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Mp2.0
Peppermint Research
Too few graded studies
12 peer-reviewed studies
What the evidence says
Mostly mechanism / observational
Most Peppermint studies are mechanism or observational rather than RCTs that measure a clinical effect — keep findings provisional.
Most evidence is from high-quality meta-analyses and randomised trials published 2025–2026 with a typical study size of 105 participants.
Based on 12 studies · 1 meta-analysis · 5 RCTs · 1,165 total participants
Confidence
High confidence
By outcome
Cognitive function
Mostly mechanism / observational3 studies
Pain & analgesia
Mostly mechanism / observational3 studies
Recovery
Too few graded studies2 studies
Women's health
Too few graded studies2 studies
Inflammation
Too few graded studies1 study
Immune support
Too few graded studies1 study
Digestive health
Too few graded studies1 study
Wound & ulcer healing
Too few graded studies1 study
Active research area
12 studies in the last 5 years · Latest meta-analysis: 2025
1RCTn=105 · medium study2025
In plain English: Conclusions The sublingual application of M. piperita or E. cardamomum extract ice cubes presents a simple, safe, and effective non-pharmacological adjunct for managing PONV in patients recovering from laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
Kamalvand N, Shamsizadeh M, Tapak L, Azizi A. · Explore (New York, N.Y.) (2025)
For the active groups, each ice cube was impregnated with six drops of 10 % essential oil extract.
Results While trends indicated a greater reduction in nausea severity, vomiting frequency, and antiemetic demand in the M. piperita group compared to the E. cardamomum group, the intergroup differences were not statistically significant (p > 0.05).
Secondary outcomes included the frequency of vomiting episodes and requests for antiemetic medication, recorded over a 4-hour postoperative period.
Jin K, Yan S, Xu L. · Frontiers in medicine (2026)
Continuous outcomes were pooled as Hedges' g standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% CIs using random-effects REML models.
For acute nausea severity (4 RCTs, n = 336), essential oil-based interventions were associated with reduced symptoms versus control (SMD = -0.49, 95% CI -0.76 to -0.22; I 2 = 35.42%).
For vomiting frequency (2 RCTs, n = 144), the pooled effect was not significant (SMD = -0.25, 95% CI -0.75 to 0.25; I 2 = 56.52%).
In plain English: Additionally, with increasing global temperatures and growing concerns about animal welfare, menthol's cooling, methane-reducing, and analgesic properties present promising opportunities for advancing sustainable livestock practices.
Bernard B, Joshi H, Fan P. · International journal of molecular sciences (2025)
This review comprehensively examines the existing literature to assess menthol's effects on animal growth performance, product quality, immune function, gastrointestinal microbial ecosystems, and metabolism across various livestock species.
Notably, menthol shows potential for improving feed efficiency, mitigating chronic inflammation and oxidative stress, inhibiting environmental and gastrointestinal pathogens, and enhancing calcium absorption.
However, optimal dosages, treatment durations, synergies with other phytogenic compounds, and regulatory mechanisms require further investigation.
In plain English: Conclusions The 2% peppermint lidocaine spray did not demonstrate significantly better immediate pain reduction compared to 2% viscous lidocaine, but did improve the global quality of life in patients with head and neck cancer with chemoradiation-induced mucositis.
Upalananda K, Prasartseree T, Promsen R, Sukamol W, Sakpunpanom P, Setakornnukul J, Suiwongsa B, Thephamongkhol K, Rongthong W, Chantharasamee J. · Journal of pain and symptom management (2026)
Objectives The use of 2% lidocaine oral viscous is constrained by its inconvenience of portability, coupled with difficulty swallowing in some cases, and its unpleasant taste.
This study aimed to compare the effects of 2% peppermint lidocaine spray with conventional 2% lidocaine oral viscous on the immediate pain reduction score at baseline and 5 minutes, feasibility, and quality of life in head and neck cancer patients with chemoradiation-induced mucositis.
Results A total of 60 patients, patients in the 2% peppermint lidocaine spray group had significantly better scores on the OMWQ-HN-12 items and found it more practical to use and with a better flavor compared to the 2% lidocaine viscous group.
In plain English: Therefore, more carefully designed studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis.
Nishi R, Sagiyama K, Fukumoto T, Amitani H, Asakawa A. · Complementary medicine research (2025)
The risk of bias was not found to be severe (high risk of bias rate: 35.7 ± 3.4%); our critical review elucidated the heterogeneity of the reviewed studies.
However, as most studies have noted, the impact of peppermint scent should be assessed from multiple perspectives, including psychological, physiological, neurological, and pharmacological factors.
Conclusion In summary, drawing a definitive conclusion at this stage is premature.
In plain English: Conclusion The combination of SNB and PEO provides effective postoperative analgesia, improves recovery quality, reduces intraoperative hemodynamic fluctuations, and promotes early rehabilitation.
Zhou Z, Tang H, Liu M, Ji Z, Yang M, Shen J, Zhang M. · Explore (New York, N.Y.) (2026)
The Ropivacaine Group (SNB & SNB+PEO) showed significantly lower NRS scores than the Saline Group (C & PEO) immediately after extubation (0.5 [0.0, 2.0] vs. 2.0 [0.0, 4.0], P = 0.013).
The Aromatherapy Group (PEO & SNB+PEO) had significantly lower scores than the Placebo Group (C & SNB) at 24 h postoperatively (1.0 [0.8, 2.0] vs. 2.5 [1.0, 4.0], P < 0.001).
In plain English: Overall, PEO demonstrates considerable potential as an antimicrobial and wound-healing agent; however, more standardized and clinically oriented studies are required.
Twenty studies met the inclusion criteria, the majority of which were preclinical, comprising in vitro (35%), in vivo (30%), and combined in vitro/in vivo (30%) models.
The formulations investigated ranged from creams and gels to nanoemulsions, lipid carriers, films, and nanofibers, with concentrations varying from 0.5% to 20%.
Incorporation into nanostructured systems was associated with improved stability, enhanced skin permeation, and superior antimicrobial performance, particularly when combined with nanoparticles, metals, other bioactive compounds, or, in specific cases, clinical antibiotics such as levofloxacin.
In plain English: This nursing intervention is recommended to prevent and minimize the PONV occurrence and is made of ginger and mint.
Pashaei S, Akyüz N, Ersoy YE. · Journal of perianesthesia nursing : official journal of the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses (2025)
These findings suggest that both ginger and peppermint essential oils are effective in alleviating PONV symptoms, with each group showing significant improvement compared with the control group.
Rhodes 1 item score was 0.48 ± 0.51 in the ginger group, 1.11 ± 0.64 in the peppermint group, and 1.37 ± 0.49 in the control group (P < .001).
Conclusions Results support that ginger and mint might have a positive effect if used to improve postoperative recovery quality.