Can you eat bay leaves? What to know about the potential dangers
The debate over whether bay leaves actually do anything in cooking is ongoing. While some chefs swear that they add a vital flavor profile, others — including celebrity chef Ina Garten — have publicly wondered whether it's necessary.
“I really don’t know the answer to this," Garten said in a 2022 interview with The New Yorker. "I will say that I always also wonder whether bay leaf makes a difference. There are a couple of things that I use bay leaves in and I’ve always wanted to make them without the bay leaves to see if it made a difference, and I never have, so I’m not sure.”
If you are in the pro-bay leaf camp, there's a right way and a wrong way to cook with and consume them. Here's what health experts say you need to know.
Can you eat bay leaves?
The answer varies, but the most important thing to know is that you shouldn't eat one whole, whether or not it's been cooked.
"Bay leaves are safe to use in cooking but should be removed before consuming the dish because they can be hard and sharp," dietitian Jamie Nadeau, RD, tells Paste BN.
They can't be digested, per WebMD, which means they'll stay whole while passing through the digestive system, which runs the risk of getting stuck along the way or tearing intestinal lining.
What does bay leaf do to your body?
While ground bay leaves are believed in traditional medicine to be a cure for certain diseases and health issues, researchers say there isn't enough evidence to prove they offer real benefits. Some studies, for example, show promising results in animals — one 2016 study found that rabbits that consumed dried bay leaves had lower levels of triglycerides in their blood — but those same findings haven't been replicated in humans.
Researchers also don't have a good understanding of how much bay leaf would need to be ingested in order to reap potential benefits.
In all, there's definite proof that you shouldn't eat bay leaves whole, and not much evidence to encourage eating them ground-up. But if you're team Cooking With Bay Leaves, by all means carry on — just remember to remove them before serving.