in the United States.

Researchers from Newcastle University have found that Brazilian mint tea, which uses the herb Hyptis crenata, had the same pain-relieving effect when compared to an aspirin-type drug.

Graciela Rocha, who led the study, said the herb has been used in the past to treat pain and that the researchers’ experiments with mice have "scientifically proven that it works as well as some synthetic drugs."

The researchers asked Brazilian doctors how the mint tea was prepared and administered it to the mice. They then used infrared beams to measure the effect of the mint tea on the animals.

"We were really surprised by how well it worked," Rocha told The Times Online. "The taste isn’t what most people in the UK would recognize as mint, it is more like sage."

Though it was not tested for it, mint tea may be an alternative treatment for those suffering from flu-like symptoms, which include headache and fever.