Olive oil is synonymous with the Mediterranean diet, and the benefits of both are well documented. It reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and premature death. Olives also contain many beneficial nutrients.
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There is now a growing body of evidence for the health benefits of olive leaves, including from a recent review. Here’s what olive leaves contain and who can benefit from taking olive leaf extract.
What is in olive leaves?
Olive leaves are traditionally brewed as a tea in the Mediterranean and drunk to treat fever and malaria.
The leaves contain high levels of an antioxidant called oleuropein. Olives and olive oil also contain this, but in smaller amounts.
As a rule, the greener the leaf (less yellowish), the more oleuropein it contains. Leaves collected in the spring also have higher levels compared to those collected in the fall, indicating a decrease in oleuropein levels as the leaves age.
Olive leaves also contain other antioxidants such as hydroxytyrosol, luteolin, apigenin, and verbascoside.
Antioxidants work by reducing oxidative stress in the body. Oxidative stress causes damage to our DNA, cell membranes and tissues, which can lead to chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease.
Are olive leaves healthy?
One review and analysis combined data from 12 experimental studies involving 819 participants. Overall, olive leaf extract improves heart disease risk factors. This included healthier lipids (fats) in the blood and lower blood pressure.
The effect was greater for people who already had high blood pressure.
Most of the studies in this review gave olive leaf extract in capsule form at daily doses of 500 milligrams to 5 grams for six to 48 weeks.
Another review and analysis published late last year looked at data from 12 experimental studies involving 703 people. Some of these studies included people with high blood lipids, people with high blood pressure, people who were overweight or obese, and some included healthy people.
Daily doses were 250-1000 mg taken as tablets or baked into bread.
Separate studies in the review showed significant benefits in improving blood glucose (sugar) control, blood lipid levels and lowering blood pressure. But when all the data were combined, there were no significant health effects. We will shortly explain why this may be so.
Another review looked at people who took oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol (antioxidants in olive leaves). It found significant improvements in body weight, blood lipid profile, glucose metabolism and improvements in bone, joint and cognitive function.
Individual studies have included testing either two antioxidants or olive leaf included in foods such as bread and cooking oil (but not olive oil). Doses were 6-500 mg of olive leaf extract per day.
So what can we make of these studies in general? They show that olive leaf extract can help lower blood pressure, improve blood lipids and help our body handle glucose.
But these studies show conflicting results. This is likely due to differences in how people took olive leaf extract, how much they took, and for how long. This type of discrepancy usually tells us that we need more research to clarify the health effects of olive leaves.
Can you eat olive leaves?
Olive leaves can be brewed into tea or added to salads. Others report crushing olive leaves into a cocktail.
However, the leaves are bitter because of the antioxidants, which can make them difficult to eat or make the tea unpleasant.
Olive leaf extract is also added to bread and other baked goods. Researchers are finding that this increases the antioxidant levels in these foods, and people say the food tastes better.
Is olive leaf extract toxic?
No, there do not appear to be any reported toxic effects from consuming or consuming olive leaf extract.
Based on studies using olive leaf extract, it seems safe up to 1g per day. However, there are no official guidelines on how much is safe to use.
There have been reports of potential toxicity at doses greater than 85 mg/kg body weight per day. For an 80kg adult, this would mean 6.8g per day, well above the dose used in the studies mentioned in this article.
Pregnant and breastfeeding women are not advised to use it as we do not know if it is safe for them.
What should I do?
If you have high blood pressure, diabetes, or elevated blood lipids, you may see some benefit from taking olive leaf extract. But it’s important to discuss this with your doctor first and not to change any medications or start taking olive leaf extract until you’ve spoken to him.
But there are plenty of antioxidants in all plant foods, and you should try to eat a wide variety of colorful plant foods. This will allow you to get a number of nutrients and antioxidants.
Olive leaf and its extract will not be a panacea for your health if you do not follow a healthy diet and follow other recommendations.
