Spearmint and cutting carbs may help ‘hairy’ women
Posted on 21 February 2007
In my practice from time to time I m consulted by women who complain of excess hairiness. Many of them tell a story of finding hairs sprouting in places where they weren
Published February 21, 2007 . Filed under: Healthy Eating, Herbal Medicine, Low-Carbohydrate/Carbohydrate Restriction, Women's Health
you recommended saw palmetto for womens hair loss. does that mean spearming tea is good for hair loss too.
February 24, 2007 @ 7:54 pm
If by ‘hair loss’ you mean ‘reducing unwanted hair’ then the answer is yes. Though these approaches do take time, of course, and don’t work for everyone.
February 25, 2007 @ 10:32 am
Does this also mean that spearmint (or peppermint) tea could have the same effect in men i.e. reducing their levels of testosterone? I wouldn’t have thought this was particularly desirable.
February 26, 2007 @ 2:49 am
[...] Spearmint and cutting carbs may help
March 7, 2007 @ 8:45 pm
Does it have to be spearmint as I have only seen peppermint tea in the shops?
March 16, 2007 @ 10:21 am
In every store I have been to thus far they only sell peppermint tea.It’s practically impossible to locate spearmint tea.
Does peppermint tea have the same effects of reducing unwanted hair as spearmint? Please help…
May 23, 2007 @ 2:11 pm
Linda – I’m not aware of any work that’s been done on peppermint tea and hirsutism. I’ve found this stockist of spearmint tea though:
http://www.yourhealthfoodstore.co.uk/details.php/p2098_celebration_herbals_certified_organic_herbal_tea_spearmint_leaf.html?gclid=CK79pOXWp4wCFRcGEgodbjKY6A
May 24, 2007 @ 8:50 pm
You can find Organic Spearmint tea at Vitamin Cottage (Denver based natural grocery store chain). Just buy all of them on the shelf since you have to drink 2 cups a day – it will go fast.
July 2, 2007 @ 1:40 pm
I purchased some spearmint tea from Amazon.com. let’s see how it works
October 16, 2007 @ 12:19 am
If anyone living in the UK is looking for Spearmint Tea I’ve managed to find some in an Indian Food Store, after looking for almost 6 months!Have just started drinking it so fingers crossed it will help!
November 29, 2007 @ 10:04 am
holland and barratt stock camomile and spearmint (50% each) and essentials, which are stocked at many health food shops sell peppermint (50%) spearmint (50%)
November 30, 2007 @ 8:25 pm
When drinking the tea, how long does it take before results show?
December 8, 2007 @ 5:18 am
Hello! I came across this link by chance, and am very interested.
I wasnt hairy as a child, but have noticed excess hair growth on my body since puberty. It includes normal body hair found on “normal” people, but I seem to have quite a lot of thin hairs on my chest/tummy and around the upper chest/neck area, and face. This affects me greatly in most things that I do. I cannot afford laser hair treatment as I am not working full time yet, and my mum will not allow me to shave/wax etc as she feels it would cause the hair growth to get worse. I dont know what do.
I am hoping to try the spearmint tea, twice a day over a period of months, in the hope that it will reduce the hair, or atleast stop the growth of anymore hair.
Dr Briffa, how safe would it be to drink this spearmint tea everyday, twice a day for say the next 6 months as a trial? How long before I can expect some resuts, however small?
January 5, 2008 @ 10:40 pm
http://www.theasiancookshop.co.uk
Hello everyone, just incase anyone is interested I found this place online and they sell spearmint tea, hope you find it useful. Regards Lina
February 5, 2008 @ 12:24 am
Apparently, what your supposed to do is start drinking 2 cups a day at the first sign of your period and then countinue for 5 days. You should google the instructions because I don’t think it’s supposed to be everyday.
