Bay leaf for joints: benefits and applications

How many simple remedies that "live" in our kitchen have special properties and are able to cure even complex diseases. It is enough to know the correct recipe to prepare a medicinal potion from ordinary and familiar seasoning, both for internal use and for external action. One of such useful miracle cures is bay leaf, essential oils and acids of which help to get rid of pain and chronic inflammation in the joints, remove salts from the body, break kidney stones and cleanse the body of toxins and toxic substances.

The healing properties of laurel

Bay leaf - a powerful substance. The eternally green crown of the plant retains its freshness all year round thanks to the essential oils accumulating in the leaves. The plant is frost-resistant, hardy, and its fragrant bactericidal components can repel pests. Therefore, the product remains clean, the tree almost never gets sick, and all of the listed beneficial properties have a similar effect on the human body:

• strengthening immunity;
• purification of the blood;
• elimination of salt deposits from the body and regulation of the water-salt balance;
• bowel cleansing from toxins and toxins;
• elimination of nausea, relief of food poisoning;
• obstruction of the development of inflammatory processes;
• antibacterial and antifungal effects;
• participation in cleansing the liver, choleretic effect;
• restoration of stamina of joints and blood vessels;
• light warming effect;
• stimulation of the body with colds and other healing effects.

Often, bay leaf is used in balms and ointments for the treatment of joints. In addition, it stimulates digestion well, in ancient times it was added to food to disinfect dishes and improve appetite. The aroma of bay leaf eliminates nausea, helps to relax and concentrate.

Useful composition of bay leaves

Essential leaflets with a fragrant spicy smell are rich in healing substances that have a beneficial effect on the body:

1. Tannins remove irritations and inflammations, restore cell regeneration, eliminate intoxication symptoms, have an astringent effect and remove poisons and processed products from the body, eliminating edema.
2. Vitamins A, C, PP and group B are involved in immunomodulation, strengthen the walls of blood vessels, help restore healthy joint tissue, and also cleanse the blood.
3. Minerals - calcium, sodium, magnesium, selenium, zinc, potassium - provide body strengthening, normal metabolism and hormonal balance, support healthy cardiac and nervous activity.
4. Essential oils and organic acids - valerian, acetic and kapron - provide a healing, disinfecting and protective effect, cleanse the body at the cellular level.
5. Volatile and antimicrobial substances allow to remove toxins and toxins, protect the body from infections, and also build a barrier against free radicals.

To get a delicate aroma in cooking, bay leaves are usually put in whole dishes and taken out of food before serving. For medicinal use, it is better to grind and crush the bay leaves so that their healing juice saturates the infusion or ointment faster.

Precaution, contraindications and harmful effects

It must be borne in mind that the bay leaf is intense, so you need to take the medicine strictly according to the prescription, observe the intervals between courses, do not exceed the recommended dose, do not combine with other medicines without consulting a doctor, and use products prepared on the basis of the bay leaf strictly according to destination.

Excessive doses or careless use of oil, decoction or tincture of bay leaves can cause such unpleasant symptoms:

• burns to the skin and mucous membranes;
• internal bleeding;
• aggravation of urolithiasis and kidney disease;
• nausea, dizziness, vomiting;
• increased sweating and fever;
• other symptoms of toxic shock.

Therefore, before using concentrated products from bay leaves, make sure that your body does not react allergically to the components of the plant. Mash the sheet with your fingers and rub the oil that is released into the skin of your wrist. You can use a few drops of vegetable oil or cream to increase skin patency and absorption. If after some time you feel a strong burning sensation and itching, if a rash or severe redness appears, you have an individual intolerance to the plant, and you will have to refuse to use the remedies with laurel oil.

Do not be too lazy to carry out the verification procedure. Even if when eating bay leaf you did not notice a negative reaction, the concentration of active substances in decoctions, infusions and essential ointments will be much higher, and it is very important that the main component does not cause rejection in the body.

