Peppermint vs Ginger Tea for Bloating: Which One Should You Drink?

The two teas are not interchangeable, because they do different things to your gut. Menthol, peppermint's dominant volatile oil, relaxes intestinal smooth muscle, which may calm a cramping gut and let trapped gas move along. Ginger does close to the opposite. It pushes: in small trials it sped stomach emptying and stepped up the contractions that squeeze a meal onward.

The useful question is therefore not which herb is stronger, but what your bloating feels like. Crampy, gassy, lower-abdominal pressure that builds over the day points toward peppermint. A heavy, sat-in-the-stomach fullness after eating, especially with nausea, points toward ginger.

One caveat runs through this page: almost every trial behind either herb used capsules, not tea.

Does peppermint tea help bloating?

Peppermint has the better evidence, but that evidence is for enteric-coated peppermint oil capsules, engineered to survive the stomach and release a measured dose of oil into the intestine. A teabag does not do that.

The capsule evidence is real, though it looks better from a distance than up close. A meta-analysis pooled 12 randomized trials in 835 patients with irritable bowel syndrome; in the seven trials that reported global symptoms, peppermint oil was about twice as likely as placebo to improve them (PubMed). A network meta-analysis of 51 trials ranked peppermint oil capsules first among traditional IBS therapies for global symptoms, while cautioning that only 13 of those trials were at low risk of bias and that considerable uncertainty surrounds the ranking (PubMed). The trial that speaks most directly to bloating randomized 57 adults with IBS to four weeks of enteric-coated peppermint oil or placebo, after screening out bacterial overgrowth, lactose intolerance, and celiac disease. Bloating was one of eight symptoms folded into a total score, and 75 percent of the peppermint group cut that total score by more than half, against 38 percent on placebo. Bloating on its own was not reported separately (PubMed).

The mechanism holds up in people, at least at concentrated doses. Peppermint oil delivered straight into the duodenum of healthy volunteers relaxed smooth muscle in the stomach and duodenum (PubMed). That is far more oil than a cup of tea provides, placed past the stomach, in people who were not bloated to begin with.

Now the deflation. A 2025 umbrella review that regraded this literature called the effects small and the certainty of the evidence low to very low (PubMed). And none of it was tea. For peppermint oil capsules in IBS the fair tier is moderate. For a mug of peppermint tea and everyday bloating, the honest tier is traditional: a plausible mechanism, centuries of after-dinner use, no trial.

Does ginger tea help bloating?

Ginger's case is weaker, and it comes with an honest negative that vendors never print.

Ginger does move the stomach. In a randomized double-blind crossover trial, 24 healthy volunteers given 1,200 mg of ginger emptied their stomachs in roughly half the time they did on placebo, 13.1 minutes against 26.7. The same trial reported no significant difference in any gastrointestinal symptom (PubMed). The team then ran it in 11 people with functional dyspepsia. Ginger again sped emptying, and again the participants felt no better (PubMed).

Read that twice. In both trials ginger did the mechanical thing people credit it for. In the two small trials that asked whether anyone felt less bloated, nobody did. Samples of 24 and 11 cannot rule out a modest benefit, but they stop anyone claiming a proven one.

Ginger looks better in combination. In a randomized placebo-controlled trial of 126 people with functional dyspepsia, a ginger-plus-artichoke-leaf extract improved bloating along with nausea and fullness (PubMed), though the trial was part-authored by staff of the company that makes the supplement. A 2023 Cochrane review of 41 herbal trials graded that result low certainty (PubMed), and it was a combination product, so the credit cannot go to ginger alone.

Ginger's real strength lies next door. A network meta-analysis of 42 randomized trials of treatments for nausea and vomiting in pregnancy found ginger reduced nausea scores and graded that evidence moderate quality, the only intervention the authors judged adequately supported (PubMed). Those trials used ginger powder or capsules, not tea. If your bloating rides along with nausea, that is the best argument for ginger tea, and it is an indirect one. For bloating alone the tier is traditional: no trial has tested the tea, and the capsule trials that did measure symptoms found none improved.

Peppermint vs ginger tea for bloating: side by side

Cover the cup either way: the oils doing the work otherwise leave with the steam.

Who should avoid peppermint for bloating?

Anyone with reflux. Heartburn was the most commonly reported adverse event across the peppermint oil IBS trials (PubMed), a strange result for a remedy sold to settle stomachs.

The standard explanation is that menthol loosens the valve between esophagus and stomach. That explanation may be wrong. When menthol was infused into the esophagus of 11 GERD patients and 13 healthy volunteers, lower esophageal sphincter pressure did not budge, yet the reflux patients reported considerably more discomfort (PubMed). An older manometry study in eight people with diffuse esophageal spasm agreed: a dilute peppermint oil solution abolished their abnormal contractions while leaving sphincter pressure unchanged (PubMed).

