Bay Leaves for Arthritis II

Thank you for replying back to me.
The reason I asked about the bay leaves is because a doctor of alternative medicine prescribed the bay leaf tea for arthritis for a few people and it seems to work. My mother has chronic arthritis in her feet and has been drinking the bay leaf tea for a few weeks now. Since her first dose up until now she has seen tremendous improvement.
I was looking on the Internet and I just wanted to get additional information on the bay leaves. I guess the bay leaf tea is a hit! I hope it doesn't do any harm later on. Where can I go to find additional information? I would hate for my mother or anyone else I know to get an adverse reaction down the line.

I have never heard of bay leaves causing severe adverse reactions. Of course I am writing of the true bay, Laurus nobilis, not the several other plants also called "bay" that are known to cause severe adverse reactions. The california bay, Umbellularia californica, for one, can cause irritation, severe headache, elevated blood pressure, and worse. The worse that true bay (the kind used in cooking) causes is stomatitis, cheilitis (inflammation of the lip), and dermatitis in some sensitive individuals. If you experience any skin, oral, or gastrointestinal irritation as a result of taking the bay leaf tea you should stop taking it and consult your health care provider.
But given that bay leaves are widely consumed – and have been for centuries – the relative safety of bay leaves has to be assumed to be very high.

My mother who has been drinking the bay leaf tea also has diabetes and high blood pressure. Since drinking the tea, her sugar has been low; sometimes she has to eat some candy to bring it back up. Her pressure has also been stable, which is usually high. There just might be something to this drink, for more than one reason.