An ancient herbal mint tea from Brazil has been found to be as effective at relieving pain as commercial medicines, according to researchers at Newcastle University. The plant, hyptis crenata, has traditionally been used by native Latin American healers to treat headaches, fevers and flu.
In a study presented at the International Symposium on Medicinal and Nutraceutical Plants in New Delhi, researchers demonstrated that the brew, known as Brazilian tea, provided pain relief comparable to the synthetic drug Indometacin. The team used infrared beams on mice to measure response times, finding that those given the tea reacted more slowly to pain than those given water.
Lead researcher Graciela Rocha, who is Brazilian and recalls being given the tea as a child, said: 'What we have done is to take a plant that is widely used to safely treat pain and scientifically proven that it works as well as some synthetic drugs.' The team now plans to conduct clinical trials to assess the mint's effectiveness in humans.
The researchers surveyed traditional healers in Brazil to determine the correct preparation and dosage. The most common method involves boiling dried leaves in water for 30 minutes and allowing the mixture to cool before drinking. When administered at a dose similar to that used by healers, the tea matched the pain-relieving effects of Indometacin.
Rocha noted that the taste differs from typical mint, resembling sage more closely. 'Not that nice, really, but then medicine isn't supposed to be nice, is it?' she added. The findings are published in the journal Acta Horticulturae by the International Society for Horticultural Science.