The mechanism is unsettled. The heartburn is not. If peppermint burns, stop and try fennel or chamomile instead, which is what our ranking of teas for bloating suggests for reflux-prone drinkers. Two caveats on those swaps. Skip chamomile if you react to ragweed, chrysanthemums, marigolds, or daisies, because reactions to related plants are more likely and have run as far as anaphylaxis, and ask your prescriber first if you take warfarin, since chamomile-warfarin interactions have been reported. Skip fennel tea if you are allergic to the carrot family — celery, carrot, anise, caraway, dill — and do not give it to infants. Fennel is the traditional after-dinner cup for gas, and like the other two it has never been tested as tea.

Two more cautions on peppermint itself. Not every mint behaves like peppermint: in that 2023 Cochrane review, Mentha longifolia, a different species, was associated with worse dyspeptic symptoms rather than better, in one 88-person trial rated low certainty. Buy peppermint, not a generic mint blend. And peppermint tea is not peppermint essential oil. A published case report describes an adult who arrived at hospital comatose and in shock after swallowing a high dose of oral peppermint oil (PubMed). Never drink essential oil.

Who should avoid ginger for bloating?

Ginger's own commonly reported side effects, per NCCIH, include heartburn, abdominal discomfort, diarrhea, and mouth and throat irritation. A strong brew is genuinely spicy, and it can cause the symptom you are drinking it for.

The interaction worth taking seriously is bleeding. A randomized crossover trial in 12 healthy men found recommended ginger doses left INR, platelet aggregation, and warfarin clearance unchanged (PubMed). But a case report describes a 76-year-old woman on phenprocoumon whose INR climbed to 10, with nosebleeds, after she began ginger products; it came back into range after she stopped the ginger and was given vitamin K (PubMed). A cup of tea is unlikely to matter. Daily concentrated ginger, and the weeks before surgery, deserve a word with your prescriber. Ginger constituents inhibit platelet aggregation in laboratory work, so the same conversation is sensible if you take aspirin, clopidogrel, or a direct oral anticoagulant, where no human trials exist at all.

Two smaller cautions. If you have gallstones or a bile duct obstruction, ask a doctor before making ginger a habit; ginger is traditionally used to stimulate bile flow, and the warning is precautionary rather than well studied. And NCCIH's general advice holds: if you take any prescription medicine, mention ginger before you start.

On pregnancy, briefly: ginger is the better-supported of the two for pregnancy nausea, and NCCIH says ginger dietary supplements during pregnancy may be safe, while little is known about medicinal amounts of peppermint. Neither has been studied as tea. Raise it with your doctor or midwife.

Can you drink peppermint and ginger tea together?

Nothing suggests it is harmful, and nothing has tested it. The one peppermint combination with real trial support pairs peppermint oil with caraway oil, not ginger: the 2023 Cochrane review graded that pairing as probably producing a large improvement in functional dyspepsia symptoms, at moderate certainty (PubMed), and a meta-analysis of the proprietary Menthacarin product agreed, though it was co-authored by employees of the company that makes it (PubMed). Both are oil capsules, not a blended teabag.

When bloating is not a tea problem

Bloating is common. In one survey of roughly 180 adults recruited at community centers on the US-Mexico border, about half reported bloating or distension when shown pictures of it (PubMed). Most bloating traces back to swallowed air, a large meal, eating quickly, constipation, or a food that disagrees.

Some of it does not. See a doctor if bloating comes with abdominal pain, blood in the stool, vomiting, fever, worsening heartburn, or unintentional weight loss. Bloating on most days for three weeks or more needs prompt evaluation, especially in women over 50, and especially alongside pelvic pain, feeling full very quickly when eating, or urinating more often, because persistent bloating can be an early sign of ovarian cancer. Do not quietly drink tea for months while something goes unexamined.

The bottom line

Start with peppermint. It has the stronger case, even though that case was built with capsules, and it is the better bet for crampy, gassy bloating. Switch to ginger if nausea or post-meal heaviness leads, or if peppermint gives you heartburn, which it does to some people. Both are caffeine-free, cheap, and low-risk in ordinary amounts.

Expect modest help at most. Neither tea has been tested for bloating in a randomized trial, and the capsule evidence cited on their behalf keeps getting downgraded on closer inspection. Drinking a cup after dinner because you like it remains a perfectly good reason to drink one.

Photo: Starr 070906-8848 Mentha x piperita.jpg by Forest & Kim Starr — CC BY 3.0. Cropped and re-encoded.

Last reviewed and updated July 9, 2026. HelperTea is written by an enthusiast, not a clinician, and is not medically reviewed. How we research and rate evidence. Found an error? Tell us — safety corrections get priority.