Also, during the heat treatment of the composition that you will take inside, you need to boil the leaves for several minutes or let the brewed liquid “breathe” before wrapping it on the infusion. It is necessary that some protective compounds from the composition of the plant that may cause intoxication symptoms disappear.

Bay leaf for joint pain

For those who suffer from chronic joint pain, arthritis, rheumatism, osteochondrosis and gout, there are several classic recipes for bay leaf potions that will help relieve inflammation, relieve pain, restore elasticity and healthy cells, remove salt deposits and rejuvenate the body.

Bay leaf decoction
This mixture is made strong, taken inside in small courses, without combining with any medications for the period of administration.

Take 30 dried sheets, fill with cold water with a volume of 800-1000 ml (4 cups) and put on fire. After boiling, digest the drug for 5 minutes. After this, pour the product into a thermos or wrap it with a blanket and insist for 3 hours. It is ideal to make a decoction for the night - and let it brew for 10-12 hours.

Drink tincture in small portions throughout the day. The course lasts 3 days, after which a break of 3 weeks is recommended. For prevention, it is enough to conduct such a course once every six months. If you want to cure severe forms of the disease, spend 2–3 courses with interruptions in a row once every six months - a year.

To relieve symptoms of gout, such a decoction is poured into a basin of warm water and rinsed feet for 10-15 minutes. Repeat the procedure for 2 weeks.

Infusion of bay leaves
To quickly help the joints in the cold season, you can insist “tea” from the bay leaf. To do this, pour 10 leaves of 600 ml of boiling water, insist about 3 hours and add natural honey. Drink the drink in small portions before meals in a 3-day course. To improve the taste, you can add lemon juice to such tea.

Healing ointment for joints with bay leaf
Select a few juicy leaves, grind into dust and add to a small portion of butter (you can take ghee). Stir the mixture over low heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring thoroughly. Warm ointment is applied to aching joints with massage movements.After the procedure, you need to wrap the zone and hold the mixture from 40 minutes to 2 hours. After that, the skin can be rinsed from the remnants of the mixture.

To extract salts, you can add honey to the mixture. To calm the irritation, mint leaves are added to the ointment. It is undesirable to combine laurel with pepper components. Laurel tree oil can be added to ready-made creams and massage balms and massage their joints in rainy weather.

Do not insist on alcohol. Do not use infusions in large portions in one gulp, this can cause poisoning, irritation and adversely affect the work of the kidneys.

How to choose quality raw materials

Experienced herbalists and healers recommend using Georgian bay leaves due to its freshness and healing properties. In general, there is no pronounced difference between the Mediterranean and southeastern plant varieties - feel free to buy Greek, Spanish, Turkish and any other product. It does not matter, import sheet or local processing. The main thing is to monitor the expiration date.

Bay leaf is stored for 3-5 years, almost without losing its aromatic and healing qualities - the juices and oils of the plant will go into hot water and have the desired effect. However, for internal use, it is better to choose recently collected leaves. Old ones are suitable for ointment.

When choosing a packaged product, pay attention to the following criteria:

1. Packaging should be airtight, better foil. Cardboard bags let air through, which is why during transportation and storage the product could absorb foreign aromatic impurities.
2. Buy a solid dense bay leaf. The powder quickly loses its healing properties and aroma, in addition, in a crushed form, an unscrupulous manufacturer could mix cheaper types of plants to a fragrant leaf.
3. Rigid elastic leaves indicate the freshness of the product and its richness with essential oil, and dried-up crumbling - about old age and improper selection of material for collection. If you find that the leaves in the purchased packaging are of low sample, leave such raw materials for culinary needs, and for the medicine, choose a quality product.

Good leaves, when rubbed, leave traces of juice and spread a characteristic aroma.

How to harvest bay leaf

A leaf that is in the air loses its flavor over time, so to preserve the best taste and healing properties, it is better to isolate even whole leaves from the air. Ground bay leaves are stored in tightly closed glass or ceramic containers, protected from direct sunlight.

Video: bay leaf for joints