By Dint of Mint

Coaches, take note: It's not the shoes, the breakfast, or the sports drink that counts. Teams can forgo the group hug and the locker-room prayers. Even the pep talk can be dispensed with, unless it's delivered with mentholated breath: Victory now rests on a blade of peppermint.

The bracing, bright scent of the perennial's lance-shaped leaves boosts moods and improves athletic performance, says a researcher at Wheeling Jesuit University.

In a study, Bryan Raudenbush, a professor

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