How does olive leaf extract work

A review of olive leaf extract and type 2 diabetes found that olive leaf oil extract can help improve insulin secretion in cells. Animal studies have shown that olive leaf extract may:. However, more studies testing olive leaf extract on humans are needed. One human study found that people who took olive leaf extract tablets lowered their average blood sugar level and fasting plasma insulin levels.

Along with heart-healthy benefits and type 2 diabetes protection, it makes sense that olive leaf extract could also help with weight loss. An animal study from researched the effect of olive leaf extract in preventing high-fat, diet-induced obesity. It can also aid in reducing food intake. In one cell study , olive leaf extracts were shown to stop cancerous cell growth.

Researchers suggest that the extract has strong antioxidant properties, but this is also one of the first studies on olive leaf extracts and their anticancer effects. More research is needed to prove this benefit. If you take any blood pressure medication or blood thinners or have diabetes, check with your doctor before taking olive leaf extract. Talk to your doctor before trying olive leaf extract. Remember that some changes may be subtle and gradual over time.

You may also not experience any changes at all with olive leaf extract. Though mango leaves aren't as popular as the juicy, sweet fruit, they may still provide health benefits when consumed as a tea or supplement. Here are…. Secondary outcomes were to determine the effect of OLE on different characteristics of wellbeing when training load was controlled for and the potential effect of nutritional status on URI incidence and duration.

To be included, participants had to be aged 16 to 19 years, attend school, play an elite sport for that school, be healthy and have not consumed polyphenol supplements quercetin, propolis, turmeric, curcumin, etc. Participants were excluded if they had asthma or were smokers. All participants were advised to continue their usual training and diet regime including other medicines and supplements.

In the parallel-group randomised trial, a sample size estimation of 28 subjects was estimated based on an expected rate of 2. All subjects gave their informed consent for inclusion before they participated in the study.

Participants were required to complete a questionnaire twice a week before their respective trainings. The questionnaire was broken down into 1 wellbeing, 2 training load and 3 respiratory illness validated sporting upper respiratory illness SUPPRESS questionnaire. Participants also completed three random h food recalls to assess dietary and polyphenol intake. Wellbeing was investigated in five categories: Soreness, stress, sleep quality, fatigue and satiety. Participants were asked to rate a question relating to each category on a scale of 1—7.

The questions included:. Each questionnaire required participants to report game time, cardio training and resistance training undertaken since the last questionnaire. No information about training intensity or heart rate was collected. Participants were asked if they had a cold and then to rate four respiratory symptoms nasal, sore throat, cough and sneezing that they may have experienced over the last 48 h on a 0—3 scale of increasing severity and impact. Participants completed three randomly allocated h food recalls.

Each recall was examined by one nutritional researcher V. At the completion of the study all participants were sent an automated self-administered h ASA24 questionnaire. Data were analysed via GraphPad Prism version 7. The total number of people who experienced a URI was also calculated. If a participant failed to fill in a questionnaire on a certain date and the previous questionnaire had classified them as having a URI episode, the missed questionnaire was also counted as the same URI episode.

Conversely if the previous questionnaire had not codified a URI episode, the missed questionnaire was similarly coded. Missing data was similarly recorded as the above illness.

Training load was added as a cofounding variable and was taken as a sum of game time, cardio training and resistance training. Data were entered into the spreadsheet and presented as the percentage difference in the means and an associated odds ratio clinical inference statement. The outcomes have been interpreted using the odds ratio clinical inference statement. This approach takes into account the risks of benefit and harm, rather than the line of no effect, to declare a clear or unclear outcome.

Foods high in polyphenol content were identified by each reviewer and inserted into the polyphenol database. Given the subjective nature of polyphenol food selection, one h recall was examined for each participant by two researchers independently V.

Discussion was conducted when researchers disagreed. Thirty-two students were recruited from three different sport codes hockey, football and netball. Twenty-two of these participants were female. The characteristics of each group are shown in Table 1. Sixty percent of each group correctly identified whether they were on OLE or a placebo, therefore the blinding appeared effective. Of note is the difference in the mean training load between the groups.

