flatulence

Ayurveda is one of the most ancient of the healing arts that considers the body, the mind and the spirit. Its philosophy is the basis of other eastern healing methods and also includes several holistic healing methods. Ayurveda states that disease begins in the gastrointestinal tract when the system is out of balance and food is not digested properly. It uses foods as a treatment based on six tastes of sweet, sour, pungent, bitter and astringent.

Peppermint is in the genus Mentha which includes more than one hundred species, and is thought to be a natural hybrid of spearmint and forest mint. Its origin is believed to be in North Africa and the southern Mediterranean basin, and has been used in recipes and as a medicinal herb since 1500 B.C.E.  It found its way as far north as Scandinavia and was mentioned in the Icelandic Pharmacopoeias in the mid-13^th Century.