When the temperature in your mouth drops, TRPM8 changes its shape to allow calcium ions to flow into the nerve cell. That triggers a current that goes to the brain. That’s what makes you feel the sensation of being cold.

The reason mint makes your mouth feel cool is that menthol molecules also cause TRPM8 receptors to open their ion channels and send an action potential to the brain, which automatically interprets the tiny pulse of electricity as “the tongue is cold,” even when it’s not. “The cooling is all sensation,” Wise said.

And scientists now know that menthol actually tricks our brains and mouths into the cool sensation because menthol activates the same receptor on nerve endings that’s involved in sensing cold, says David McKemy, a neurobiologist at the University of Southern California.

Menthol triggers cold-sensitive receptors in the skin, resulting in a cooling sensation that feels super fresh. It also works its magic in the mouth, stimulating the specialized nerve endings that allow you to feel cold.

Smoking any kind of cigarette, including menthol cigarettes, is harmful and increases risk for serious illness and death. Studies have shown that menthol in cigarettes likely leads people—especially young people—to experiment with smoking. It also could increase a young person’s risk of becoming dependent on nicotine.

Menthol Alters the Addictive Properties of Nicotine. Nicotinic receptors play a key role in addiction by regulating the release of several important neurotransmitters in the brain (Picciotto and Kenny, 2013).

There are calcium channels in cell membranes throughout our bodies, and that is why we can see systemic toxicity after swallowing or inhaling concentrated amounts of menthol. Serious effects include seizures, coma, and death.

Menthol cigarettes may be more addictive than cigarettes without menthol because they reduce the protective respiratory responses to irritants in cigarette smoke, according to a study by researchers at Yale and the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy, published online in September in The Journal of the …

Topically applied menthol, but not ilex, dose-dependently increases blood flow in the cutaneous microvasculature. This increase in blood flow is mediated, in-part by sensory nerves and EDHFs.

Application of menthol has been shown to increase blood flow in the skin. Finally, we measured blood flow in skin and muscle after the application of camphor or menthol. Application of camphor or menthol separately induced increases in local blood flow in the skin and muscle.

Users of menthol-flavored cigarettes had higher body mass index values, and increased risk of abdominal obesity. Multivariate analyses indicated that menthol smokers doubled the odds of having moderate to high CVD risk.

Stimulation of gastric cold thermoreceptors with menthol also caused a significant reduction in heart rate and concomitant increase in the root mean square of successive differences.

Topical nasal decongestants such as Afrin (oxymetazoline), Neo-Synephrine (phenylephrine), Privine (naphazoline), and Vicks VapoRub Inhaler (l-desoxyephedrine/levmetamfetamine) can also cause an increase in blood pressure.

It seems that peppermint has a lowering effect on the heart rate and the systolic blood pressure. Yet in another study, peppermint aroma was administered by nose but no significant effect in both heart rate and blood pressure was observed.