Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Bay Laurel

[00:00:00] Hey y'all, welcome to this week's show. Today we are going to talk about a really interesting herb. It kind of falls into several categories. It's bay laurel. Now bay laurel is a medicinal herb. You may know it as a culinary herb. If you've ever had bay berry candles or something like that, you may know it as a scent. It's also a tree. It literally falls into like five or six different herbs.

[00:00:30] It's in different categories, but it's really potent medicinally. Before we get into that, I got a little bit of an announcement. Now you may remember, if you've been listening to my show for any period of time, that about four years ago I was banned from YouTube. I had just started podcasting and I guess I made the mistake of making fun of Tony Fauci right during the heart of the

[00:01:01] COVID panic. We'll just call it the COVID panic. Okay. I said he reminded me of yogurt on Spaceballs. You know, merchandising, merchandising, that's where the money is, you know. Love Mel Brooks movies. I'm a huge fan of, you know, Young Frankenstein, Frankenstein, whatever, Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs, silent movie. I mean, he was one of the best.

[00:01:27] I mean, Mel Brooks was hilarious. I mean, Mel Brooks was hilarious. And Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Bernadette Peters. I mean, they were just, they were great. Oh, what was the guy's name in Blazing Saddles? Oh man, he was hilarious. The black guy.

[00:01:42] You know, if you've seen Blazing Saddles, you know, it is actually correct to call him the black guy because he was that character. No, he would, wonderful movies. Huge Mel Brooks fan. Now some of his last few movies were pretty awful, but you know, in the 70s and 80s, there was nobody better except maybe, you know, the guys that did Airplane and Naked Gun, Zucker Abrams, Zucker, I think were their names. Hilarious.

[00:02:10] I mean, you know, what a great privilege it was to really grow up in the golden age of comedic movies. I mean, I grew up on Mel Brooks and Zucker Abrams, Zucker, and all those great Steve Martin movies and Chevy Chase and National Lampoon. I mean, man, we're talking Eddie Murphy. There was funny stuff. I mean, there was serious comedy.

[00:02:37] Unfortunately, unfortunately, we lost that and we lost a lot of it about the time they kicked me off of YouTube because you couldn't just be funny anymore, right? Everybody got offended by everything. Well, I went and did my own thing, started the podcast. Well, I mean, continued with the podcast. The Southern Appalachian Herbs podcast has really grown. It's one of the most popular herbal podcasts in the entire world.

[00:03:01] James approached me and asked if I would do this herbal medicine for preppers. Thrilled to do it, and it's become very popular, even though, yeah, I say things that offend y'all sometimes. You still put up with me, and I appreciate that. I think we are practical people. We see that knowledge is knowledge, and humor is humor, and we don't get a, you know, bent out of shape over everything.

[00:03:25] Anyway, I kept on going, and apparently at some point about a year ago, YouTube lifted the ban, and I mean, all my videos were taken down.

[00:03:36] I had no presence there for almost four years, but apparently about a year ago, YouTube lifted the ban, and my podcasting hosting company was apparently automatically uploading some of my podcasts, just like a handful of them, to YouTube without my knowledge.

[00:03:57] I must have had settings clicked, you know, auto-share to YouTube, and then they stopped doing it, and I don't even find that option anymore, so I don't know what was up with that. Some of my podcasts got up there, and some didn't. Most didn't. Just a handful of podcasts did, but I got a Google alert saying that my podcasts were on YouTube, and I looked, and it's like,

[00:04:18] well, there's four or five podcasts for six months ago. They must have lifted the ban. So, I started uploading all my Southern Appalachian Herbs podcasts to YouTube, all my Uncensored Catholic podcasts, and I guess I'm going to put Herbal Medicine 101 on there. That's always been on Rumble. You know, they didn't allow me on YouTube, so I went to Rumble. YouTube gets a lot more views, so hopefully I can spread the information to a lot more people.

[00:04:46] But you know what would really be great? It would be if I could actually make a few bucks off of YouTube instead of Jim just making money off of me. In the past, I started uploading all my podcasts. You know, I got like 250-some herb podcasts. I mean, it took a couple of weeks to get them all up there. I mean, I could work on it, find time in the evening, and like let them upload for two hours while I'm, you know, eating supper and watching the news, that kind of thing.

