Peppermint oil has been found to help ease the painful symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.

Research at the University of South Alabama in Mobile demonstrated that slow-release peppermint oil capsules greatly reduce severe abdominal symptoms of IBS in less than a month.

When patients with severe or unbearable abdominal pain took peppermint oil for four weeks, they reported a 79.4 percent reduction in symptoms, compared to 40.2 percent of patients taking a placebo.