Next time you have a headache, try making a cup of Brazilian tea instead of popping a pill. You’ll get the same relief.

A team of researchers at Newcastle University in the U.K. have discovered that Hyptis crenata, a type of mint prescribed for thousands of years by Brazilian healers for pain, fever, and flu, is just as effective in treating symptoms as commercially produced pain killers.

No surprise – more than 50,000 plants worldwide are known to be used as medicine, and half of all prescription drugs on the market are based on molecules found in plants.

The Brazilian Hyptis crenata mint actually tastes more like sage when brewed into tea. Researchers used amounts traditionally prescribed by Brazilian healers in their research, and brewed dry leaves in boiling water for 30 minutes, then let the tea cool before drinking.

Results matched the effectiveness of a recommended dose of Indometacin, a synthetic aspirin-style drug.