Herbal Tea Better Than Aspirin? New Study Thinks So

When you have a common pain, whether it’s back pain, a headache, or sore muscles from exercise, you may look to aspirin. For the most part, aspirin can bring the short term relief you need. But could there be another answer? A recent study says yes, and it comes in the form of herbal tea.

While trials are still being done on the study of tea and pain relief, a scientific team at Newcastle University has been conducting a successful series of tests on groups of mice in relation to Brazilian Mint (or Hyptis crenata as it is scientifically known) as prepared in a tea. The researchers were looking at this type of tea for pain relief in common human pains such as headaches, stomach pain, muscle pain, etc.

Details of the Study

The researchers brewed some tea with the Brazilian Mint and injected it into a number of test mice. By measuring how many times the mouse’s stomach contorted (contortions were evocative of pain) previous to the injection of the tea and also after the injection, they could see that the contortions decreased dramatically with the help of the tea. This, they concluded, offers hope in regards to the human body and its reaction to pain with the use of Brazilian Mint tea.

The most common association that the test team could relate was that Indometacin, which is a common aspirin material, had the same successful results in reducing the amount of contortions in mice for the measure of pain.

But, according to lead researcher Gabriela Rocha, much more research needs to be done to fully understand the workings of the tea, Indometacin, and how it all works. "Besides traditional use, more than half of all prescription drugs are based on a molecule that occurs naturally in a plant. 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.
"Now the next step is to find out how and why the plant works."

So, if you’re looking for a more “natural” approach to relieve the aches and pains of your everyday life, then Brazilian Mint and tea may just be your answer in the months to come!