[00:05:14] So, it took about, it took a couple of weeks to get them all up there, and over a thousand people viewed them. I've also done a couple of videos of just plain old Piedmont blues music on the guitar and a little singing, and people really seem to like that. They're getting maybe a hundred views apiece. So, I mean, it's got potential. It's going to grow, right? So, YouTube is making money off of me right now, and I'm not real happy about that because of the way they treated me and a lot of other people.

[00:05:44] I would like to make some money off of YouTube. So, I looked into it, and apparently I can't monetize my videos. I can't make any revenue off of them until I've reached 500 subscribers. So, hey, y'all. I know in this next week, if everything is as it usually is, in the next few days, about a thousand people are going to listen to this podcast.

[00:06:11] Could I ask each of you, if you use YouTube, to go to my YouTube channel and subscribe to it? That would make a huge difference. If I'm at about 116 subscribers right now, I've got to get to 500 before they'll allow me to monetize. I've already got enough views. I've got, you know, the views are coming in. The subscribers are a little, you know, a little slower.

[00:06:41] So, my channel is Judson Carroll. That's my name, J-U-D-S-O-N-C-A-R-R-O-L-L. And apparently it's at Judson Carroll 5902. All right, so you're never going to remember that. I'll never remember it myself. But you can just go on YouTube and type in a search, Judson Carroll, J-U-D-S-O-N-C-A-R-R-O-L-L.

[00:07:09] Or you can type in Southern Appalachian Herbs Podcast. I'm sure you can find me 57,000 different ways on there considering that I've now uploaded 346 videos. I will put the link in the show notes. So, if you hear this and you use YouTube, please just click subscribe. It's free. It will help me out a lot. A lot. And, I mean, it really does not sit well right now for me.

[00:07:38] That YouTube is making, has been making money off of my content without my knowledge after banning me from their site. So, I want to start making some money off of YouTube. And you can help me do that. And, as always, if you support what I do, you can subscribe. You can become a paid subscriber to my Substack newsletter. I give everything away for free. It's totally optional. Everything I do, I give away for free.

[00:08:04] Except my books, when they're sold through Amazon or whatever, I make a few bucks off each one. I'm not making a fortune at this. If I could actually make some money on YouTube, it would help a lot. So, y'all, I hope you'll consider doing that. Now, with the shameless self-promotion, as Rush Limbaugh used to say, and now it's time for the shameless self-promotion. And, what was it? The crass commercials.

[00:08:30] With all that aside, man, I miss Rush Limbaugh. Rush was my hero. I got to tell you. Three hours a day, every day, from my teens until, you know what, about four years ago when he died. Biggest male influence in my life, actually, because I never had a dad around. And, you know, my grandfather died when I was 10. Rush Limbaugh is the reason I do podcasting now.

[00:08:58] He's the reason I worked for a while in politics. And, I worked in talk radio and newspapers and such as that. Rush was, is very missed. Very missed. So, let's talk about Bay Laurel. And, of course, I also had a mentor in G. Gordon Liddy. I think as preppers, y'all might appreciate that. Did I ever tell you that story? I was in college. I was up in Virginia.

[00:09:28] And, I ended up talking with a newspaper editor. And, he said, you know, you really ought to write something for the newspaper. And, I said, oh, you know, I'm just a college student. Nobody's going to listen to me. He said, no. He said, you know, you really know politics and economics and all this. And, he said, you're funny. You know, you've got a real sharp wit. And, he said, just write something, whatever topic you want. And, we'll run it as an op-ed. And, I did.

[00:09:56] And, I was younger then. And, a little more sharp-tongued and blunt. And, I absolutely ripped to shreds a certain politician. And, it was in Virginia. And, somebody, it was a little, tiny, small town. Alta Vista, Virginia. I mean, if you've ever, I doubt many of you know where Alta Vista is. But, it's next to the, also a very tiny town of Hurt.

[00:10:25] If you ever watch Moonshiners, Tim and Tickle are from that area. But, no. It's really a cool place. Wonderful people. Absolutely wonderful. Slow-talking southern people. But, somebody sent the article over to Mr. Liddy. And, you know, he lived in the Arlington area. And, I got contacted by his producer. And, she says, you know, Mr. Liddy was really impressed with this. Are you going to do more?

