Olive Leaf Extract

About Olive Leaf Extract

Olive Leaf Extract is a unique plant containing many valuable nutrients. It actually has many uses beyond its typical use for immune support during cold and flu season. The benefits of this powerful plant leaf extend to cardiovascular support, blood lipid modulation, antioxidant support and anti-inflammatory. In fact, there is probably more scientific evidence to support the use of Olive Leaf for cardiovascular support, than there is to support immunity. This truly is a remarkably versatile and therapeutically potent plant.

Olive Leaf Extract, or Olea europea, is exceptionally high on the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) scale, which is a measure of its antioxidant strength. This means that Olive Leaf Extract helps the body quench free-radicals, protecting our cells from damage and helping to maintain general health. In addition, Olive Leaf has been used to effectively lower blood pressure in hypertensive individuals in a study published in Phytomedicine in 2011. In this clinical trial, triglycerides were also reduced considerably. It has also been suggested that this plant-based medicine can assist in reducing the level of LDL oxidation in the blood. This was reported in the Pakistan Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, in 2002. Oxidised cholesterol is considered to be the main contributor to atherosclerosis, or plaque build up in the blood vessels. 

In 2013 a paper published in PLOS ONE indicated that Olive Leaf Extract improved insulin sensitivity and even enhanced pancreatic Beta-cell insulin-secretory capacity. This means that our ability to manage blood sugar (glucose) is enhanced, not only by improving the way the cell responds to insulin, but also by increasing the amount of circulating insulin to begin with. This is a rare combination of effects, and should place it toward the top of the natural list of agents to assist in managing insulin resistance, type II diabetes and some forms of obesity.

Given such a wide range of benefits from Olive Leaf Extract, it can be summarised that the plant leaf extract can be used to reduce one's risk of type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It is also a helpful treatment for insulin resistance, elevated blood triglycerides and/or high blood pressure, reduced antioxidant status and to lower inflammatory markers. Many people also use this supplement for the treatment of colds and flues, and to support general immune function.