March 5, 2008 @ 11:25 pm
I’ve had electrolysis done for chin hair, which does take awhile to cycle back. After pregnancies and 10+ years it’s definitly all back. Before I read this article I had heavily used peppermint tea for digestive purposes. It was not the prescribed timing or dosage for the spearmint, but since stopping I’ve noticed an increase of facial hair. Now I wonder if it is related to the lack of peppermint? Of course the winter months also brought on an onslaught of noodles, cakes… I certainly appreciate drbriffa’s article, encouraging diet. also, in stores I found Lipton Green tea with spearmint and peppermint
April 17, 2008 @ 5:05 pm
My Doctor told me a few years ago that I had PCOS and being an endocrinologist she put me on metformin which is normally a diabetes drug but she had known it to be used experimentally with people with PCOS. For about a year I was wonderful in almost every way. My appetite decreased significantly. Before I had always felt forever unsatisfied even when full. I was always looking for some magical food that would satisfy me so I was always craving and eating. I could easily eat an entire pizza all myself. On the metformin I could barely eat 2 pieces of pizza before feeling uncomfortably full and if I tried to push myself I would actually feel sick. I no longer had this love affair with food. Food was good but food was just food, not the highlight of my day. I got up to taking 4 metformin a day like my doctor wanted and everything was going fine. Over the course of the year I lost 40 lbs, I had lots of energy and was going for hikes everyother day, I no longer had knee pain or bouts of plantar faciitis and the general malaise, depression and aches and pains every where that I had been feeling. My problems with acne and thinning hair as well as hirsuitism dried up and blew away. To me it was a miracle drug. Unfortunatly the only thing that was bothing me was the fact that my previously almost non-existant period had become this monster that attacked me every month. I lost so much blood from my bleeding that when I went to the Dr she tested my blood and told me if I was even a tiny bit lower she would have admitted me for a blood transfusion. So I started also taking iron supplements. This went along like this for a few more months and then I started getting sick. I was vomiting every day. Especially in the morning. You would not believe how many times they did pregnancy tests on me. About as many times in those few months as I had thyroid tests in my lifetime LOL. I would vomit when I woke up and pretty much anytime anything more substantial than milk (and a few other very “light” foods) entered my stomach. I was taking a lot of pills – cortisone and florinef for my adrenalectomy and the metformin (4 a day) and the iron and I had this feeling that somehow they were responsible for this. I don’t know why I felt that way because I always managed with great difficulty to keep them down. When the Doctors started prescribing me more pills to fix the vomiting I began to dread taking my pills. Nothing helped. Every day I would put my handful of pills in front of me and stare at them for a while working up the courage to take them. Finally I had enough. On my own I cut out all the unnecessary pills. I still needed my cortisone and florinef to live and had taken them most of my adult life but I stopped everything else. By this time I had been vomiting every single day for about 6 months and lost another 10 lbs. As soon as I did this the vomiting stopped. I tried a few times starting the metformin again with just one a day but even that made me vomit. I have since worked up the courage to have my iron again and tolerated it fine. After I stopped the metformin I started a regular 3 times a week work out schedule because I knew that I was in danger of gaining all that weight I lost back if I did not. For about 6 months I was doing fine. Holding my weight and having no PCOS signs except the massive periods and a few serious menstrual cramping episodes that landed me in the ER. Then I gradually began to feel a tiredness that started making me skip a few of my 3 times a week work outs. Then I started eating a lot more and feeling that dissatisfaction. My periods started to dry up again. My hair started to thin and my facial and leg hair began to sprout with a vengence accompanied by oily skin and hair. I had intended to ask my endocrinologist if perhaps I could start back on a lower dose of the metformin…perhaps it had taken all this time to clear out of my system and now I could be ok on 1 pill a day. My regular check up with her is coming up so I was going to ask then. But in the mean time I had read this article and I decide to give the spearmint tea a try. I actually went to a health food store and bought the dried herb loose. I have a special recipe I have been using. In a tea bag I put 2 tsp of spearmint as well as 1 tsp of red raspberry leaves for better menstruation and then a pinch of peppermint and 2 chamomile flower heads for flavour (I keep the peppermint and chamomile which I dried from my own garden whole and crush them up just before adding them to the tea for best flavour). I have been having this tea twice a day for about a week and almost right away my facial hair and oily skin have cleared up. I started watching a chin hair that before was growing again within 2 days of plucking. I plucked it a day after I started the tea and it never grew back. It still hasnt. I am excitedly waiting to see if I have any more effects form this tea and I am going to tell my Dr about it in a few weeks at my appointment. Thank you very much for this informative article!
June 28, 2008 @ 8:01 am
You can buy spearmint (leaf ) online from scotmedherbs.co.uk
I have been drinking it for quite a few weeks & I’m not sure ,but I don’t think I have seen any improvement.
June 30, 2008 @ 8:29 pm
I managed to find box of 30 spearmint teabags on e-bay and paid
October 14, 2008 @ 10:13 am
where can i buy spearmint tea. no shops seem to have it. the only one is spearmint and camomile which is only 35% spearmint in it. it doesn’t seem to work. and i don’t want to buy online. please please which stores sell them??
October 17, 2008 @ 12:11 pm
Maxi, I tried everywhere to try to buy either spearmint leaf tea or tea bags with no success. I was very reluctant to buy on line so got my son to do it for me. Ordered them at 3.15pm and they arrived 11am next morning. So very good service. Try ringing them (on the number I gave on the message before yours) and then send them a cheque. The ones I now have are just spearmint.