[00:10:53] And, I said, well, yeah. They actually hired me. I got fired six weeks later, by the way. Because, the political bosses at Alta Vista were an old Democrat family. And, I was just pissing them off like nobody's business. So, they threatened to shut down the newspaper. And, so I got canned six weeks into my job. Not the first time or the last time I was fired. Especially my opinions. But, anyway. Mr. Liddy said, you know, I think you can really reach a young audience.

[00:11:23] And, you know, he would give me feedback. And, he talked to me. And, he introduced me to people. And, I ended up working for a congressman. And, a senator. And, then a bunch of candidates. And, you know, different things. And, for a while, that was my life. A lot happened. Especially 2008. The financial crash. I had actually, stupid me. I started a print newspaper.

[00:11:47] I started a print newspaper sometime around, oh, I guess it was 2002. So, by 2008, with the financial crash. No advertisers. It went bankrupt. And, well, not officially. Everybody got paid back the money they owed. I went bankrupt. And, again, not officially. I never declared bankruptcy. But, literally lost everything in the blink of an eye. Almost lost my house.

[00:12:15] I did have to trade in my nice vehicle for an old beat-up truck. So, I could do things like yard work and haul garbage to make, you know, $100 a week just to stay alive. And, that was my grand experience with politics. But, the bright side of that story, it brought me back to herbal medicine. Because, you know, Obamacare had passed. And, as a self-employed person, I could no longer afford insurance.

[00:12:42] And, I was back in the mountains of North Carolina. And, all the herbs I needed to take care of my health were growing all around me. And, I got involved with people like, you know, the Grow Network and different folks. And, they said, you know, you really ought to write about herbal medicine. You ought to teach herbal medicine. You know more about it. And, this is, you know, a practicing clinical herbalist said, you know more about herbal medicine than I do. And, anybody that taught me in school.

[00:13:11] Why are you not doing this? And, I thought, to me it was common sense. Doesn't everybody know this? Because, it's the way I grew up. I grew up learning herbal medicine. But, apparently not. And, they were very supportive. Marjorie Wildcraft and that whole crew over there. They said, you know, we want you to do this. You know, consider writing a book. And, so, I did my first book. Actually, with a co-author. We did, I did two basically at the same time. The first was The Herbs and Weeds of Father Johann Kunzel.

[00:13:38] So, that was co-authored with a lady I met through the Grove Network, an Austrian, who was able to translate what's a really classic work of herbal medicine. And, then we gave our modern herbalist commentary on it. It was very well received. And, then at the same time, I was writing a book about the medicinal use of trees. And, you know, that's kind of where I started this series was the herbal use of trees. I think that's the best starting place for anyone. And, you know, again, they were very supportive.

[00:14:07] And, then the folks over at Permies.com, Permaculture website, they were very supportive. I mean, really, people that probably wouldn't agree with me about anything, especially when it comes to politics, right? They really appreciated my work and they helped promote it. And, just like, you know, Mr. Liddy and later Rush Limbaugh, he helped me out a lot, actually. He never took credit for it. He would read my work on air, on his show.

[00:14:37] I was writing under a different name at that time, so you may not remember. But, when, in 2008, when the crash happened and I was going bankrupt, in politics, they call it blood in the water. Okay? When you've gone after politicians real hard and they suddenly find out you're in a weakened position, boy, they do everything they can to try to destroy you. And, Rush Limbaugh went behind the scenes, anonymously, never took credit for it.

[00:15:05] I only knew about it because we had mutual friends that he talked with. They went to him and said, you know, Judson's dealing with this and, you know, it's really bad. And, he helped me out a lot. A lot. So, big place in my heart. Anyway, bay laurel. So, many of us think of bay laurel as a culinary herb, merely a culinary herb.

[00:15:32] But, often, and often, it is used in soups and especially in Mediterranean cooking. If you're like me, you know, I'm part of Cajun, Creole heritage. We use a lot. We use a lot of bay laurel. And, that's because bay laurel grows wild all throughout the southern part of Louisiana. And, really on the coast of North Carolina, too. So, even, you know, the other side of my family, the Irish and English and Scots-Irish. Bay laurel is something, you know, I really grew up using.

[00:16:00] If you're not used to it, the scent can be a little strong. Most of the bay laurel that's sold in America comes from California. California bay laurel kind of dominates the market. Actually, the native bay laurels to the southeastern coastal areas are much stronger. They're much more like the laurels of Greece and Italy, which the herbalists wrote about.

