What is Horsemint?

What is horsemint?

Horsemint is the dried leaf and flower top of Monarda punctata, a North American plant in the mint family. It is also called spotted beebalm or spotted monarda. It smells of thyme, not of peppermint.

American folk healers and Eclectic doctors used the tea for gas, colds and period pain. The plant's oil was once a major commercial source of thymol, a strong-smelling antiseptic.

One real hazard sits at the front of this page. The concentrated essential oil is not a home remedy. Thymol-rich oils can burn the mouth, throat and gut, and swallowing them can poison you.

The dried herb, used as a weak tea, is a much milder thing. Even so, no good human trials back any of its uses.

Traditional standing is not proof that a remedy works. It is also not proof that a remedy is safe. Both of those apply here, and we will not repeat the point in every section below.

How does Horsemint work?

How is horsemint supposed to work?

No one has shown how horsemint acts in the human body. The ideas below come from lab and animal work on its oil, not from trials in people.

The oil is rich in thymol and carvacrol. In test tubes, both slow or kill many bacteria and fungi. Thymol is used in some mouthwashes for that reason.

Whether a cup of tea delivers enough of either to matter has not been tested.

In strips of animal gut tissue, thymol and carvacrol appear to relax smooth muscle. That is the old "carminative" idea, meaning a remedy that eases gas and cramping. It remains an animal and bench finding only.

In cell and animal studies, thymol damps some markers of inflammation, meaning swelling and irritation. These studies use amounts far above what a drink would give you.

Folk writers said hot horsemint tea brings on a sweat during a fever. Any hot drink does that. The herb's own share of the effect is unknown.

The short version is simple. The chemistry is real and well described. The step from chemistry to a benefit in a person has not been made.

What forms does Horsemint come in?

What forms does horsemint come in?

You are most likely to meet it as a loose dried herb for tea, or as a garden plant.

Common forms:

- Dried leaf and flowering top, loose or in tea bags - Alcohol tincture, usually sold by small herb makers - Essential oil, mainly for flavour, scent and industry - Occasional capsules of powdered leaf - Home-made salves and rubs that include the oil

The essential oil is the form that causes harm. It is a concentrate, not a strong tea, and it is not meant to be swallowed.

Naming is messy in the trade. "Horsemint" is also used for Monarda fistulosa, Mentha longifolia and a few other plants. Check for the Latin name Monarda punctata on the label.

Where it comes from:

Where does horsemint come from?

Horsemint grows wild in sandy soil across much of the eastern and central United States. Its use is recorded in both Native American and settler medicine.

Several Native American nations, among them the Delaware (Lenape) and the Meskwaki, were recorded using Monarda species for colds, fevers and stomach trouble. Settlers took up similar uses.

In the 1800s, Eclectic physicians listed horsemint in their materia medica. King's American Dispensatory described it as a stimulant, carminative and diuretic, meaning a remedy thought to raise urine flow. It was also used to bring on delayed periods.

The plant had a second, industrial life. Around the First World War, the United States lost its German thymol supply. Growers in Ohio and nearby states raised Monarda punctata and distilled its oil for thymol.

That industry faded once thymol could be made cheaply in a factory. Medical use faded with the Eclectic school in the early 1900s. Today horsemint survives mostly as a garden plant for bees and as a minor folk tea.

What does Horsemint help with?

• Gas, bloating and stomach cramping: This was the most common folk use. The warm tea was taken after heavy meals to settle wind and griping. The lab basis is thymol and carvacrol relaxing gut muscle in animal tissue. No trial has tested horsemint tea in people with bloating. Treat any relief you feel as unproven, and as possibly just the warm drink.
• Colds and feverish chills: Eclectic writers used hot horsemint tea to bring on sweating during a fever. The aim was comfort, not cure. There is no human evidence that horsemint shortens a cold or lowers a fever. Thymol kills some microbes in a test tube, which is not the same as helping an infection in a person. A fever that climbs or lasts needs a doctor, not a tea.
• Period pain and late periods: Horsemint had a firm reputation as an emmenagogue, meaning a remedy believed to bring on a period. It was also used for cramping. No trial supports either use. The same reputation is the reason the page tells pregnant readers to avoid it. Missed periods have many causes, some of which need testing.
• Urinary complaints: Old texts called horsemint a diuretic and used it for scant urine and gravel, an old word for stones and grit. There is no human evidence for this. No study has measured urine output after horsemint in people. Burning, blood or fever with urinary symptoms needs medical care quickly.
• Sore throat and mouth rinsing: Thymol is a genuine ingredient in some commercial mouthwashes, and that is well established. Horsemint tea is not the same product, and has not been tested as a gargle. Any reasoning here runs from the isolated compound back to the plant, which is a weak step. Never gargle the essential oil.
• Aching muscles and joints, used on the skin: Folk liniments used horsemint oil as a rubefacient, meaning something that reddens and warms the skin. The warmth is real and comes from irritation. There is no trial evidence that it helps the muscle or joint underneath. Undiluted thymol-rich oil can blister skin, so this is a use with a real downside.

What are the side effects of Horsemint?

• Burning in the mouth, throat or stomach
• Nausea and vomiting
• Heartburn or reflux, meaning acid coming up into the throat
• Diarrhoea or stomach pain
• Skin redness, stinging or blistering from the oil
• Rash or itch in people allergic to mint-family plants
• Headache or dizziness after large amounts
• Severe poisoning after swallowing the essential oil

Good to know:

How common and how serious are these?

There is no good safety data for horsemint, so no one can give real rates. What follows is drawn from case reports on thymol and similar oils.

A weak tea, drunk now and then, rarely seems to cause more than mild stomach upset in healthy adults.

The essential oil is the serious risk. Swallowed thymol-rich oil can burn the gut and harm the liver. In children, even small amounts of such oils have caused severe poisoning.

Allergy to the mint family is uncommon but real. Stop at the first rash or swelling.

How much Horsemint should you take?

• Recommended daily: How much do people use? This page gives no personal dose. Nothing below is advice for you. Labels on dried horsemint herb usually describe an infusion made from about 1 to 2 grams of dried leaf in a cup of hot water, up to two or three cups a day. Tincture labels vary widely and are not standardised. No dose is given for the essential oil, by mouth, in any amount. Thymol-rich oils are corrosive and can poison. There is no safe home amount to publish. If you are considering horsemint alongside medicines or a health condition, ask a doctor or pharmacist first.
• Best time of day: When did people take it? Timing is a matter of habit, not evidence. For gas, the tea was usually taken after a meal. For a feverish chill, it was taken hot in the evening, under blankets. There is no reason to think one hour works better than another.
• With or without food: With food or without? Take it with or after food if you try it at all. Thymol-rich plants can irritate an empty stomach. Food softens that. If tea on an empty stomach gives you heartburn, stop.
• Time to effect: How fast would it act? If a warm carminative tea does anything for wind, people usually notice within an hour. That is also exactly how plain hot water and rest behave. The two cannot be told apart without a trial, and no trial exists. It is entirely possible that horsemint does nothing at all for your symptom.
• How long to take it: How long is it used for? Traditional use was short and tied to a symptom, such as a few days during a cold. No study has looked at long-term use. Nothing is known about what months of daily horsemint does to the liver, kidneys or gut. If a symptom lasts more than a week or two, that is a reason to get it checked.