Laboratory research studies with Peppermint have found antiviral, antifungal and antibacterial activity. It helps stimulate the stomach, cools indigestion, relieves flatulence, strengthens and soothes the bowels and helps with cramping. Peppermint also stimulates excretion of saliva and warms the entire system. It stimulates menstruation, the bronchioles and sinuses. It is said to help with diverticulitis, insomnia, headaches, nausea, nerves, morning sickness and congested lungs.
Peppermint works on the salivary glands, the first process in digestion.
It acts as a sedative to the stomach and helps strengthen the bowels. Peppermint strengthens and soothes the bowels, helping to avoid cramping. Peppermint oil is the most extensively used of all the volatile oils, both medicinally and commercially. The characteristic anti-spasmodic action of the volatile oil is more marked in this than in any other oil, and greatly adds to its power of relieving pains arising in the alimentary canal. From its stimulating, stomachic and carminative properties, it is valuable in certain flatulence and colic.