The Effect of Peppermint Essential Oil in Recovery Period after Exhaustion on Physical and Functional Indicators of Military People

In recent years, the use of herbal medicines to improve health and physical ability has been the focus of researchers. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of peppermint essential oil consumption during recovery after exhaustive physical activity on physical and functional indices of the military.

Thirty students (age: 20 to 25 year) of officer university with no regular training participated as subject in this study and were randomly divided into drug or placebo groups. At first the subjects' physical and functional indices were evaluated and then they performed the exhaustion protocol. Then, subjects consume the drug and placebo and all tests were repeated.

The results showed that the strength, speed, agility and shooting performance of the two groups did not change significantly after the exhaustion exercise and there was no significant difference between the two groups. Also, the results showed that there was a significant difference between endurance and time of exhaustion between groups after exhaustion exercise (p<0.05).

According to the results of this study, consumption of peppermint essential oil in recovery period after an exhaustive exercise can improve endurance and reduce the decline in other fitness factors.