October 18, 2008 @ 7:27 pm
i am from ohio, i have been suffering with facial hair since 16 years of age, i am now 25, i tried with my x for 6 years to get pregnant no luck, my hair started thinning and face and body got oily and of course the lovely acne, none of my doctors mentioned pcos untill just recently at my last pap appt with a new doc, i have found spearmint tea at jungle jims and in other commom grocery stores it is mostly found in the mexican food isle, i haven’t started the tea yet but would love to hear some good feedback from a succsess story
October 25, 2008 @ 11:21 pm
I’ve found a good supplier of loose spearmint in the UK – Sympathy Teas. I got some with tea sacks, which are open ended tea bags, so you can make your own bags using loose leaf – the best of both worlds! You can pay by cheque with them too, if (like me) you don’t want to pay online.
October 28, 2008 @ 10:03 pm
Just realised that the web address didn’t come up…
http://www.sympathyteas.co.uk/spearmint.php
October 28, 2008 @ 10:03 pm
Hey
how can I get this spearmint tea?
Is it same as mint tea?
and can it be homemade?
November 26, 2008 @ 11:32 pm
I buy Bigelow Spearmint Tea from Ingles. I use it occasionally for digestive upset, particularly heartburn and nausea and it works great for this! I didn’t know about the androgen connection so I may try it twice a day for 2 weeks to see if it reduces these pesky chin hairs I seem to be developing.
January 11, 2009 @ 7:42 am
hey
i just wanted to let people know, i was looking for spearmint tea in my everyday grocery stores and i couldn’t seem to find it
however, i found it at a local turkish store
and im assuming cultural stores like indian, turkish, middle-eastern etc would carry the tea
this is just an assumption though
January 15, 2009 @ 6:12 pm
Hi
sorry for the life story…lol i just don’t have anyone to talk to .
I plan to start drinking Spearmint tea. I have been tested for PCOS and have had blood work done…everything came back fine…I was told i am just genetically hairy..my question is will this still work for me?? or will this only work for someone who has PCOS? I am just as hairy as any girl with PCOS can be…My body hair isn’t so bad…but my chin is really bad and i have a little on my side burns and cheeks.. I have a normal period…everything is normal besides the fact that i am just really hairy..I don’t even mind the body hair..its just the facial hair i cant handle!!! I get so angry because no woman should have to suffer with this problem and feel so unattractive..it was a relief to find out how many other women are suffering from excessive hairiness…i grew up thinking i was the only one and a monster! If this Spearmint tea really did work..it would be like a miracle to me..I cant even begin to explain how much Ive missed out on in life because of this problem…I am not even looking for a miracle i have realistic expectations…I don’t expect all the hair to fall out and never grow back again… but if the hair could just get even 50% softer…it would make such a huge difference in my life…right now its as coarse as any mans is!!! this is really my last hope…I don’t want to have to get lazer surgery…but if it comes down to it i will…because my life is not my own with this problem and never will be..i feel like a prisoner in my own body…I am not trying to be dramatic…i know that there are people going through a lot worse..and i try to remind myself of that everyday…but it doesn’t always work…this is really my last hope
February 7, 2009 @ 12:32 am
OH i forgot to add…i will write another post after ive been drinking the tea for at least a week…and tell if i have had any changes…..just in case other women are wondering…
February 7, 2009 @ 12:33 am
I’ve just ordered the spearmint tea bags from sympathy teas (1st class)….like the rest of you I hope to see some improvement.
I’m blonde with fair skin but still suffer from random stray dark hairs on the side of my face…makes me very conscious. If I don’t pluck for a few days they just pop up!
Will also keep you all posted.
February 7, 2009 @ 2:11 pm
I am suffering from PCOs for the past 7 years and trying to conceive desparately. Facial hair grows on the side of my face and chin. I have to pluck it on alternate days. After knowing about the spearmint tea i take a decoction of chaste berry leaves and mint leaves in the morning for the past one month. The growth of hair is reduced, though not totally. I am plucking it once in two or three days and my chin which was very rough earlier has become soft again. I hope it works.
February 13, 2009 @ 9:14 am
Can’t wait to hear how those of you who have bought it are getting on! Currently thinking about getting laser done to get rid of my chin & neck hair, but this is sounding like a much better option! I had been on the pill for six months to alleviate PCOS symptoms and the excess hair was practically gone, but at my next checkup my dr took my bp and realised I was on the verge of having a stroke. Ended up in A&E an hour later, spent six days in hospital and found out I have diabetes. Dr. won’t let me take anything stronger than paracaetamol any more, so no magical pill fixes for me! Guess I’ll go and hunt down some spearmint tea!
