Spearmint

Mentha spicata · Spearmint tea

Snapshot

Indications	Contraindications
Sustained attention¹ Sleep onset² Reactive agility³ Chemotherapy-induced nausea⁴ Borderline high LDL cholesterol⁵

Spearmint (Mentha spicata) is a culinary mint taken as tea, standardized leaf extract, or essential oil, and the extracts studied for cognition are standardized to rosmarinic acid. The essential oil is used as aromatherapy for chemotherapy-induced nausea⁴.

In a 90-day trial of an aqueous extract, hormone levels, blood chemistry, and hematology were unchanged⁶. Over 400 products list spearmint, mainly tea bags, liquid essential oils, and powders; see Form comparison.

At high intake, spearmint produced esophageal symptoms without lowering sphincter pressure or increasing reflux, consistent with direct mucosal irritation⁷.

Last updated October 16, 2026. Read how we make monographs.

In the full monograph

33 sources, 16 studies

When to useThe situations practitioners use it for, each with the reason and the study behind it.
SafetyWho should avoid it, who needs extra care, and the side effects reported in studies.
Protocol notesThe doses used in studies, how and when they were taken, and how the forms on the market compare.
How it worksWhat it is and how it works in the body, in plain terms.
Published studiesThe studies behind each use, popular claims checked against them, and trials still under way.
Word of mouthWhat patients and practitioners report online, kept separate from the clinical evidence.
Clinical perspectiveA closing read of where the evidence is solid, where it is thin, and what has not been studied.

Snapshot

In the full monograph

Sources