Fresh Ways to Use Mint

This wonder herb can help ease a tummy ache, fight flakes … even keep you slim.

Relieve tired tootsies with this treatment from Renee Loux, author of Easy Green Living. Combine 1 cup sea salt, 1/3 cup olive oil, and 6 drops peppermint essential oil. Scrub feet, then rinse. The salt exfoliates, and mint’s menthol soothes sore muscles.

This rinse from Lake Austin Spa Resort in Austin, Texas, banishes dandruff: Put a sprig each of mint (which stimulates circulation in the scalp to prevent flakes) and rosemary in 8 ounces of cider vinegar (it dries up dandruff); let sit a week. Use after shampooing.

Cure stomachaches with a cup of mint tea (add a tablespoon of fresh mint leaves to hot water). Mint relaxes digestive-tract muscles and relieves cramps, says Walt Coyle, MD, gastroenterology director at Scripps Medical Center in La Jolla, California.

Trying to shed winter pounds? Sniff mint. In a study at Wheel­ing Jesuit University in West Virginia, people who inhaled peppermint essential oil every two hours ate 23% fewer calories than those who didn’t. Stash mints in your bag to pop when cravings strike.