BAY LEAF 🍃 Also known as laurel, bay leaf is usually used as a dried whole leaf in soups, sauces, and meat dishes. You then remove the leaf before eating the dish as it is usually difficult to chew and digest the dried leaf (also do not eat it raw 🤗). But sometimes the leaf is already sold as a spice in powdered form Aside from adding a delicious flavor to your meal, bay leaf has so many great health benefits! Let’s take a look: 🍃 Vitamin A (retinol, retinoic acid) is a nutrient important to vision, growth, cell division, reproduction and immunity. Vitamin A also has antioxidant properties. 🍃 Vitamin B6, one of the 8 “B vitamins,” is a vitamin that benefits the central nervous system and metabolism. Its roles include turning food into energy and helping to create neurotransmitters, such as serotonin and dopamine 🍃 Vitamin C is a nutrient your body needs to form blood vessels, cartilage, muscle and collagen in bones. Vitamin C is also vital to your body's healing process and immune system. 🍃 One study showed that consuming 1 to 2 grams of bay leaf per day for thirty days helped reduce risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease. However, research about bay leaf’s effect on diabetes is still in the early stages 🍃 Calcium is a mineral most often associated with healthy bones and teeth, although it also plays an important role in blood clotting, helping muscles to contract, and regulating normal heart rhythms and nerve functions. 🍃 Iron is a major component of hemoglobin, a type of protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from your lungs to all parts of the body. Without enough iron, there aren't enough red blood cells to transport oxygen, which leads to fatigue 🍃 Manganese helps the body form connective tissue, bones, blood clotting factors, and sex hormones. It also plays a role in fat and carbohydrate metabolism, calcium absorption, and blood sugar regulation. Manganese is also necessary for normal brain and nerve function.