Bay Leaves: Here’s Why You Should Always Have Them At Home

Often used as a bouquet garni to flavor our homemade dishes, this aromatic shrub has many other properties… Appetite revealer and body booster, bay leaf, once revered by the Greeks and Romans, will quickly become one of our best health allies!

What is laurel?

The laurel, also called noble laurel by translation of the Latin Laurus nobilis, is a shrub which has few requirements except the heat and the sun which it then knows how to transmit so well to culinary preparations. Logically, it is mainly found in the open ground around the edge of the Mediterranean basin. It is recognized by its dark green, dense and resistant leaves, often used to create hedges in gardens. Less known, bay leaf also produces round, black berries in spring which, when used dried, have the same taste properties as the leaves.

But if bay leaf is an essential aromatic plant in French gastronomy, it is also renowned for its medicinal properties and widely used in herbal medicine.

The medicinal virtues of bay leaf

Bay leaf has always been used to treat digestive system disorders.

It whets the appetite, stimulates the secretion of gastric juices in the stomach, ensures good digestion and prevents fermentation.

It is also used for its antiseptic properties, which is why it is present in many marinades.

Bay leaf would also be a good expectorant in cases of bronchitis and its powder would reduce fever.

Bay laurel essential oil (which should never be used internally) is often used in the form of ointments to combat muscle aches or pain. Its action would also be beneficial on rheumatic pain. Leaf decoctions added to bath water are also said to relieve aching limbs.

In the form of a leaf poultice, bay leaf is said to reduce the pain associated with wasp or bee stings.

Bay leaf sauce would also have interesting properties on the urinary system since it would tone the bladder and according to Dioscorides (1st century AD), it would eliminate kidney stones. Still according to Discorides, its bark also relieves liver conditions.