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August 2, 2010
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Olive Leaf Extract
July 20, 2010
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History
Olive leaf extract is derived from the leaves of the olive tree. Recorded evidence of olive leaf’s medicinal use dates back thousands of years: it was used by ancient Egyptian and Mediterranean cultures to treat a variety of health conditions.
Active compounds
The primary medical constituents contained in unprocessed olive leaf is believed to be the antioxidant oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol, as well as several other polyphenols and flavonoids including Oleocanthal.
Nutritional and medicinal uses
Olive leaf and extracts are utilized in the complementary and alternative medicine community for its perceived ability to act as a natural pathogens killer by inhibiting the replication process of many pathogens.
Olive leaf is commonly used to fight colds and flu, yeast infections, and viral infections such as the hard-to-treat Epstein-Barr disease, shingles and herpes. Olive leaf is also good for the heart. Olive leaf has been shown to reduce low-density lipoproteins (LDL), or bad cholesterol. Researchers have found that olive leaf lowers blood pressure and increases blood flow by relaxing the arteries.
Olive leaf harbours antioxidant properties that help protect the body from the continuous activity of free radicals. Free radicals are highly reactive chemical substances that, when oxidized, can cause cellular damage if left unchecked. Some recent research on the olive leaf has shown its antioxidants to be effective in treating some tumors and cancers such as liver, prostate, and breast cancer but the research on this is preliminary.
Olive leaf can be taken as a liquid concentrate, dried leaf tea, powder, or capsule. The leaf extracts can be taken in powder, liquid concentrate, or capsule form though the fresh-picked leaf liquid extracts are quickly gaining popularity due to the broader range of healing compounds they contain.
Olive Leaf Extract and Obesity
July 20, 2010
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A new study revealed that a cup of coffee with extraction of olive leaf can able to combat obesity. The study was conducted in rats by giving high carbohydrate and fat diet for eight weeks and seen the rats developed symptoms of metabolic syndrome. Then in the second phase, the rats were given olive leaf extract for the next eight weeks and they showed improved cardiovascular, liver and metabolic signs compared with rats given with normal coffee.
Sydney Morning Herald reported as Lindsay Brown of University of Southern Queensland saying that the anti-inflammatory properties of olive leaf extract led to weigh loss. The role of inflammation in causing fat storage is the subject of studies around the world.
So far, the study results made on rats showed and exceeded expectations.
The study was published in the American Journal of Nutrition.
Olive Leaf Extract and Obesity
July 6, 2010
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A new Australian research suggests that sipping a cup of coffee fortified with olive leaf extract (OLE) has the potential to combat obesity.
The study, first of its kind to show that use of olive leaf extract reduced fat storage in rats, was conducted by scientists at the University of Southern Queensland.
The researchers observed the contraction of fats in the rats on exposure to olive leaves.
The experimental evidences
The study conducted on rodents showed a reduction in the stored weight and fats in the adipose tissue.
The research, led by Lindsay Brown, professor of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Southern Queensland, involved feeding experimental rats with high carbohydrate and fat diet for eight weeks until they developed signs of metabolic disorder, including abdominal fat, fatty liver, hypertension, and impaired glucose tolerance.
The rats given coffee fortified with OLE for further eight weeks showed improved cardiovascular, liver, and metabolic signs as compared with rats fed with normal coffee.
According to Dr. Brown, the leaf extract led to the reduced weight because of its anti-inflammatory properties. The role of inflammation in causing fat storage is a subject of study amongst the researchers.
Green tea, turmeric and aspirin derivatives are thought to have a similar weight-loss effect.
OLE can be consumed in the form of tea. Five to seven ounces of water, boiled with crushed olive leaf, should be drunk five to six times a day to cure chronic diseases.
The study was partly funded by Dr Red Neutraceuticals, a Queensland company that sells OLE-fortified tea and coffee.
The firm’s biochemist, Greg Jardine, said he had observed that olive leaf extract products encouraged weight loss. Yet the results of the study on rats have exceeded expectations.
The findings of the research were published in the American Journal of Nutrition.
Major health benefits of oleuropein
Natural olive leaf extracts are the most recently identified antidotes to have gained the attention of researchers around the world.
Oleuropein, a chemical compound which forms 15 percent of the olive leaf extract, has medicinal properties and is a powerful anti-oxidant that acts both in vivo and in vitro.
This phytochemical imparts a bitter pungent taste to olive leaf, whose preparations have been claimed to strengthen the immune system.
Oleuropein has been intensively used for research because of its anti-microbial characteristics, with its anti-oxidant ability being double than that of green tea.
Olive Leaf Extract May Boost Bone Health
June 29, 2010
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An antioxidant found in olive leaves may help protect against osteoporosis, a new study shows. Known as oleuropein, the antioxidant is also available in olive oil and in supplement form.
As you age, the bone-building process tends to become hampered by the buildup of fat cells in bone marrow. In tests on cells taken from human bone marrow, the recent study’s research team found that oleuropein altered the expression of genes involved in converting cells into fat cells. By curbing the formation of fat cells, the study’s authors suggest, oleuropein may help thwart the development of fatty bone marrow and reduce risk of osteoporosis.
Although it’s too soon to recommend oleuropein in the prevention of osteoporosis, you can boost your bone health by maintaining optimal levels of calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin K. Weight-bearing exercises are also known to promote bone formation, and preliminary research suggests that flaxseed and green tea both show promise in stopping bone loss as you get older.
Olive Leaf Extract Offsets Stress of High Calorie Intake
It is ironic that food, which is so vital to survival, when consumed in excess is literally poison to your metabolism. Excess consumption of fat and carbohydrates rapidly leads to cardiovascular malfunction, liver malfunction, and numerous metabolic changes associated with easy weight gain and disease risk.
It is ironic that food, which is so vital to survival, when consumed in excess is literally poison to your metabolism. Excess consumption of fat and carbohydrates rapidly leads to cardiovascular malfunction, liver malfunction, and numerous metabolic changes associated with easy weight gain and disease risk.
A new animal study shows that the powerful antioxidant in olive leaf extract known as oleuropein is protective against the onset of many of these health issues.
In the study rats were fed a high carbohydrate and high fat diet for 16 weeks, compared to a control diet. Starting at 8 weeks half of the rats in each group were also given high polyphenol olive leaf extract (high in oleuropein).
At 16 weeks the high carbohydrate, high fat rats had developed serious signs of metabolic disease from the excess calories. There problems included an increase in abdominal fat, and increase in liver fat, cardiac stiffness, increased markers of free radical damage, altered lipids, insulin resistance, and high blood pressure. These are the typical signs of what has become known in humans as the metabolic syndrome.
The rats that were consuming olive leaf extract along with the extra calories did not suffer the same fate. Almost all of the metabolic changes were either significantly reduced or completely prevented, with the exception of blood pressure. This is a dramatic improvement in the metabolic profile despite the high stress of excessive calorie intake. It makes sense that blood pressure would not have been improved under these conditions because the diet had so much fat sludge in the circulation that blood pressure remained higher in an effort to help push the fat sludge out of the circulation. This is a compensating measure for dietary abuse. Other studies have shown that when calories are lowered then olive leaf also helps blood pressure function.
Nature has provided many options to assist you with your metabolism.
Nature has provided many options to assist you with your metabolism.
A diet rich in antioxidants is vital to healthy metabolism, especially if you are overweight as the condition of being overweight produces more free radicals than if you were normal weight. Olive leaf extract is also a great immune support nutrient so choosing this nutrient to help your metabolism may have a special value if you also struggle with a sluggish immune response.
