Bay leaves aka laurel leaves are used widely to repel pests like cockroaches and mise, but they actually serve more purposes than just sending off pests. In this article, we are going to show you 8 bay leaves benefits you wish you knew before.
1. Relieve Your Respiratory System
Interleukin is a protein that the human immune system releases that can lead to inflammation. A respiratory infection and congested noses can be dealt with using bay leaves, simply boil the leaves and inhale as much steam as you can through your nose without putting your face directly above the hot steal to void burning yourself.
2. Cook With It
Bay leaves can add such a great taste to your food because they offer a nice special spicy taste, not to mention the aromatic addition. Simply add bay leaves while cooking and make sure to get rid of them once you’re finished cooking because they can cause health problems if eaten.
3. Heal Wounds and Ease Pain
Simply collect bay leaves, dry and ground them into a paste, then apply them to the open wound to heal it. This method is not a fairy tail because a study was done on rats showed that this method increased collagen formation, healed wounds faster, and reduced the number of inflammatory cells contrary to the untreated rats.
4. Lower Blood Sugar and Cholesterol
Not many people know this, but bay leaves can lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels, and raise the levels of beneficial cholesterol. A study showed that diabetic human test subjects who took bay leaves twice a day (alongside their prescribed medications) had significant blood sugar and cholesterol levels drop.
5. Prevent Candida
Bay leaves are natural antifungals that can prevent candida as shown in a study where bay leaves essential oil successfully disrupted the candida’s adhesion to cell walls and reduced its membrane penetrating ability. Simply add bay leaves to your daily meals.
6. Fight Cancer
Did you know that cooking with bay leaves can help you prevent colorectal cancer? Well if you didn’t know, you have to because a study where bay leaves extracts were used to fight colon cancer cell growth showed that bay leaves can actually prevent the development of colorectal cancer in its early stages of detection.
7. Use It For Aromatherapy
If you want to wake up feeling good and full of energy, then use bay essential oil for aromatherapy to relax. Simply get yourself an essential oil diffuser jewelry and wear then start inhaling the aroma. If you have sleeping problems, simply apply a few drops of bay essential oils to a towel and put it near your pillow to get some good night’s sleep.
8. Control Pests
Bay essential oils have stunning uses and repelling pests is definitely one of them. On top of that, the essential oil can prevent insects from laying their eggs. You can use bay leaves to repel ants by putting them all over the house, or you can use the bay essential oil by applying a few essential oil drops to a couple of cotton pieces, then putting them in cupboards.
