Throughout all my years of school (from elementary to high), I had to take at least one standardize test. Now, those have always been kind of stressful, especially when I was younger. Despite the fact that your teacher spent a good amount of time working with the class to prepare for this, you still weren't sure if you were going to remember any of it by the time test day came around. I remember, in fourth grade my teacher gave out mints before the test began. He explained to us that peppermint was supposed to help us concentrate. I remember being grateful because I believed that I was going to have an easier time on this test. In addition to that, I was allowed to eat candy while taking a test. I had never been able to do that before.
Looking back years later, I wondered if there was really any truth to what he had said, or was it just something that people believed that wasn't scientifically proven? Could peppermint really help you concentrate? As soon as the questions started popping up in my head, I dove right into research. According to Livestrong.com, a study that was conducted in 2008 found that people who were exposed to peppermint oil (which is in peppermints) experienced enhanced memory and processing speeds. My first thought when I read that was, "Hey, that's cool." Then, the article went onto to talk to about how peppermint actually works. Apparently, peppermint increases the amount of oxygen in your blood. Since blood brings oxygen to your brain, that means that more oxygen is traveling to your brain. The more oxygen available to your brain, the more you'll be able to concentrate and get things done.
I also found an article on NPR written by Madeline Brand and John Ydstie that was called "School Backs Peppermint For Student Alertness." In this article, they are talking to a principal who decided to prepare her students for a test by "pushing peppermints." She believed that it was a good idea because they were inexpensive and none of the kids were allergic to them. It was interesting to read this article and be able to read the opinion of an educator who decided try to this out. The article also discussed whether or not this was all just an urban legend or there was a little bit of science behind it?
It seems like the idea of peppermint helping you concentrate truly depends on your own personal experiences and what you believe. I'm not completely sure if there has been any good hard science published about this, but you never know -- there could be something in the future. Go ahead and believe what you want to believe about this. No one can really tell you differently.
