Bay leaf water is made by simmering dried bay leaves in water for 15 to 20 minutes, then straining and drinking the liquid warm or cool. It’s one of the simplest herbal preparations you can make, and it takes less than half an hour from start to finish. Here’s exactly how to do it, along with what the research says about why people drink it.
Basic Bay Leaf Water Recipe
Start with 2 to 3 dried bay leaves and about 2 cups (500 ml) of water. Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan, add the leaves, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. The water will turn a pale golden-yellow. Remove it from the heat, let it cool for a few minutes, and strain out the leaves.
You can drink it plain or add a squeeze of lemon, a small amount of honey, or a cinnamon stick during the simmering step. Some people prefer it chilled, which works just as well. The flavor is mild, slightly herbal, and faintly bitter, similar to a light green tea with earthy notes.
Fresh vs. Dried Leaves
Dried bay leaves work better for this purpose. Drying concentrates the aromatic compounds (especially the terpenes responsible for that distinctive bay leaf scent) and makes them release more readily into hot water. Fresh leaves will work in a pinch, but the flavor tends to be grassier and less developed. If using fresh leaves, double the quantity to 4 to 6 leaves per 2 cups of water.
Make Sure You’re Using the Right Leaf
The bay leaf you want is Laurus nobilis, commonly sold as “bay laurel” or “sweet bay.” It’s native to the Mediterranean and is the standard bay leaf in most grocery store spice aisles. However, a quality control study found that leaves from several other species are routinely substituted or mistaken for true bay leaves because they look and smell similar. These include Indian bay leaf, California bay laurel, and West Indian bay leaf, among others. Their flavor profiles differ noticeably, and some substitutes can cause health problems.
Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) is the most important one to avoid. It is genuinely toxic and looks nothing like a cooking bay leaf, but the shared word “laurel” occasionally causes confusion. If you’re foraging rather than buying from a spice rack, confirm the species before using it.
How to Store Bay Leaf Water
Brewed bay leaf water stays fresh in the refrigerator for up to five days when kept in a clean, airtight container. Glass or ceramic is ideal because it won’t absorb flavors, but plastic works too. After five days, discard any remaining liquid. You can make a larger batch at the start of the week by scaling up the recipe proportionally, using roughly 2 leaves per cup of water.
What Bay Leaf Water Does in Your Body
Bay leaves contain volatile compounds, primarily terpenes like 1,8-cineole, that give them their distinctive aroma. When simmered in water, these compounds dissolve into the liquid along with other plant-based substances. The research on bay leaf consumption is still limited, but a few areas have solid preliminary data.
Blood Sugar and Cholesterol
The most cited study involved 40 people with type 2 diabetes who consumed 1, 2, or 3 grams of ground bay leaves daily for 30 days. All three doses reduced fasting blood sugar by 21 to 26 percent. Total cholesterol dropped 20 to 24 percent, LDL (“bad”) cholesterol fell 32 to 40 percent, and HDL (“good”) cholesterol increased by 20 to 29 percent. Triglycerides decreased 34 percent in the lowest-dose group. There was no significant difference between the three doses, meaning even 1 gram per day (roughly 2 to 3 leaves) produced the full effect.
One particularly interesting finding: after participants stopped taking bay leaves for a 10-day washout period, their improved glucose and lipid levels held steady. This suggests the effects are sustained and that daily consumption isn’t strictly necessary to maintain the benefit. The placebo group showed no changes.
A cup of bay leaf water made from 2 to 3 leaves delivers a similar amount of bay leaf compounds as the 1-gram capsules used in this study, though the extraction efficiency of simmering versus consuming ground leaf powder hasn’t been directly compared.
Digestion and Bloating
Animal research on bay laurel has shown it promotes the production of short-chain fatty acids in the gut, particularly butyrate. These fatty acids lower the pH of the colon, which discourages the growth of harmful bacteria, reduces inflammation in the gut lining, and specifically helps prevent the gas buildup that causes bloating. This is why bay leaf water has a long folk-medicine history as a digestive aid, typically consumed after a heavy meal.
Who Should Be Cautious
If you take medication for diabetes, bay leaf water’s blood sugar-lowering effect can stack on top of your medication and push glucose levels too low. Close monitoring is important if you combine the two.
Bay leaf compounds can also slow central nervous system activity. For most people sipping a cup of bay leaf water, this isn’t meaningful. But if you have surgery scheduled, stop drinking bay leaf water at least two weeks beforehand, because the sedative-like effect can compound with anesthesia.
Pregnant and breastfeeding individuals generally stick to culinary amounts (a leaf or two in a soup) rather than concentrated bay leaf water, since there isn’t enough safety data for higher doses in those populations.
Getting the Strongest Brew
A few small adjustments can improve extraction. Tearing or lightly crushing the leaves before adding them to the pot exposes more surface area. Using a lid while simmering traps volatile compounds that would otherwise evaporate with the steam. And keeping the heat at a gentle simmer rather than a rolling boil preserves the more delicate aromatics. If the flavor is too mild after 20 minutes, you can continue simmering for up to 30 minutes or add an extra leaf, but going beyond that tends to make the water unpleasantly bitter rather than more potent.