Or does it only feel like it has? WAG here, but maybe it does something to your receptors in your mouth to fool you into thinking its cooler?
Just as hot peppers do not increase the temperature of your mouth, mints do not decrease the temperature. Mints contain menthol, which triggers the cold-sensing cells in your body.
I think it actually does, because it has menthol, which is an alcohol that does well at feeling cool when it evaporates. I think if you keep your mouth closed so there’s no air flow, you don’t feel the coolness.
Or am I a total sucker here?
“Menthol’s ability to chemically trigger the cold-sensitive TRPM8 receptors in the skin is responsible for the well-known cooling sensation it provokes when inhaled, eaten, or applied to the skin.[1] In this sense, it is similar to capsaicin, the chemical responsible for the spiciness of hot chilis (which stimulates heat sensors, also without causing an actual change in temperature).”
Wikipedia.
Looks like I was a total sucker here.
I learned this the hard way when trying to get out of school in 3rd grade
The active ingredient in mint (at least for the cooling sensation) is Menthol. If you look up menthol on wikipedia it explains the effect surprisingly clearly.
Like capsaicin (the stuff in hot peppers) it activates thermal receptors but doesn’t affect the actual temperature.
If you put a hot cinnamon Altiod in your mouth, together with a cool mint Altoid at the same time, it just tastes like sugar. The two cancel eachother.
Some also contain sugar alcohols (I believe many do):
From Sugar alcohol - Wikipedia
Bold mine
And would make it actually lower the temperature of the mouth.
All I know is, the drinking fountain at work produces very cold water. And if I take a drink from it right after eating a mint, I feel like the inside of my mouth is about to freeze solid…