Growing too much hair in wrong places can be embarrassing. But a new Turkish study found something as simple as drinking spearmint tea could be used to get the problem under control.

Researchers found that drinking the tea twice a day reduced levels of male sex hormones, which can cause excessive hair growth (hirsutism) on the stomach, breasts and face in women.

Traditional therapies for hirsutism aim to reduce these hormones including androgen to slow or completely wipe out the ever-growing hair in women who are not supposed to have as much hair as men.

The researchers said in their report populated in Phytotherapy Research that spearmint could be a good alternative to treat excessive hair growth in women with mild symptoms.

Hirsutism is rarely caused by a serious condition, nor does it cause any illness other than distress or embarrassment.   An exception is that this condition can be caused by an underlying medical disorder such as polycystic ovary syndrome.

Male hormones are not just found in men.   All women produce low levels of the male sex or androgen hormones.   Hirsutism occurs when the male hormones including testosterone are over produced in women.

The excessive production of male hormones in women leads to excessive hair growth.

It has been reported, according to the researchers, that extracts of spearmint plant (Mentha spicata Labiatae) is used to reduce libido in men residing in a town called Isparta in southwest Turkey.   The current finding explains why extracts of spearmint reduces libido in men.

In the current study, 21 women wit hirsutism, 12 of whom had polycystic ovary syndrome were assigned a cup of spearmint tea twice a day for five days in the follicular phase of their menstrual cycle.

The tea was prepared by keeping one heaped teaspoon (5g) of dried leaves in 250 ml boiling water for 5 to 10 minutes.

The researchers found the women experienced a decrease in the free form of testosterone in the blood and an increase in several female hormones including follicle-stimulating hormone.

Needlessness, the total level of testosterone including active and inactive forms did not change, suggesting that spearmint tea inactivate the male hormones rather than inhibit their production.

The current therapies for hirsutism suppress androgen production or prevent the body from responding to androgen.

The researchers cautioned that more studies are needed to confirm the effect of spearmint on hirsutism.