Why You Should Be Supplementing with Olive Leaf Extract

The olive plant has been known for centuries to possess health-promoting properties.

However, attention to the olive plant has almost exclusively been paid to the fruit and the oil extracted from pressing whole olives.

What is most often left out of this equation are the health-promoting properties found in the leaves of the olive plant (Olea europaea L. folium).

Health enthusiasts should note that when these properties are extracted and concentrated from olive leaves, one has considerably expanded the therapeutic potential of the olive plant beyond its fruits — which, ironically enough, bears greater “fruit!”

What is Olive Leaf Extract?

Olives are a fruit that comes from the olive plant, which is commonly pressed into oils used for cooking, cleaning, and skin care, among other uses.

Commonly found in dinner dishes and alcoholic beverages, olives have become a staple in nightlife, the culinary world, and in lifestyle products as a quintessential plant-based source of smooth skin, dry bitters, and the “healthier” alternative to cooking with butter.

The health benefits of the olive plant and its pressed oils are well known.

Olives and olive oil exhibit anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties linked to preventing heart disease, reducing stroke risk, and improving brain health.

This is partly due to its lipid profile, as olives are a fantastic source of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats — these are the two forms of dietary fat the American Heart Organization (AHO) recommends we get the majority of our lipid intake from.

Following these recommendations — as opposed, in contrast, to the standard American diet, which is comparatively low in unsaturated fats and high in saturated/trans fats — has been a well-documented method of improving heart health, according to the British Journal of Nutrition.

Olive leaves aren’t typically included in this equation.

For the most part, when the olive plant is studied, each component of the plant is looked at independently, and seldom do researchers consider the plant as a whole. This is for a good reason, as the biochemical properties of the plant vary depending on which part of it researchers are examining.

Early Medical Use of Olive Leaves

Nevertheless, olive leaves have been known to possess unique medicinal properties for centuries.

In ancient Greek medicine, for instance, Hippocrates wrote about using olive leaves to treat fevers and infections in his medical Corpus.

Hippocrates recommended drinking a tea made from boiling olive leaves in water to help reduce fever and fight infection.

Similarly, in Arabic medicine, the use of olive leaves can be traced back to the writings of the famous Arab physician and philosopher Avicenna (Ibn Sina), who lived from 980 to 1037 AD.

Avicenna wrote in the Canon of Medicine about the medicinal properties of olive leaves. He described using olive leaves to treat various ailments, including digestive issues, high blood pressure, and skin conditions.

In Canon of Medicine, Avicenna recommended boiling fresh or dried olive leaves in water to make a tea that could help digestion, reduce fever, and treat infections.

Likewise, he also recommended using olive leaf oil as a topical treatment for skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. The oil could be applied directly to the affected area to help soothe and heal the skin.

Finally, Avicenna suggested making a poultice by crushing fresh olive leaves and applying them directly to the skin to help reduce inflammation and promote healing.

How Does Olive Leaf Extract Work?

Modern science has corroborated the medicinal utility of olive leaves.

However, the findings of contemporary researchers differ significantly from that of Hippocrates and Avicenna — each of whom being ignorant of microscopic compounds like antioxidants and mitochondria in cells, as such notions were unheard of up until the mid-late 17th century when Robert Hooke observed cells in cork tissue through a primitive microscope in 1665.

Scientists now know what their forebears could not understand because of such discoveries as the primary compound responsible for olive leaf extract’s medicinal utility.

Specifically, as noted in the International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research, a central reason why olive leaf extract is beneficial to health is that it contains the antioxidant oleuropein. The Journal of Medicinal Food further corroborates that Oleuropein protects cells against oxidative damage when it enters the cell’s mitochondria.

According to the journal Metabolism, oxidative damage of cells is bad because it can lead to a range of adverse effects on cellular function and overall health.

Oxidative damage occurs when reactive molecules called free radicals accumulate in the body and react with other molecules, such as lipids, proteins, and DNA, causing damage to these molecules.

When free radicals react with lipids, they can cause lipid peroxidation, which damages cell membranes and alters their function. This can lead to a loss of cellular integrity and function, inflammation, and tissue damage.

When free radicals react with proteins, they can cause protein oxidation, leading to protein structure and function changes.

This can affect various cellular processes, including enzyme function, gene expression, and immune system function.

When free radicals react with DNA, they can cause DNA damage, leading to mutations and other changes that can increase the risk of cancer and other diseases.

According to the European Journal of Medicine, by reducing oxidative stress and damage, olive leaf extract effectively aids in preventing such “age-related and oxidative-stress-related processes.”

Olive leaf extract is typically made by steeping dried or fresh olive leaves in a solvent, usually a mixture of water and alcohol such as ethanol or methanol.

The mixture is then heated and stirred to help release the active compounds from the leaves.

After a certain amount of time, the mixture is filtered to remove any solids or impurities, and the resulting liquid is concentrated by evaporating the solvent.

One study from the Journal of Food Quality helpfully notes that different solvents impact the properties of olive leaf extract.

In particular, the highest yield — where most beneficial properties are retained — comes from using 90% methanol or ethanol.

How to Take Olive Leaf Extract

When taken at clinically effective dosages — which according to research from Free Radical Biology & Medicine, is roughly 80mg daily — olive leaf extract is safe to consume and accompanied by little known side-effects.

Side effects might be experienced if those supplementing with olive leaf extract are allergic to the olive plant or are using blood thinners.

Though the potential for harm is remarkably slim, it is crucial to consult your doctor before taking any new dietary supplements, as everyone’s health situation is highly unique, making outcomes somewhat unpredictable.

Nevertheless, given its long-standing praise by the medical profession and its grounding in solid contemporary research, the olive leaf extract is worth supplementing with.

Olive leaf extract can effectively reduce oxidative stress and damage, thus helping to prevent numerous diseases and ailments.

Most olive leaf extract supplements on the market made from suitable solvents cost roughly $20 for a year-long supply, making it an uncostly and easily stackable aid to an already nutritious diet and otherwise healthy lifestyle.