Peppermint essential oil. From Peppermint Patties to muscle rubs, and cigarettes to the gum you chew to get rid of the nasty breath, peppermint oil is ubiquitous in food, drink, and personal care and household products.

Of course, peppermint flavor isn't the same as therapeutic peppermint essential oil, though people often talk about it as the same thing.

Peppermint essential oil offers numerous health and fitness benefits. It's been used for thousands of years in Egypt, Greece, and Rome. It showed up in medical references beginning in 1753.

So, what exactly is peppermint essential oil? What are the health and fitness benefits? How do you use it?

What is peppermint essential oil?

The peppermint plant (Mentha piperita) is a natural hybrid of spearmint and water mint.

The essential oil, steam distilled from the leaves, contains more than 40 key constituents, or chemical compounds. Menthone, methyl acetate, and menthol are the most abundant in peppermint essential oil.

Peppermint originally came from the Middle East and Europe, but is grown throughout the world today.

You'll find it in chewing gum, candy, ice cream, alcohol, toothpaste, muscle rubs and pain creams, air fresheners, and even some cigarettes.

Health and Fitness Benefits of Peppermint Essential Oil

With the numerous constituents found in the oil, it provides a wide variety of health-promoting benefits, from digestive health to athletic performance.

Enhances Exercise and Athletic Performance

Peppermint stimulates your nervous system. It's not like the jacked-up energy rush from a dose of ephedrine, with an equally extreme crash afterwards. It's more of a boost in focus and mental acuity, with enough of an invigorating effect to improve physical performance.*

Since it stimulates the nervous system, you'd expect it to increase heart rate. However, over time, it may actually lower resting and exercising heart rate.

In one study, participants were given one drop of peppermint essential oil (50 µl) on the tongue. Grip strength, vertical jump, standing long jump, visual and auditory reaction time, and heart rate variability all improved five minutes after the peppermint was ingested. In fact, all measures were still significantly improved one hour later.

The fact that visual and auditory reaction time improved makes peppermint a potential ergogenic aid for sports that require quick reflexes. If I played baseball, soccer, or football, for example, I'd definitely use it during competition.

In a study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, participants drank one 500 ml bottle of peppermint oil-infused mineral water each day for 10 days. The mineral water contained 0.05 ml peppermint, which is the equivalent of one drop.

After 10 days, lung capacity and blood lactate levels during exercise improved. Carbohydrate metabolism also increased, which suggested their muscle tissue produced more energy. Their heart rate during exercise, and at rest, also dropped.

Another study looked at the effects of using peppermint essential oil on the results of a treadmill stress test. Workload improved, and markers of mental stress decreased.

Still one more worth mentioning, showed that inhalation of peppermint led to a decreased quarter-mile run time, and increased push-up and grip strength performance.

One final way peppermint may enhance performance is by cooling the body, especially in hot weather. As I discussed in my article on delayed onset muscle soreness, menthol has a cooling effect when used topically or internally.

I use peppermint, or a blend of essential oils that includes peppermint, prior to my workouts. Not only is it invigorating, it smells good too.

Reduces Occasional Pain and Soreness

As I mentioned, peppermint essential oil has a high concentration of menthol. Menthol is a well-known topical analgesic, and key compound in muscle and pain rubs for delayed onset muscle so...