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Mint during pregnancy

, medical expert
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Fragrant mint is used as a flavoring additive for tea, other drinks and dishes. It is incredibly useful and contains about 3% essential oil, as well as aroma components, tannins, organic acids, phytoncides, flavonoids, vitamins, trace elements, etc.

Peppermint exists about twenty-five species and a dozen subspecies, but we are more known for peppermint. The same benefits for people bring leaves, flowers and shoots. The plant has anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, analgesic, vasodilating action. Peppermint is harmful to all kinds of pathogenic bacteria in the stomach, it is a natural sedative for nervous and cardiac disorders, perfectly restores strength.

Useful and fragrant mint attracts with its versatility and ease of use in cosmetology, alternative medicine, gastronomy. Mint during pregnancy, like any medicinal plant, has its own indications and contraindications.

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Is it possible to mint during pregnancy?

In different sources, opinions about the use of mint in the process of bearing a baby are different. The main caution concerns the content of a large amount of the hormone estrogen in mint, which can provoke premature labor.

However, the doctors themselves treat peppermint to medicinal plants that are permitted for use during pregnancy. Being a natural aphrodisiac, mint helps to restore libido, which decreases at least forty percent of expectant mothers.

If you are in an interesting position and you are tormented by the question: "Is it possible to mint during pregnancy?", Consult a gynecologist. Most likely, the answer will be positive. The plant relieves from frequent attacks of headache, effectively in the treatment of cough and earache. The smell of mint helps with fainting and dizziness. Mint has medicinal properties in the treatment of gastrointestinal tract, relieving gastric spasms, intestinal colic, normalizing the stool, improving bile secretion. Few people know about the benefits of mint in the treatment of muscle, heart pain, and also as a means to relieve itching.

Mint during pregnancy: contraindications

Lovers of sweet mint should be careful in pregnancy. Uncontrolled intake of any medicinal plant has its unpleasant consequences, especially in the process of gestation.

Mint during pregnancy contraindications are associated, first of all, with the presence in the plant of the female hormone estrogen, affecting the uterine contraction and contributing to premature labor.

The property of peppermint to lower the tone of venous vessels should warn the admirers of the fragrant plant with reduced pressure. In the presence of varicose veins, it is also not recommended to use mint. Essential oil contained in mint, can cause allergic reactions and is prohibited during pregnancy.

Tea with mint during pregnancy

Doctors of obstetrician-gynecologists advise taking peppermint in the fight against common ailments - toxicosis, heartburn, bloating.

Maximum benefit and effectiveness brings tea with mint during pregnancy. Women in the position can drink up to four mugs of a fragrant drink a day, prepared from fresh and natural plants. When purchasing ready-made formulations, give preference to pharmacy counterparts with quality control to avoid all kinds of impurities and additives. It is good to combine mint with melissa, black currant, hips, strawberry and currant.

Pregnant women with pleasure drink tea with mint and note only a beneficial effect. Tea with mint solves the problem of constipation, normalizes sleep and eliminates the effects of nervous fatigue.

Peppermint during pregnancy

Of all the existing species and subspecies, peppermint for the strongest flavor has been most widely spread. On its basis, cosmetic preparations, medicinal preparations are prepared, and the plant is also used in cooking.

Before the flowering period, the plant contains the maximum amount of essential oil - menthol, which can have a negative effect on the fetus. It is this fact, especially at the end of pregnancy, that makes women in the situation be more careful and not abused or at all to wait with mint intake.

To get rid of excruciating toxicosis and to return the appetite will help peppermint during pregnancy. To prepare the broth you need a glass of dry raw materials, a liter of boiling water and about an hour of patience. It is recommended to drink infusion in small sips (100 ml each) at intervals of several hours.

Do not pamper yourself with peppermint in case of intolerance of one of the components that make up its composition. Mint during pregnancy is prohibited for admission with low blood pressure and a tendency to varicose veins.