One person allocated to the OLE group was also a competitive swimmer, training substantially more, which may have accounted for the discrepancy. There were 17 participants in the study who experienced a total of 26 URI episodes.

The average duration of each URI episode was 9. Four participants in the OLE group experienced more than one URI episode during the intervention, compared with two in the control group. There was no significant effect of OLE incidence in either males or females when separated; however, there was a significant reduction in sick days for females OR: 0.

OLE had a possibly harmful and a likely harmful effect on soreness and stress, respectively, when training load was controlled. The remaining categories were unclear and needed more data. Dietary intake is summarised in Table 3 , with no significant differences between the groups. One participant was removed from the control group based on the Tukey fence method due to over-reporting. One recall from a participant in the OLE group was removed as they had a gastro-intestinal illness the day before.

Five participants reported adverse effects, of which four were on OLE. In one study , researchers demonstrated that olive leaf extract may prevent liver damage caused by heavy metal accumulation, and in another study , scientists showed that olive leaf extract may help with both the unhealthy metabolism fluctuations and liver damage that can be caused by unreasonably fatty diets. Get exclusive deals and amazing education content.

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Personalisation Allow. Ad Selection Allow. Content Selection Allow. Measurement Allow. Shop Filter your shop. By product. Shop All. Customer Reviews Nutritionist Reviews. We are reinventing nutrition for the modern world. Cart 0. WeAreFeel Team. Table of contents. What is olive leaf extract? Is olive leaf extract water-soluble or fat-soluble? It was also shown to have anticancer effects, but human studies are needed. Derived from the olive plant, both olive leaves and the extract have been used to treat infections, inflammation, diabetes, and hypertension.

A major component of olive leaf, oleuropein, has been shown to have antioxidant 1 and anti-inflammatory activity Because of its hypoglycemic effects, the leaf extract can induce insulin release and improve peripheral uptake of glucose 2.

It also has antimicrobial 3 22 , anti-HIV 4 , and anticancer 13 14 15 18 19 properties. Animal studies showed antiarrhythmic, spasmolytic, diuretic 5 , antihypertensive 6 , analgesic 20 21 , and cholesterol-lowering 7 effects. Small studies suggest olive leaf extract may reduce blood pressure and have lipid-lowering effects 16 17 The anticancer effects of olive leaf extract in humans are not known. The cholesterol-lowering effects of olive leaf extracts OLE are thought to be due to oleuropein, a compound present in the leaves.

Studies on hypercholesterolemic rats suggest that OLE is more effective than pure oleuropein at lowering cholesterol. This implies that a synergistic effect occurs between oleuropein and another substance within the leaf 7. Oleuropein is converted into elenoic acid in the body which may prevent viruses and bacteria from replicating 8.

The antihypertensive and vasodilating effects of olive leaf occurred independently of the integrity of the vascular endothelium 9. Constituents of olive leaf have been shown to strongly inhibit the complement system, although it is unknown what effect this has on the body Hypoglycemic activities of olive leaf are attributed to two mechanisms: potentiation of glucose-induced insulin release and increased peripheral uptake of glucose.

Hypoglycemic activity is greater in samples collected in the winter months 2. OLE may prevent diabetic neuropathy by reducing glucose-induced apoptosis through the inhibition of neural caspase 3 activation In vitro studies show that OLE has antimicrobial activities against E.

Anti-HIV properties of OLE include upregulation of the expression of apoptosis inhibitor proteins as well as protein kinase signaling molecules 4. OLE promotes cell differentiation 18 and induces DNA fragmentation leading to apoptosis in leukemia cell line Antihypertensive drugs : In rat models, olive leaf demonstrated antihypertensive activity 6.

Clinical relevance has yet to be determined. Insulin and antidiabetic drugs: In vitro and animal models suggest hypoglycemic effects 2 6. Olive Leaf. Developing Your Personal Care Plan. Integrative Medicine at Home Membership Program. About Mind-Body Therapies.