Mint does appear to lower testosterone, but the strength of the evidence depends on the type of mint and who’s consuming it. Spearmint has the strongest research behind it, with human studies showing testosterone reductions of 12 to 15% in women who drank two cups of spearmint tea daily for 12 weeks. Peppermint has shown similar effects in animal studies, though human data is more limited. The critical gap: no clinical trials have directly measured testosterone changes in healthy men drinking mint tea.
What the Human Studies Show
Most human research on mint and testosterone has focused on women, particularly those with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a condition that causes elevated androgen levels. In a randomized controlled trial of 150 participants published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, women who drank spearmint tea twice daily for 12 weeks saw their testosterone levels drop by 15% in the PCOS group and 12% in those without PCOS. The fact that non-PCOS participants also experienced a decline suggests the effect isn’t limited to people with hormonal imbalances.
Shorter studies reinforce this pattern. In a five-day trial involving 21 women with hormone imbalances, two cups of spearmint tea per day decreased testosterone while increasing other reproductive hormones. A separate 30-day study of 42 women with PCOS found similar hormonal shifts, and participants reported reduced facial hair growth, a practical marker of lower androgen activity.
What Animal Research Adds
The animal data is where the picture gets more concerning for men. In a widely cited rat study, both peppermint and spearmint tea significantly decreased total testosterone levels compared to controls. The effect was statistically robust. Rats given mint tea also showed increased levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), two hormones the brain releases to signal the testes to produce more testosterone. This pattern, where the brain sends stronger signals but testosterone still drops, suggests mint interferes with testosterone production at the source rather than suppressing it through the brain.
A deeper investigation into spearmint specifically found that the herb reduced the activity of key enzymes the testes need to manufacture testosterone. It also decreased expression of proteins involved in cholesterol transport into testicular cells, which is the first step of testosterone synthesis. The researchers concluded that spearmint likely causes oxidative stress in the brain region controlling reproductive hormones, triggering a cascade that disrupts testosterone production through multiple pathways simultaneously.
Spearmint vs. Peppermint
Both types of mint lowered testosterone in the rat study that compared them head to head. However, spearmint has received far more attention in human research and is generally considered the more potent anti-androgen of the two. Peppermint’s effects on testosterone in humans remain largely unstudied, though its performance in animal models suggests it’s not harmless in this regard either.
If you’re specifically worried about testosterone, spearmint is the variety with the clearest evidence of hormonal effects in people. Peppermint likely carries some risk based on animal data, but the magnitude in humans is unknown.
How Much Mint It Takes
Every human study that found significant testosterone changes used the same basic protocol: two cups of spearmint tea per day. Effects on hormones appeared in as little as five days in one trial, though the most meaningful reductions came after weeks of consistent daily use. Occasional mint tea, a stick of mint gum, or mint flavoring in food involves far less exposure than the doses studied.
That said, there’s no established “safe” threshold below which mint has zero hormonal impact. The dose-response relationship hasn’t been mapped out in detail. What the research makes clear is that regular, daily consumption of multiple cups of mint tea is the pattern most likely to affect your hormone levels.
The Missing Piece: Healthy Men
The biggest limitation in this body of research is the absence of clinical trials in healthy human males. The human data comes almost entirely from women, many of whom had PCOS or other hormonal conditions. The rat studies used male animals and found clear testosterone suppression, but rodent metabolism doesn’t translate directly to humans. Rats in these studies were also consuming mint tea as their primary fluid source, which represents a much higher relative dose than a person would typically drink.
It’s plausible that men who drink spearmint tea daily could experience some degree of testosterone reduction, given that the effect appeared even in non-PCOS women. But whether the magnitude would be clinically meaningful, enough to cause symptoms like reduced energy, lower libido, or muscle loss, is genuinely unknown. A 12% drop might fall within normal daily testosterone fluctuations for many men, or it might compound over time with chronic use.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re a man concerned about testosterone and you drink mint tea occasionally, the existing evidence doesn’t point to a serious risk. The hormonal effects in studies required daily consumption of two or more cups over weeks. Mint-flavored foods, toothpaste, and the occasional cup of peppermint tea involve substantially less exposure than what’s been studied.
If you drink spearmint tea daily, particularly multiple cups, the research gives reasonable grounds for caution. Spearmint’s anti-androgenic properties are consistent across animal and human studies, and the biological mechanism, direct interference with testosterone-producing enzymes, is well characterized. Switching to a non-mint herbal tea or reducing your intake to a few times per week would significantly lower your exposure to the compounds responsible for these effects.