Spearmint tea makes women hair free
faces and stomachs may find symptoms relieved by drinking a few
cups of spearmint tea, new research shows.
Drinking between two and five cups of spearmint tea per day could reduce the level of androgens in the body, 'masculine' hormones such as testosterone that can make women grow hair on their faces and chests like men.
Researchers at the Suleyman Demirel University in Turkey conducted trials on women with the condition, known as hirsutism, and have published their work in the Phytotherapy Research journal.
The results could offer a new and simple way to treat hirsutism, which causes understandable distress.
Mehmet Numan Tamer, spokesperson for the research team, said: "Current therapies use either oral contraceptives to suppress androgen production, or medications such as spironolactone that prevent the body responding to androgen.
"But this study shows that spearmint could be a good natural alternative for women who have mild symptoms."
In the trials, the team brewed their spearmint tea by pouring a 250ml cup of boiling water over one heaped teaspoon of dried leaves.
They left it to infuse for five or 10 minutes.
Evidence that spearmint tea could reduce a man's sex drive sparked the researchers' interest in the drink.
More studies are now needed to test the findings, Tamer said.
It is unclear how many of the world's women suffer from hirsutism, although the British Skin Foundation (BSF) says most women with the condition may not have a hormone imbalance at all.
Many women grow more facial and body hair after the menopause, and the BSF estimates a quarter of normal middle-aged women remove unwanted facial hair.
Source : Phytotherapy Research Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1002/ptr.2074 "Effect of Spearmint (Mentha spicata Labiatae)
Teas on Androgen Levels in Women with Hirsutism."
Authors: Akdogan et al.
