Olive Oil Extract: Nature's Antiobiotic
by Martin Zucker
The olive tree has given much to mankind--hard wood, food and oil. Now it appears ready to yield another gift--the gift of healing.
Research shows the leaf of the olive tree contains a phytochemical that has substantial medicinal firepower. Its clinical use is still limited, but supplements of live leaf extract have been found to boost energy; aid in the treatment of viral, bacterial, yeast and fungal infections, chronic fatigue and allergies; and lower blood pressure and blood sugar.
"This is a very promising and unique herbal with multiple applications," says James P. Privitera, MD a holistic physician in Covina, CA. "It shows considerable therapeutic action against many common conditions."
Historically, a bitter substance in the leaves was believed to be the healing ingredient. Later, scientists found that substance and named it oleuropein. The substance was part of a compound produced by the olive tree that renders it particularly resistant to insects and bacteria. Technically, oleuropein is an iridoid, a structural class of phytochemicals. It is present throughout the olive tree, and in olive oil, and is in fact, the bitter material eliminated from olives when they are cured.
Here are some of the most recent findings about olive leaves:
- Italian researchers found that oleuropein inhibits oxidation of low-density lipoproteins (bad cholesterol) associated with heart and arterial disease. Oleuropein may contain antioxidant properties similar to other phytochemical compounds.
- In Spain, pharmocologists determined that olive leaf extract causes relaxation of arterial walls in laboratory animals. Such results suggest a possible benefit for hypertension, an effect first mentioned by researchers more than 25 years ago.
- Among American physicians, Privitera has pioneered the clinical use of olive leaf. Since 1995, the Southern California doctor, an expert in nutritional medicine, has found that it improves a wide variety of infectious and chronic conditions.
- "It works like a broad-spectrum antibiotic against colds, flus, upper respiratory and sinus infections, plus it has a strong effect on bacterial and yeast infections," he says. "I am constantly surprised by the benefits. I think we are just scratching the surface of its full range of actions."
Although studies are promising and anecdotal reports of clinical success with olive leaf extract are encouraging, more research needs to be done before this miracle plant is more widely used in conventional treatment. Meanwhile, olive leaf extract is available at health food stores in a variety of potencies. Consumers are encouraged to follow the dosage recommendations on the label.
Information from Let's Live and the American Council on Collaborative Medicine.