Peppermint for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
One of what I call “adjuncts” to the therapy (not treatment, per se) of IBS is peppermint. Another is teas, which I’ve talked about before. This week’s Newsweek has a short article on the researched benefits of smelling peppermint, and, when it comes to IBS, ingesting peppermint. Here is the IBS part of the article:
One of the best uses of peppermint may be to help relieve the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, which can include abdominal cramping and pain and bloating. How does it work? Researchers say that menthol, the waxy, crystalline substance in peppermint oil, blocks calcium channels. This, in turn, helps relax muscles in the walls of the intestine. Sufferers can take the mint as a tea, or in peppermint capsules.1
If you are taking guaifenisin for the therapy of Fibromyalgia, you should not take most forms of peppermint at the same time–this includes mint toothpaste, mint breath drops, mint lifesavers and other candies, and mint tea. The jury is still out on whether enteric-coated–that is, gets through your stomach and small intestine into your large intestine (bowel) before it opens–peppermint capsules can be used. The capsules I mean are Heather’s Tummy Tamers™ Peppermint Oil Caps, available from Heather’s web site, and from Amazon.com as well. I also checked Vitacost.com for peppermint capsules, but all I saw were soft gels, which would dissolve in your stomach and not reach your gut.
- The column is “To Your Health,” and the URI is http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20181695/site/newsweek/, accessed on August 9, 2007. [↩]
