Spearmint Tea For Hair Growth: Effects and Benefits

While some may know the plant to be Spearmint, some people know it with varieties of other names, some call it garden mint, common mint, lamb mint and even mackerel mint. It is mostly renowned for its use as a spice for food and also as a tea for beverage, using either fresh or dried leaves.

          Spearmint tea has been found to possess a wide range of health benefits that range from pain relief to enhancing wound healing. The tea reduces and act as a salve for nausea, sore throats and bellyaches, ongoing research shows that it has some relevant benefits to both scalp and hair quality.

          This article will prove to be relevant to those seeking information on how to better take care of their hair, so as to reduce hair loss and baldness.

Relevancy Of Spearmint In Hair Loss Treatment

The term Androgenetic Alopecia comes into play here. This has to do with an underlying genetic cause which affects both the male and female, although with some little difference between the two genders. Even though the research is still preliminary, there are indications that the spearmint derivatives can be used to cure AGA(Androgenetic Alopecia) in those affected.

How does this come about?

It is well researched and known that spearmint can act as a cure for hormone imbalance. It acts as a buffer, reducing the overactive hormone or increasing the under-active hormone to a normal and intended level. So spearmint was researched and proven to be a really good agent for the treatment of the symptoms of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, symptoms like excess growth of hair. This syndrome is one that causes an elevation in the hormone Androgen-this regulates the testosterone hormone in men. So we see the reason why an elevation in this hormone in women could be a problem, right? 

          With the introduction of the spearmint derivative, it was seen to create a reduction in the hormone, creating balance.The relationship between the AGA and the Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome has to do with their endocrinological similarities, there is an increase in the androgen levels for both of them, which cause an hirsutism(elevated body hair) in Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome patients and a reduction of the hair in Androgenetic Alopecia patients.

Side effects of taking spearmint?

For spearmint, since its very natural in its availability, it poses rare side effects, that's if at all; but there have been known to be some side effects for those who have allergic reactions to it. Just to be on the safer side, if you want to add it on your scalp as an oil, it would be best if you apply some little amount on your skin to see if there would be any skin reaction, if not, you can safely use it on your scalp. For some, they could have an allergic reaction to a substance called carvone, which is found to be a terpenoid in most essential oils.

          For the female gender that are going through pregnancy of just sent my through pregnancy, it is important to seek a doctor's advice before using it as a tea or an oil; application may cause harm to the child in the womb.In general, the physiology of everyone is not the same, and people do have negative reactions to even the littlest of substances, so it is a possibility that the spearmint supplement might react badly with the physiology of a person. Some of the symptoms may include (but not limited to one): Swelling of the mouth region(tongue, lips, throat), hampering of the respiratory system(breathing difficulty), rashes, nausea. It is important to note that the moment you develop even one of these symptoms, you need to stop supplement use and seek the help of a medical practitioner immediately.

Application Of Spearmint For Hair Health

With more research going on presently, spearmint as a supplement is good in treating hair related issues, but how should it be taken, internally or externally?

There are many benefits in taking it orally but it doesn't take away the benefits of taking them externally;

• Internal Consumption: For most of the research that has been done relating to the consumption of spearmint for the reduction in hair loss, it is seen that an internal uptake is used for consumption. It is generally easy to get the tea from the shops around, but a better one would be where you have the plant lying around and you can easily take it up and make yourself a cup of tea, it is advisable to take a cup of spearmint tea twice a day. For making a cup of tea, you can easily use a diffuser so the the spearmint leaves and then add a well boiled water or you could just boil some water and add it to the leaves in a mug, then you leave it for some few minutes, and then you can take you very healthy tea.

Another form of internal intake is in the form of capsules. You could get some spearmint capsules that contain concentrated forms of spearmint, you could take it plainly without the addition of any solvent or solid, or you could decide to take it with your food.

• External Consumption: Even though it is lovely to have that refreshing feeling gotten from taking a cup of tea, application of spearmint on the scalp could have a very beneficial result from those lacking hair on their scalp, it will not just serve as a reduction for the androgen level but it is also known to increase the blood flow to regions in this scalp, this in turn can lead to hair growth and a more healthy scalp.

It is important to note that a raw application of the agent on the scalp or the skin is not advisable, it could cause some severe skin irritation, so it is much better to use a dilution agent, agents like the canola oil, olive oil or the coconut oil; they can serve as a reducing agent, so the concentration of the active agent(spearmint oil) is not too much and then harmful. When applying, make circular motion using your hands, then leave for about 10mins minutes, and after that you have to make sure to rinse with lukewarm water.

Conclusion

As more research continues, more benefits and information on how to get more out of spearmint will be discovered, but until then you can start getting your scalp and hair more healthy than it has ever been.