[00:16:29] So, in a lot of old books, things can get a little confusing because the bay laurel is the laurel nobilis. That's what we call bay leaf in cooking. The Myrica family, though, it's part of the Myrica family, has several members. And, a lot of them are referred to as laurel or myrtle, which is a different plant, or Myrica. And, that includes wax myrtle, bay berry. Bay berry was very popular up around the coast of Virginia.

[00:16:56] That's where a lot of that candle industry came from. And, a bog myrtle. They all have medicinal uses, but can be very toxic if used improperly. I've talked to you before about old recipes for beer, where they used a myrtle, Myrica gale. And, it was stimulant and could cause hallucinations. Okay. So, the bay leaf is not anywhere near that strong.

[00:17:24] But, the bay leaf, the bay laurel, has actually a lot of... It was very much used in ancient Greece as part of their mythology and tradition. You know, a scholar, an emperor, somebody who won the Olympic Games, they would be crowned with a wreath of laurel. And, that's where, if you've ever heard the saying, well, laureate, like baccalaureate and such as that.

[00:17:52] Laureate actually derives from that tradition of being recognized for one's accomplishment. Or, when someone says they're resting on their laurels, it means they've made their accomplishments, and now they're not really trying anymore. They already have their crown of laurels. So, in Greek, the bay laurel is called Daphne. Very popular name. It was named after a mythical nymph. So, it goes back to, you know, their mythology.

[00:18:19] And, you know, Wikipedia had sort of an interesting entry in that. The myth of Apollo and Daphne, the god Apollo fell in love with Daphne, who was a priestess of Gaia or Mother Earth. And, when he tried to seduce her, she pled to help for Gaia, who transported her to Crete. And, in her place, left a laurel tree. So, this goes back a long way, so I'm not going to read the whole legend. You can if you want. But, the bay laurel was the highest status symbol in ancient Greece. It was the prize in the Olympics.

[00:18:49] It was everything, you know. Continued into ancient Rome. But, by the time of Pliny the Elder, it was said that laurel was not permitted for profane uses. It was still that special to them. That, you know, you were not allowed to burn it. The wood of the laurel tree is fuel. It could only be used for lighting altars for, you know, sacrifices and such. And, for ceremonial uses.

[00:19:17] And, he said that it crackled in the fire as a protest for being mistreated. So, anyway. But, let's get into more practical things. Medicinal. Well, Diascorides said that the Daphne or Loris is a smaller leaf than the other members of the Mirica family. But, it was warming and softening. And, a decoction of them is good as a hip bath for disorders of the vulva and bladder. Green leaves are somewhat astringent.

[00:19:47] Pounded into pieces and applied. They're good for wasps and bee stings. Applied with barley flour and bread, they are able to lessen any inflammation. Refrostation. Taken as a drink, they make the stomach tender and provoke vomiting. You would have to take a whole lot of bay laurel for that, by the way. We use it in cooking quite a bit. But, we use one, three, four leaves, you know, at most. And, usually remove them before serving. Very strong flavor. You know, you have to get used to it. My mother, for instance, cannot stand bay. I like it.

[00:20:16] You know, you either develop a taste for it or you don't. Even if you grow up having it. But, he said that the, taken as a drink, they make the stomach, well, I just said that. But, the berries heat more than the leaves. And, that's true. The berries are stronger. And, the berries also have that waxy quality to them. We don't use them very much. But, they are what's used in, like, the berry candles. They have that waxy quality.

[00:20:42] He said they were good, taken as a syrup, combined with honey and raisin wine, used for consumption. That was tuberculosis. Asthma. Mucus around the chest. Taken as a drink with wine. They were good against scorpion stings. I am so glad I don't live with their scorpions. That critter probably freaks me out more than any on the face of the earth. And, I guess if you live in the desert southwest, you think that's funny. They freak me out. I don't know what it is about them. But, anyway. I'm serious.

[00:21:11] That's like, they look, you know, all skeletal. And, they sting. And, just nasty looking things. I'm, you know, I've grown up around black widow spiders and brown recluses all my life. They don't bother me. I mean, I avoid them. I obviously don't want to get stung by one. But, yeah. Scorpion freaks me out. The juice of the berries helps ear aches and hardness of hearing if dropped into the ears with old wine and rose oil. It is mixed with recipes for medicines to remove fatigue with hot ointments.