Mint and Melissa in Pregnancy

Professional herbalists agree with the public opinion that adding mint or balm to tea has a beneficial effect on the health of the nervous system, metabolism and quality of sleep. However, they introduce some amendments: 

  • teas with mint and melissa should be taken by courses, no longer than three months, with a mandatory break. A fragrant drink is drunk on a dream coming, as it has a pronounced relaxing and soothing effect; 
  • for tea, three large or five small leaves of mint or lemon balm are sufficient; 
  • lemon slice is an obligatory addition to tea with mint when gastritis with low acidity.

Peppermint and melissa during pregnancy are used together to relieve the symptoms of toxicosis, in order to increase appetite and normalize the stool. Melissa has a medicinal properties similar to mint. It has a pleasant lemon scent and helps to cope with flu or cold during pregnancy, when tablets are not welcome. The diuretic action of lemon balm relieves pregnant women from swelling.

Melissa, like mint during pregnancy, has its contraindications: 

  • propensity to allergic manifestations; 
  • low pressure; 
  • changes in the hormonal background.

Based on the recommendations of herbalists for ordinary people, pregnant women should consult a doctor before using herbal remedies.

Decoction of mint during pregnancy

Improve the condition of peeling, lost elasticity, prone to acne and pimples of the skin will help mint during pregnancy in the form of infusion. Decoction is prepared from 1 tbsp. Dry raw materials, filled with a glass of boiling water. Used for rubbing the skin of the face and body.

Decoction of mint during pregnancy with the root of valerian, yarrow and marigold flowers is an excellent remedy for toxicosis. Each component is taken for 2 hours, pour two cups of boiling water and filter after thirty minutes. Take 60 ml to six times a day. You can add mint leaves to food or chew them after a meal to avoid the urge to vomit.

Mint oil during pregnancy

Aromatherapy in the process of bearing a baby can become an alternative to medical treatment if necessary. Smells help you to find peace of mind, remove fatigue, create a holiday atmosphere, protect against viruses and alleviate the condition with a cold.

Most of the common problems with pregnancy such as: back pain, varicose veins, toxicosis, stool disorders, increased emotionality - you can heal essential oils. Here there is a big but: the fact is that aromatherapy can adversely affect the developing fetus. The list of prohibited compositions includes mint oil during pregnancy, which contains a large amount of menthol. Essential oil increases hormonal activity and is capable of causing bleeding.

An undesirable effect can be achieved by applying melissa oil, which has a diuretic effect and promotes the appearance of menstruation. Mint oil has a toxic and abortive property.

The degree of toxicity is determined by the method of application and the quality of the essential oil itself. The most dangerous technique is oral, so pregnant women are forbidden to take oils inside.

Essential oil of mint during pregnancy

The waiting period for the baby is a time when it is necessary to be cautious about the usual products, cosmetic products and popular aromatherapy. Essential oils are often used for inhalation by means of an aroma lamp. The effect of esters on the course of pregnancy has not yet been studied. It should also be taken into account that essential oils are concentrated extracts that have no analogues in the natural world. Therefore, they can not be considered natural.

Essential oil of peppermint during pregnancy is included in the group of the most dangerous because of embryotrophic action, that is, negatively affecting the fetus, even leading to its death.

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Mint during pregnancy planning

Doctors recommend to give up mint in any form, if you just think about taking offspring. This warning is due to the content of menthol in peppermint, which suppresses gonadotropic activity in the hypothalamic-pituitary system, reducing the effect of hormones necessary for conception and normal course of pregnancy.

However, there is also the opposite opinion that mint when planning pregnancy is useful, as a means of normalizing the work of the digestive tract, which strengthens the immune system and the nervous system.

It is better to give preference to freshly picked or dried mint.

There are very few things in the world that would suit everyone, except clean water and air. So with medicinal plants. Mint during pregnancy in any form should be used accurately and correctly, based on the individual characteristics of the body.

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