Mint and reflux.

Date: Sun, 9 Jun 1996 09:20:52 +0100
Sender: HERB.TREARNPC.EGE.EDU.TR
From: Paul Iannone <pi2.LOOP.COM>
Subject: Re: mints for indigestion?

>I've always read that mint tea is good to help indigestion. Now I read in the new book, "The Fire Inside: Extinguishing Heartburn and Related Symptoms" (by Dr. M. Michael Wolfe, WW Norton) that mints are NOT recommended because they cause the lower esophageal spincter to become lax, thus allowing hydrochloric acid to slop up into the esophagus (acid reflux...or GERD).
>Anyone care to comment? How does one tell when or when NOT to use mint tea for stomach disorders.

Regular use of mint by people with esophogeal reflux may not be healthful, but the pattern the doctor is describing through the bottom of a Coke bottle is one of Stomach Cold, the usual pattern in such cases. Mint, a Cooling, Dispersing herb, simply Cools the Stomach further, and Disperses what Qi is still left. You have to be pretty aggressive about Depleting your Stomach to get to this point...Cold Stomach can be diagnosed of course, and the lifestyle improprieties that produce it can be avoided. Then you need never worry about such travesties of the American diet.

From: Howie Brounstein <howieb.TELEPORT.COM>

>Anyone care to comment? How does one tell when or when NOT to use mint tea for stomach disorders.

There is a very easy way to tell. Drink the tea, if it helps .... use it. if it makes you have worse symptoms ... don't use it.

Of course, what is wrong with you?

Simple indigestion usually responds to mints, but they are not good for every problem in the upper GI tract.