[00:21:40] And, with those which disperse the bark and roots, break the stones of the kidney and urinary and bladder stones. And, they're good for liver disorders. However, can never be used by pregnant women. Could cause a miscarriage. Very dangerous. And, that's half a teaspoon taken as a drink with fragrant wine. And, it gives about half a dozen other names for it in languages that were common at the time.

[00:22:05] But, I don't, I suppose you want to know what bay leaf is called in Egyptian, you know, for instance. So, Gerard in 1500s, by 1500s England, bay was one of the most used herbs culinarily. But, it was also used medicinally. They had to import it. They did, I believe they did eventually adapt a variety of bay that would, well, no. They had the native Mirica gale.

[00:22:32] And, I think they probably used that interchangeably. Just a little bit of the leaf with the imported bay. But, the imported bay was very valuable and was always preferred. Gerard said,

[00:22:56] Bay berries with honey are good as a licking medicine against the consumption of the lungs, difficulty of breathing, and all kinds of fluxes or rooms about the chest. So, congestion of the chest, essentially. Bay berry taken in wine is good against the biting and stings of any venomous beast. So, not just scorpions, apparently. And, against all venom and poison, they cleanse away the morphew, this infected wounds, essentially.

[00:23:22] The juice pressed out hereof is a remedy for pains of the ears and deafness. It, you know, morphew's sort of skin condition, but it's infectious in nature. I'll just go with that. If it be dropped in with old wine and oil of roses, good against wearisomeness and heat, and will waste away humors. Again, that's probably more like congestion. Bay berries put into a mithridrate or treacle.

[00:23:50] Treacle's essentially a sugar, a cane syrup, basically. Molasses is about, or if you actually can get cane syrup or the golden syrup that, you know, usually comes from Australia or England. That's treacle, essentially. It said, mixed with basically a sweet syrup are made to refresh such people as are grown sluggish and dull by means of taking opiates and have, or have any poison or venom in them.

[00:24:19] They are good against cramps and the drawing together of sinews. I think, in that case, bay was often used, especially the berries and sort of a liniment. So, the drawing together of sinews and cramp, you know, he's talking about, you know, a constriction, a cramp type of condition used topically. And this is, again, 1500. So, he says, And we, in our time, do not use the berries for infirmities of the lungs or chest, but minister them against the disease of the stomach, liver, spleen, bladder.

[00:24:49] They warm a cold stomach, cause the concoction of raw humors. Again, we're talking congestion, essentially. And stir up the appetite, taking away the loathing of meat. And, yes, bay is often used in seasoning food. It has some antimicrobial properties, but it also increases the appetite and makes your food taste better. You'll never have, rarely have, a stock or a broth in French cooking that doesn't have bay leaf in it.

[00:25:19] He said, Good against the stopping of liver and spleen, provokes the urine, brings down the mincees, the oil pressed from these, drawn forth by decoction, doth in short time take away scabs and such like filth of the skin. It cureth them that are beaten black and blue.

[00:25:38] So, if you're ever beaten black and blue, he says it takes away bruising and congealed blood and digesteth and wasteth away the humors gathered about the grieved part. Again, good for the bladder. Berries mixed with saffron, another very popular spice of the time, with vinegar and oil of rose forms a good liniment. And, he said, applied to the temples would help with a migraine.

[00:26:09] Interesting. Yeah, we ought to try that. There are not a lot of good cures for a migraine, so definitely worth trying. He says, Reported that drunkards were accustomed to eat in the morning two leaves to prevent drunkenness. Interesting. I don't know why a drunkard would not want to be drunken, but I guess they thought it would help prevent drunkenness so they could drink more.

[00:27:01] I don't know. He says, He goes into a long description of the plant. Well, and he had to differentiate from their native, Myrickagill. Again, he says, Good for poisons. Good used against stings of wasps and bees. Pestilates and other infectious diseases. Um, procura wins courses. That means brings on menses. Um, yeah, let's see.

[00:27:26] They wonderfully help all cold rheumatic distillations from the eyes, lungs, or other parts. So good for, uh, mucus essentially. Um, good to provoke urine and in large doses would kill worms. Again, don't use while pregnant. Could cause a miscarriage. Anything that kills worms could, uh, do that. You always have to keep that in mind.

