The Peppermint Gas Eliminator Protocol

• Country: France
• Continent: Europe
• Treatment for: Gas Pain
• Secret ingredient: Peppermint

Let’s be straightforward. This is a page about gas. No dancing around the subject, no putting things tentatively, no shame, no giggling – okay, a little giggling is fine. Call it whatever you want, gas, the toots, breaking wind, farting, flatulence, air attack, the nether belch – we’re all referring to the same uncomfortable situation that crops up at the worst time: during a test in a silent room, or in a crowded elevator.

Usually harmless, intestinal gas can be uncomfortable in more ways than one, and is a symptom rather than an illness itself. Because there are so many possible causes, there are many ways to treat it, and you can usually find relief with a simple natural remedy.

It is no secret that French food can cause you to have gas. After all, it is replete with cheese, butter, cream, and all manner of other ingredients that can cause gas. But the French have come up with an ingenious way for dealing with this problem. It is simple and only involves taking prescribed doses of peppermint tea.

I came across this remedy in Paris in the 1970s, and I can tell you that it helped me out immensely in a social situation that I will not go into further. Needless to say, I was in Paris and I had gas and I needed relief. I turned to this protocol and it proved effective.

How It Works

Peppermint has been described as “the drug of first choice” when it comes to the digestive system. It safely helps alleviate symptoms and improve your quality of life when it comes to the digestive tract.

Research has shown that it is effective in both children and adults alike, with one study showing a 50 percent reduction in “total irritable bowel syndrome score” among 75 percent of patients who tried it. Peppermint is also an effective alternative to drugs like Buscopan for reducing colonic spasms. It may also relax the muscles of your intestines, allowing gas to pass and easing abdominal pain.

Try peppermint leaves added to the tea. You will quickly find that it improves the symptoms of functional dyspepsia, better known as gas pains. If you have an upset stomach, try drinking a peppermint leaves in water with a few drops of peppermint essential oil added.

If you have an upset stomach, try drinking a small glass of water with a few drops of peppermint essential extract added. The chemicals inside this fragrant plant work to calm the digestive process and lower the rate of gas production.

The Peppermint Gas Eliminator Protocol

For this protocol, I suggest that you drink peppermint tea several times a day for 5 days. Then take two days off and repeat the cycle.

Making mint tea from scratch is a fun and easy process. You can make it with a kettle or in a saucepan, or with other objects, so it’s a really versatile and simple tea to produce at home. It’s one of the most refreshing teas available, great for warm weather and for when you need perking up. Just take a few sprigs of mint, depending on how strong you’d like your tea and boil them in 2 cups of water for 5 minutes. Then pour the solution into a teacup and add a teaspoon of honey to the mix for taste. You will find that it is a pleasant blend. However, if you follow this protocol, you will not only find that it is good to taste, but that it effectively calms your stomach as well.

Boosters/Substitutes/Exceptions

To boost the effectiveness of this protocol, consider introducing some of these inexpensive solutions into your lifestyle:

To get relieve from gas, garlic is the best option. It is known for its pungent and heating qualities, which will help in reducing the gastric fire. For proper digestion, one should have fresh garlic soup. Boil some grinded garlic cloves in water. Add cumin seeds and black pepper in it. After boiling, strain it and let it cool down on room temperature. Drink the solution thrice a day for effective results.

A warning: for some people, garlic can increase gas production. If this is the case for you, try one of the other remedies.

Ginger is the best medicine used for the treatment of indigestion. It is considered to be a traditional cure for gastric trouble. To prevent gas and indigestion, one should regularly chew fresh garlic piece after having a meal. If you do not want to chew it raw, add some dry pieces of garlic during the preparation of food. Drinking ginger tea is also effective in curing gas. Boil some ginger in hot water and strain it. Drink the tea twice or thrice a day. Ginger oil is also used for getting relief from gas. Put 2-3 drops of ginger oil on the stomach and rub it thoroughly.

Black pepper is considered to be best ayurvedic medicine for healing acidity and indigestion. Its properties help in hydrochloric acid reduction in the stomach. Take powdered pepper with jaggery to cure gastric irritation.

Take black pepper, ginger powder, coriander seeds, and dried mint leaves in equal quantity. Prepare a mixture after grinding them. Have a teaspoon of the mixture two times in a day. Pepper can also be used with buttermilk as a drink to foil gas production.

Freshly churned buttermilk is considered a great remedy for curing indigestion. It not only helps in healing gastric problems, but also keeps you fit and healthy. Add roasted powdered cumin seeds and a pinch of salt in buttermilk for the best result.

Did you know?

Peppermint is thought to have originated in Northern Africa and the Mediterranean. In the Ebers Papyrus, an ancient Egyptian medical text dating to 1550 BC, mint is listed as calming to stomach pains. Mint was so valued in Egypt that it was used as a form of currency.

In Greek mythology, Minthe was a river nymph in the Cocytus River (one of the five rivers of Hades). When Hades was driving his golden chariot, he came upon Minthe and was about to seduce her when his wife Persephone caught them. Persephone then turned Minthe into a lowly mint plant that people would walk upon.

Mint supposedly got its pungent, sweet smell when Hades softened the spell so that when people walked upon his lover they would smell her sweetness. Peppermint gets the descriptor “piperita” from the particular peppery pungency that distinguishes it from other members of the mint family.

The Roman natural philosopher Pliny wrote of mint and of peppermint in particular that it stimulated the appetite, stirring “the mind and appetite to a greedy desire of food.” He also wrote that mint should be bound into a crown around the head in order to stimulate the mind and the soul.

Pliny, Hippocrates and Aristotle all considered mint to be a discouragement to procreation, saying that it discouraged sexual intercourse. However, many Greeks said that mint encouraged sexual behavior and forbade its consumption by soldiers in order to maintain control of their ardor.