A daily dosage of olive leaf extract could help you have healthier cholesterol levels, help inhibit chronic inflammation, inhibit or reduce the detrimental effects of free radical damage, reduce your risk of heart disease or cancer and reduce the number of colds you have each year. Compounds within the leaves stimulate the immune system, act as antioxidants, act as natural anti-inflammatories and are beneficial to people with high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and inflammatory diseases like arthritis.
You might think this is pretty activity for a plant, but similar effects have been seen with grape seed extract, ginger, green tea, turmeric extract and black pepper. The field of research involving these plants is known as "phytotherapy". Phyto is from the Greek word for plant.
Phytotherapy is not new. It is the basis of herbal medicine, a staple in Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese Medicine. In fact, traditional practitioners from around the world have relied on the plants that grew in their homelands to ward of and treat disease.
A high dosage of olive leaf extract, 1000mg, has been shown to reduce blood pressure in people with mild hypertension. So, a person with chronically low blood pressure should not take a dose that high. Likewise, since it has been shown to lower blood glucose levels, a person with hypoglycemia or uncontrolled diabetes should begin with a very low dose and monitor their blood sugar levels carefully.
There are lots of supplements on the market, but the quality of these supplements varies greatly. In most cases, the dosage of olive leaf extract included in the product is too high to be considered safe for use on a daily basis. In a well designed supplement that includes other extracts that work well with it, a 50mg dose is sufficient.
If you are taking any kind of prescription drug, you should check with your doctor or pharmacist concerning possible interactions. Plant compounds may enhance or reduce the effectiveness of a prescription drug. Nothing in the body works in isolation. For example, ginger and black pepper enhances the activity of prescription antibiotics. Grapefruit reduces the effectiveness of blood pressure medications.
If you are healthy, your best choice for a daily supplement is one that contains a variety of different extracts and basic nutrients. Vitamins, minerals and amino acids are just as important to your long term health as a small daily dosage of olive leaf extract. In some ways, basic vitamins are even more important.
Doctors have noted that deficiencies in some of the basic vitamins are on the rise in children and the elderly. These are doctors that work in industrialized nations, not third-world countries. Despite the numbers of overweight and obese people in these countries, people are not well-nourished.
Years ago a Canadian study showed that our vegetables are not as nutritious as they were 50 years ago. A recent study in the US confirmed that. If you are not currently taking a multi-nutritional supplement, it's time to start. The best ones include a 50mg dosage of olive leaf extract.