[00:27:47] Um, uh, uses a bath for various, you know, genital inflammations, hemorrhoids, um, diuretic properties. Um, he said a decoction of equal parts of bayberry, cumin seed, hyssop, oregano, and euphorium, which is in the Spurge family.

[00:28:06] With some honey would, um, uh, bathe, using as a, a wash or bathing the head with it would, uh, help with all, uh, congested mucus conditions of the eyes, nose, ears. Um, euphorium atiate, it can be a very toxic family. You want to be very careful. With that, um, an oil made of the berries, very good for griefs of the joints, nerves, muscles, palsy, convulsions, cramps, aches, numbness.

[00:28:36] Makes an excellent liniment, uh, or, um, you know, an oil, um, anything along those lines. She's even used as a compress. Really good for all inflammations and stiffnesses. Let's get up to 1898. King's Medical Dispensatory talks about how it grows here in the United States. And it certainly does. Especially in the south or along, um, on the coast. And in, in California, of course.

[00:29:03] Um, and at this point, 1898, uh, it was one of the main exports of Mexico, apparently. Uh, and I think a lot of the, uh, the bay leaves on the shelf in the spice rack probably is from Mexico. The rest is from California. Uh, you know, if you want to shop American, look for the California version. You can also grow, in any climate, you can grow a bay tree in a large pot. You know, keep it small, bring it inside in the winter. No problem. So, uh, actions, medicinal uses, and dosage.

[00:29:31] Um, the ancients valued bay leaves and laurel berries using them as astringents, stimulants, and stomatics. In Europe, uh, much used more in cooking than in America, obviously. Active amenagogue properties were ascribed to the laurel, and a coction of the root bark was a remedy in drop seeds and disorders of the urinary tract.

[00:29:51] Um, locally or, uh, topically, it was used for insect sings, bites, scalp eruptions, uh, leucorrhea, that's, uh, vaginal discharge. And, as a stimulant topical agent for rheumatic and other painful parts, and up to modern use. Plants for Future says the bay tree has a long history of folk use in the treatment of many ailments, particularly as an aid to digestion and the treatment of bronchitis and influenza. It has also been used to treat various types of cancer.

[00:30:20] The fruit and leaves are not usually administered internally, other than as a stimulant in veterinary practice, but were formally employed in the treatment of hysteria, amenorrhea, flagellant colic, etc. Another report says that the leaves are mainly used to treat upper respiratory tract disorders and to ease arthritic aches and pains. It is settling to the stomach and has a tonic stimulating, uh, uh, tonic effect stimulating the appetite, and in the secretion of digestive juices.

[00:30:49] The leaves are antiseptic, aromatic, digested, and narcotic. Now, that's interesting. Um, the baileys we cook with, uh, are not narcotic in any reasonable dose. Potentially an oil produced, distilled from them could be because they are in that same family as the Myraca gale, which, as I said, would cause excitement and hallucinations. So, um, also stimulant. And infusion has been to improve the appetite and as an amenagogue.

[00:31:18] The fruit has also been used in making carminative medicines and was used, uh, well, yeah, carminative means to sell the stomach, uh, uh, fixed oil from the fruit used externally to treat sprains, bruises, and sometimes used as eardrops to release pain. The essential oil from the leaves has narcotic, antibacterial, and fungicidal properties. Very interesting. Uh, actually, because the Magnolia is in the same family as the Laurel.

[00:31:46] And actually, speaking of Virginia, back when I lived in Virginia, there is a species of, uh, Magnolia native to Virginia. I believe it may be Magnolia virginiana, but I'd have to double check that. That does have very much of those narcotic principles. In fact, just taking the leaves and crushing them and sniffing them, um, is a way people used to kind of get high. You know, I don't know, uh, much about it. Never tried it, but anyway.

[00:32:14] Um, culinarily, uh, there's a really good article in really one of my favorite online magazines called The Spruce. Uh, it's spruceeats.com. It had an article a few years ago called What is a Bayleaf, and it differentiates between the Turkish and California Bayleaf. Uh, how they taste differently, uh, which one's stronger, different recipes, ways you might want to use them. So if you want to check that out, like I said, I usually use it in stocks, um, throw some into most any soup.