February 15, 2009 @ 2:29 am
I understand what u all going through…. Chris I know what u mean being trapped inside your own body.. I have curly hair and Loved, loved to pull may hair back in a pony tail, style it and many things… now I wear it down trying to hide.. hide the “5 o clock shadow”. I was normal, just had a comment one day and thought that shaving was going to be the answer.. Not so much been dealing with this since late 03… Did the laser back in 06 and I think it worked, but then stopped due to relocation and other, so since they need you to shave during the sections. I know have to shave evey day. I’m light skin and now have to shave this prikle dark hairs.. Yeah sometimes 2 times a day. If going to be around people. This problem has dimmed my social skills I used to carry… I dont want to do much.. Because I think I’m so different.. Imagine.. I have to shave every morning… How I wish I just can get up one morning.. and all be gone like a bad nightmare… It’s a struggle, I will probably go back to laser in few months, as I did seen an improvement, maybe try use Vaniqua as well.Now, spearmint…? havent try that one yet… Not sure how well this will work with me… I hope that someone someday, can find a cure for this..Is not about looks and being… superficial… It just time consuming and sometimes I feel depressed about it even when I’m still dating. Well. drop a line with more information.
March 14, 2009 @ 8:38 pm
Hey ppl!
I am Turkish, so my English isn’t that great, I hope you’ll understand what i am trying to say.
A Turkish docter named Ibrahim Saracoglu, says to eat spearmint leaves, but they have to be fresh.
I see al lot of you have trouble to get spearmint, can’t you buy spearmintleaves in your groserystore?
Now , if you bought some leaves there are 2 ways of using them.
1- you can eat a few leaves. First you cut the leaves in little pieces, the cutted leaves has too fill a dessertspoon, then you chew on the leaves and then you swallow it with 2 / 3 sips of water.
2- you boil the water, when the water is hot you fill your glass, and do your spearmint leaves (+/-5g) in your mug.
and let the leaves in your mug for 7-10 minutes.
March 29, 2009 @ 7:21 pm
hi would love to no if anyone trying spearmint tea for excess hair has had any sucess thanks
April 21, 2009 @ 6:14 pm
I started drinking spearmint tea about a week ago. My main problem has been thin hair but also I have had lots more body hair and facial hair than is normal. I was tested for PCOS a couple of years ago as my testosterone levels were too high… nothing, luckily. I was given an oestrogen/contraceptive patch which is one of the few contraceptive which doesn’t disagree with me, and have been using it ever since.
But this didn’t really help my thin hair. I would scrape my hair up into clips and use the long hair to cover the problem at work, then spray it solid. Of course this was not a good solution as it left me at risk of traction alopecia and the hairdo hurt as if I’d used weaves. I have taken a month of work and in this time I have done quite a lot of internet research into causes of hair loss. One thing that 3 doctors and one consultant had totally failed to mention was that when testosterone leaves the body it converts to DHT, which either binds to oil or follicles, causing acne or hairloss. Eureka! So I searched for DHT blockers and found that saw palmetto is one of the most effective. I also found that olive oil cleans the follicles, allowing regrowth. (Seems odd I know, but has anyone ever removed temporary tattoos or plaster-marks with oil? Think about it…) I now use olive oil topically every 2 or 3 nights (I leave it in overnight and wash out in the morning), started drinking spearmint tea ~(actually it’s Dragonfly Moroccan Mint Green Tea, with gunpowder green tea and spearmint… and though it smells a bit toothpastey it really is quite nice and quite easy to drink 2 cups per day) I’m taking 320 mg saw palmetto (I bought it,
May 17, 2009 @ 7:13 pm
I the new one to start the procedure and thanks for the place i m living in which is pakistan here u can find it almost every where i m male so must be a little worried i hope it works its been a quite long remedy but its has been recognized in afghanistan we use it for warmness in body and it works after few days our procedure is that we use powdered mint and boil it in water and pour it in cup r mug and keep it in refregerator for the whole night and in the morning we drink it
i hope it works for hirsutism
June 2, 2009 @ 11:55 am
I am from south african and want to know where i can buy spearmint tea from. I really need help here,i have been looking everywhere.
July 6, 2009 @ 9:25 am
I tried Peppermint tea for consecutive days in a week and it did seem to reduce my need to pluck= hair seem to sprout much slower!
