The bay leaves health benefits are no longer a secret, because this spice has existed and been used since ancient times. Indonesia has long been known as a country rich in spices, and this is why this green country has been colonized for hundreds of years. These spices are not only used as food and culinary fragrances but also contain good medicinal value for healing various diseases.
The efficacy of bay leaves has been proven for a long time by our grandmothers, but now the benefits of bay leaves are more well-known and popular in the community due to research that also proves the extraordinary properties and benefits of bay leaves.
Among the properties of bay leaves that have been scientifically proven, as reported by benefitsku.id, are as anti-bacterial, diabetes or stabilizing excessive blood sugar levels, hypertension therapy (high blood pressure), gout, hyperlipidemia and diarrhea.
Compounds in Bay Leaves
Before we see what are the benefits of bay leaves for health, we first need to know what content is in it. So, bay leaves are not only used as a flavor enhancing spice in cooking but are also very good for overcoming and treating various diseases.
The following is the content in bay leaves, through this content we can know what are the health benefits of leaves that are usually included in this dish.
– Antioxidants: Among the ingredients are antioxidants, this content is very good for eliminating toxins in the body and preventing free radicals.
– Routine, salicylic, caffeic acid, and phytonutrients: These four types of substances found in bay leaves are very good for maintaining heart health and preventing stroke and cancer.
– Flavonoids: These compounds are useful for stabilizing blood flow and preventing hypertension
– Lauric acid: Lauric acid is used as a natural remedy to repel insects.
– Vitamins: Among the vitamins present in bay leaves are vitamin C and vitamin A.
Bay Leaves Benefits for Health
That’s only part of the content in the bay leaf. Ok, let’s just see, from the content above, we can know the benefits of the bay leaves. Here we check one by one as reported by detik.com.
1. Whiten teeth
One of the benefits that rarely doi know about bay leaves is to whiten teeth. To whiten teeth, take about 6 bay leaves and dry in the sun to dry, then mash and make like a paste, mix with lime juice and make like a paste.
Take this paste from bay leaf and lime and rub it on your teeth like you would with regular toothpaste. This not only whitens teeth but can also make your mouth healthier.
2. Accelerate wound healing
Inner leaves are leaves that are rich in anti-bacterial and anti-microbial properties. This content makes bay leaves very good to function as an herb to heal wounds.
The method is very easy, take some bay leaves and mash it finely so that it is like a paste and use it on wounds or scars.
Also see: Health benefits of dates
3. Prevent cancer
Bay leaves are really very steady and powerful properties. It contains high levels of antioxidants that can prevent bad or abnormal cells. Abnormal cells are cancer-forming cells. However, by using spices that are rich in anti-oxidants such as bay leaves, we can prevent cancer cells from forming.
So, regular consumption is very good for health. One of the easiest ways to get the benefits of bay leaves is to add these leaves in every food and dish we make.
4. Maintain healthy hair
The next bay leaves benefit is treat the hair, but in making this concoction we mix the bay leaves with other ingredients such as olive oil or candlenut. Heat the bay leaves with olive or hazelnut oil and then when it cools down, apply this oil to the scalp to nourish hair and make your hair healthy.
You only need to use olive oil once a day and do it regularly until you get healthy hair.
Also read: Halibut Fish Health Benefits
5. Relieve stress
Bay leaves actually contain a substance called linalool. This substance works to relieve stress by lowering hormones that cause stress.
How to make this concoction is very easy, just take a dry bay leaf and pour it with hot water, then inhale the steam and feel the sensation. You will be comfortable and of course your stress will disappear. Please try..!
6. Cure flu and colds
Flu and cold are two diseases associated with poor immunity. Consuming bay leaf boiled water and inhaling the steam is a very good solution in relieving colds and coughs.
Apart from being good as a cough medicine, bay leaves are also good as a medicine for other respiratory problems.
7. Maintain heart health
The benefits of bay leaves are also good for heart health. Bay leaves contain flavonoids such as salicylates, phytonutrients, and caffeic acid and their benefits are tremendous for heart health. This content is able to prevent a person from attacking heart-related diseases such as hypertension and stroke.
Also read: Jute Leaves Facts and Health Benefits (Corchorus Olitorius)
8. Good for controlling diabetes
for diabetics, bay leaf is one drug that is very good to try. Bay leaves contain antioxidants and can be useful for helping the insulin production process. That is why, for diabetics, they can control their blood sugar by consuming bay leaf stew regularly every three days or according to their diabetes condition.
9. Healthy eyes
Bay leaves are also nutritious for healthy eyes. So don’t let you not add bay leaves in your dishes. The rich leaves of this benefit can also provide a more savory taste in your soup or in fried rice or uduk rice and others.
10. Treating gout
The decoction of bay leaves is also good for treating gout, this is the same as the benefits of meniran leaves that we discussed earlier. Drink this decoction 2 times a day and feel the effect, your uric acid will decrease rapidly.
Those are the 10 benefits of bay leaves that you should know, and there are many other benefits of bay leaves for health such as losing weight, preventing hypertension, and overcoming digestive problems. Hopefully it is useful and can be applied as herbal ingredients for body health.