[00:32:44] Um, yeah, gumbo even. Um, yeah, it's good. Uh, it is sort of a flavor you need to get used to. It's very aromatic. Uh, if you like it, you like it. If you don't, you don't. But, um, the, um, the California is a little more mild and easier to use. Uh, so anyway, um, the only reason I can figure that Bay kind of fell out of use among both cooks and herbalists is, um,

[00:33:13] um, I guess in the rise of modern medicine in Europe and sort of the antagonism toward folk medicine, um, people probably stopped using Bay medicinally. And, uh, it has continued, especially in French and Spanish cooking. Um, so most people now just think of it as a culinary herb.

[00:33:32] But, uh, you know, immigrants to North America found the Miricas, the various Bay and Laurel plants right away and started using them in cooking and herbal medicine and exporting them to Europe. It was one of, it was a major source of, uh, export revenue, uh, back in the 1700s. And a lot of the early American restaurant, uh, recipes, uh, from the old cookbooks I have, you know, I got a lot of cookbooks from like the 1700s, 1800s. They used a lot of Bay.

[00:34:01] Um, I'm not really sure how it fell out of favor in modern American cooking, but our ancestors, you know, even just a couple of generations were really, uh, using it. So, you know, maybe try it out, see what you think. Uh, it's really good. Uh, now remember there are a lot of different plants, uh, that are called Bay or Bay Laurel or, um, any number of the names for it. So be careful, make sure you get in the right one.

[00:34:30] Even Labrador tea, which is in the rhododendron family, was often called Bay in the, in the old book. So it could be, uh, confusing. And, you know, it may just be that when we had new immigrants coming in from various European countries, um, they, what they thought was Bay was not what was being called Bay sold in the store. And they stopped using it because of the confusion. That's probably actually very likely because they're probably a good dozen plants that were marketed as Bay.

[00:35:00] The same as with Sarsaparilla and different things. And that's one of the main reasons we don't really use Sarsaparilla anymore. It's not because it's not good, very tasty in a soda or potent medicinally. It's actually an adaptogenic herb. It's because there was so much confusion over which plant was being used. There were at least 36 plants that were called Sarsaparilla. I mean, seriously, from two different families, a minimum. And so people stopped using it because they didn't know what they were buying.

[00:35:28] So anyway, now at least we have truth in labeling laws. And we know if we get Bay Laurel from the grocery store, it's going to be this plant. And it's probably going to come from California, Mexico, or Europe. And if you go out and forage for it and look for it, if you live in the coastal areas where it grows, you know you're getting the right thing. I learned to identify the plant and you got it. No problem.

[00:35:53] And I mean, this was once one of the most highly valued medicinal and culinary herbs in the world. It was a symbol of nobility. It was something royals and great, you know, conquerors and athletes wore on their head as a sign of their nobility. Hey, it's worth tossing a couple leaves in a soup, right? I mean, if our ancestors thought that much of it, it probably has some pretty good properties. And it is one I use. It's one I like very much. So y'all have a great week.

[00:36:23] I'll talk to you next time. Remember, please subscribe to my YouTube channel. Help me out there if you can. Won't cost you a thing. And I don't even mind if you just subscribe and don't watch the videos. Just, you know, take 10 seconds to click subscribe or like a video or something. It'll help me out. So if you don't mind doing that, I appreciate it. Anyway, y'all, remember it's ramp season. It's morel season. It's time to get in the woods and start doing some trout fishing where I live. Enjoy this wonderful weather and this beautiful spring. And I'll talk with you next time.

[00:36:53] The information in this podcast is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease or condition. Nothing I say or write has been evaluated or approved by the FDA. I'm not a doctor. The U.S. government does not recognize the practice of herbal medicine and there is no governing body regulating herbalists. Therefore, I'm really just a guy who studies herbs. I'm not offering any advice. I won't even claim that anything I write or say is accurate or true.

[00:37:22] I can tell you what herbs have been traditionally used for. I can tell you my own experience and if I believe in herbs help me. I cannot nor would I tell you to do the same. If you use an herb anyone recommends, you are treating yourself. You take full responsibility for your health. Humans are individuals and no two are identical. What works for me may not work for you. You may have an allergy, a sensitivity, an underlying condition that no one else even shares and you don't even know about. Be careful with your health.

[00:37:51] By continuing to listen to my podcast or read my blog, you agree to be responsible for yourself, do your own research, make your own choices, and not to blame me for anything ever.