Apparently peppermint is also supposed to be more ‘potent’ than spearmint and easier to get hold of
July 17, 2009 @ 6:19 pm
I didn’t read through all the posts, but I bought a huge bag of loose spearmint tea from a site called Adagio. Just go to http://www.adagio.com and you can find spearmint tea in a sample size that makes 5 cups (according to Adagio) for $1 , a 2oz. bag that costs $4 (which supposedly works out to $0.14 a cup), a 4oz. bag that costs $6 (or $0.12 a cup), or the biggest size, which I bought, and that’s 8oz. for $9 (or $0.09 a cup). I also bought, for $3, loose tea bag filters they sell on the site, or if you have a tea ball (whatever that strainer thing is called) you can use that. They sell other tea stuff on the site if you would rather a teapot that strains the loose tea. I read that you should add a heaped teaspoon to 250 ml. of boiling water (which is 8oz., so a standard cup) and let it steep for 5-10 minutes, and drink it twice a day. However, I read that the women who were in the study only consumed the tea during the follicular stage of the menstrual cycle and that was like 5 days of them being on it, and I’ve been drinking 2 cups a day daily just because I want to kick start any hirsutism loss if possible. Lol. Not recommending it, but I don’t know how to determine when the follicular phase is if your cycles are messed up like mine are. Try consulting your doctor who might have access to medical libraries and can research the study in depth for you, or look into a naturopathic doctor who might know.
July 18, 2009 @ 12:15 pm
This is interesting. My friend has this problem, thought would be of help. I have a question, Is Spearmint tea called Pudina in Hindi language? Please let me know, thanks
July 24, 2009 @ 11:19 pm
Chris,
Yeah in Hindi and Urdu spearmint is called Pudina.
September 2, 2009 @ 6:06 am
Hi, I’m from S Africa and found out about the anti-androgen effects of spearmint tea about 3 months ago. I was specifically looking for a natural solution to my acne, which I’ve had for 20 years now, and the only thing which ever cleared it up was birth control pills.
Well I couldn’t find spearmint, so decided to try peppermint tea instead, and there has been a huge improvement in my complexion, which I noticed after 2 weeks of use. I have one cup a day and a second cup every two days, as I’m finding there’s increased depression, pms and menstrual cramps the more I take, and this seems to be the amount which keeps a tolerable balance between improved complexion and introduced female problems.
Well that should answer some questions about peppermint vs spearmint, I just wonder if there’s anything to take now which will help with the side effects?
I’ve also read that licorice extract is equally effective, if not more so, than peppermint/spearmint. I’m going to try that to see if it’s true
September 6, 2009 @ 1:34 pm
Thanks a lot Mujda!
September 24, 2009 @ 10:24 pm
Is Spearmint tea called Pudina in Hindi language? Please let me know and if it is not pudina, plz let me know where will I get spearmint leaves in India(pune).
October 18, 2009 @ 9:45 pm
I have been suffering from excessive hair growth since i was a small child and have spent a small fortune on removal method. Some even resulting in permanant scaring. I’m at a loss as what to do next i just want an answer to whatscausing it. I’ve been told i dont have pcos and testosterone is normal. I’m now going to try reducing carbs & switiching from peppermint to spearmint tea.
I just want to know what’s causing it?
October 22, 2009 @ 2:04 am
A quick note to say that we’re specialists in high quality herbal teas and have very many repeat customers for our organically grown spearmint tea. The feedback we get is that it works very well and that you don’t need as much as stated in the research to get results – it says 5g per cup and we think 1g is fine (they might have used fresh spearmint in the research). Peppermint has a very different effect on the system – spearmint is energising, peppermint calming in Chinese medicine – and we have not seen any research to suggest it works to reduce excessive hair growth. Our site is http://www.sympathyteas.co.uk – head to http://www.sympathyteas.co.uk/spearmint.php for the spearmint-specific page.
October 28, 2009 @ 3:28 pm
I just want to know if spearmint tea like contraceptive pills which reduces excessive body hair growth, isn’t safe to take if pregnant or trying. I have spent a small fortune on laser and would love to try spearmint tea as long as it will not affect a pregnancy.
December 9, 2009 @ 2:48 pm
I’m trying twinings camomile and spearmint tea at the minute, which i can get at the local supermarket. My only issue is that it tastes vile. Does anyone know any way to improve this? They suggested honey to sweeten it but it doesn’t alter much.
I’m desperate to keep drinking this and see if it helps, but the tea is like pond water! Any help would be hugely appreciated.
January 21, 2010 @ 10:42 pm
This is a really interesting article, and gives me hope! I’m going to try and cut out carbs from my diet, but I think I’m going to find this very difficult as this is mainly what my diet consists of! I’ve had laser hair treatment – about 6 times now, and I honestly can’t say I’m impressed. I’m now looking at my diet and ways that I could balance my hormones to try and combat the dreaded facial hair.
January 23, 2010 @ 7:34 pm