The Surprising Health Benefits of Burning Bay Leaves

Bay leaves can do a lot to improve the flavor of a dish, and a warm meal always hits the spot. But what if simply warming the bay leaves on their own could improve your life in many other ways?

As it turns out, there are some major health benefits to bay leaves. The Ancient Greeks would actually burn these leaves as part of religious rituals that also carried special health benefits. These days, it’s easy to get the same bay leaf benefits via other methods…think of it as all the benefits and none of the burning. Keep reading to discover exactly what burning some bay leaves can do for you and your body!

Get more sleep

Do you need more sleep? Hey, join the club! There are many things that can keep us awake when we need some sleep or even fitfully wake us up out of a good night of rest. One of the primary culprits of this is insomnia, and it can be very difficult to treat (especially if you don’t want the side effects of taking plenty of medication).

But you guessed it: bay leaves can help with this problem! To try it out, simply mix a few drops of bay leaf essence into your water and drink it before you go to bed. You should get a better, more restful night of sleep, and all without having to take sleeping pills or other medications.

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Fight back against diabetes

Type 2 diabetes can be a real challenge because it requires you to constantly monitor your cholesterol. And while bay leaves are no substitute for the advice and medication of a good doctor, they do provide a natural (and very tasty) way of lowering your blood sugar.

All you have to do is add bay leaves as an ingredient to the dishes you prepare or just eat them on their own (they taste a bit minty, if you were wondering). By eating bay leaves, you are providing your body with a powerful source of antioxidants. On top of that, the leaves help your body produce insulin while lowering the amount of bad cholesterol in your body. No “teaspoon of sugar” needed when the “medicine” is as tasty as a bay leaf!

Naturally remove dandruff

Do you have a dandruff problem that over-the-counter products just haven’t been able to treat? In that case, you may turn to bay leaves as an alternative solution. There are two ways to do this: the first involves washing your hair with shampoo like you normally do. Afterward, you need to mix some bay leaves into some cold water and use that to rinse your hair.

Alternatively, you can mix about 15 drops of bay leaf essential oil into your shampoo. By massaging everything into your scalp really well before you rinse, you can finally rid that unwanted dandruff from your hair.

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Reduce your anxiety

Sadly, anxiety has become increasingly common. Everything from personal stress to the economy to the state of geopolitical affairs combines to make many of us anxious nearly all the time. And while there is nothing you can necessarily do about all those sources of anxiety, there is something you can easily do about the anxiety itself.

In this case, all you have to do is sniff the bay leaves (no burning necessary) for about 10 minutes. It may sound crazy, but this works because the bay leaves are filled with the anxiety-treating compound linalool. You might find this technique so effective that you start keeping bay leaves at work as well as at home!

Boost your immunity

Your first defense against getting really sick is, of course, your immune system. Therefore, it stands to reason that the best way to keep yourself from falling ill is to give your immune system a boost. Fortunately, bay leaves are able to do just that!

That’s because bay leaves are filled with Vitamin C as well as Vitamin A and zinc. By regularly eating these leaves, you can strengthen your immune system while possibly fighting back against major health issues such as irritable bowel syndrome as well as celiac disease.

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Strengthen your heart health

It’s always important to monitor your heart health. Even if you don’t have a family history of heart conditions, keeping your heart as healthy as possible can dramatically improve your quality of life. There are many ways to do just that, but few are quite as simple (or quite as effective) as simply eating more bay leaves.

Bay leaves are a natural source of both rutin and caffeic acid, both of which can lower your cholesterol while strengthening the capillary walls of your heart. Together, this helps you ward off unwanted cardiovascular problems and make your heart that much stronger, one leaf at a time!