Olive Leaf Extract
Antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antiparasitic, antioxidant,
are just some of the labels that identify this herb and its many
healing powers. Olive trees have been cultivated for over 3,000
years. The Egyptians regarded olive leaf as a symbol of heavenly
power. The winners of the original Greek Olympics were crowned
with a wreath of olive leaves as their reward. The first formal
medical mention of the olive leaf was an account describing its
ability to cure severe cases of fever and malaria some 150 years
ago.
In 1854, Hanbury published an article in the
Pharmaceutical Journal of
Provincial Transactions relating that a “decoction of
the leaves” of the olive tree had been found to be extremely
effective in reducing fevers due to a severe, and otherwise often
fatal, disease malaria that had swept the island of Mytelene in 18431.
The olive leaf extract was reported subsequently to be more
effective in its fever-lowering properties than quinine.
Late in the 19th century, scientists working with olive
leaf’s medicinal properties isolated a phenolic compound they
assigned the name “oleuropein”. Most researchers at this time
considered oleuropein most responsible for olive leaf’s therapeutic
abilities. In the 1960’s Italian researchers reported that
oleuropein lowered blood pressure in animals.
Upjohn in the late 1960’s was able to isolate ilinolic acid (an
isolate of oleuropein) and found that it was so powerful that it
stopped every virus that it was tested against including the common
cold in humans. Here are some of the viruses that Upjohn found
olive leaf extract is effective against: herpes, vaccinia,
pseudorabies, Newcastle, Coxsacloe A21, encepthlomyscarditis, polio
1,2,and 3, vesicular stomititus, sindbis, retrovirus, Moloney Murine
leukemia, Rauscher Murine leukemia, Moloney sarcoma, and many
influenza and parainfluenza types.
Back to oleuropein, three studies using this isolate. The first
study at the University of Granada discovered that oleuropein from
the olive leaf can promote relaxation of arterial walls thereby
reducing hypertension. The second study determined that oleuropein
may be able to inactivate bacteria by dissolving the outer lining of
individual cells.
The third study from the University of Milan found that oleuropein
inhibited oxidation of low-density lipoproteins, the “bad
cholesterol” involved in the formation of various types of heart
disease.
Effective against fever and helpful for nervous tension;
great
immune booster and viral/bacterial killer. Researchers credit a
number of unique properties possessed by the olive leaf compound for
the broad killing power: An ability to interfere with critical
amino acid production essential for viruses. An ability to contain
viral infection and/or spread by inactivating viruses or by
preventing virus shedding, budding or assembly at the cell membrane.
The ability to directly penetrate infected cells and stop viral
replication in the case of retroviruses, it is able to neutralize
the production of reverse transcriptase and protease (An enzyme
found in retroviruses that enable the virus to make DNA from viral
RNA). These enzymes are essential for a retrovirus, such as HIV, to
alter the RNA of a healthy cell. It can stimulate phagocytosis, an
immune system response in which immune cells ingest harmful
microorganisms and foreign matter. Also increases blood flow in the
coronary arteries, relieves arrhythmias, and prevents intestinal
muscle spasms.
Summary of conditions for which olive leaf extract acts as a
microbial and anti-viral agent:
AIDS
Amoebiasis Anthrax Athlete’s Foot Bladder
Infection Campylobacter Chicken Pox Chlamydia
Cholera Common Cold Cold Sore (herpes simplex)
Cryptosporidiosis Cytomegalovirus Diarrheal Disease
Diphtheria Ear Infection Ebola Sudan Virus E.
Coli Epstein-Barr Virus Flu (influenza)
Gastric Ulcers (from H. Pylori) Genital Herpes/Warts
Giardia Gonorrhea Group B Strep Hantavirus
Hepatitis A, B, C Herpes Zoster (shingles) Lyme
Disease Malaria Measles Meningitis
(bacterial) Meningitis (viral) Mononucleosis Pinworms
Pneumonia (bacterial) Pneumonia (viral) Polio
Pork Tapeworm Rabies Rheumatic Fever Ringworm
Retrovirus infection Roundworm Rotavirus Infection
RSV Staphylococcal Food Poisoning Strep Throat
Syphilis Tuberculosis Thrush Toxic Shock
Syndrome Trichinosis Typhoid Fever Urinary
Tract Infections Vaginal Yeast Infections
Die-Off Syndrome:
There are no negative side effects with Olive leaf extract but it
does have a healthy side effect called the Herxheimer or “Die-Off”
effect. Here is what takes place in a die-off effect. In the body
there are microbes that somehow manage to evade the body’s immune
system. Upon exposure to olive leaf extract these microbes are
destroyed which is a good thing for the person. After the microbes
death there cell-wall proteins are absorbed through the weakened
mucous membrane, which surrounds them. The body recognizes these as
toxins and begins its natural processes to get rid of them. If
present in too large of numbers for the eliminative system to handle,
the individual may develop symptoms that include headaches, swelling
in the mouth, throat, sinuses, and lymphatics, rashes, fatigue,
diarrhea, muscle/joint achiness, or other flu-like symptoms. The
severity will vary from person to person, depending on the extent of
their condition, the state of their immune and eliminatory systems,
and how much olive leaf extract is being consumed.
The die off effect is desirable as it indicates that the body is
being cleared of these hazardous microbes. Anyone who experiences
these unpleasant effects generally feels fabulously well afterwards
many times better than ever before.
If you feel the effects and you would like to minimize them, there
are some easy things you can do. Many physicians recommend that an
individual consume plenty of water in between usages of the product.
Water keeps the lymphatic system and the kidneys functioning
properly and more capable of handling the excess toxins. Another
way to reduce the effects is to cut back on the dose of extract that
you are taking or go off it completely for a day or two before
slowly increasing the dose once again. It can take anywhere from a
couple of days to a week to completely rid the body of the excess
toxins.
Dosage:
There is no official dose for taking
olive leaf extract and though it has been around for thousands
of years of use and testing. The most popular amount for a
maintenance dose is 2 droppers full twice daily on an empty stomach
before meals. For conditions such as the common cold, flu, sinus
infections, and basic respiratory tract infections, the dose is 2
droppers full every 2 hours. For acute infections such as sore
throat, swollen glands, fever, etc., the recommendation is 3
droppers full every 2 hours.
From all indications over the thousands of years of use by
professional and nonprofessional people; Olive Leaf Extract appears
to be an extremely safe supplement that can effectively aid the body
in improving immune function and fighting infection by various
microbes.
Caution:
Don’t take olive leaf with antibiotics as they can be inactivated by
olive leaf.
Don’t take olive leaf with Warfarin (Coumadin) this drug can cause
internal bleeding. Olive leaf naturally relaxes blood vessels and
capillaries which could increase this bleeding.
References:
The
main reference for the information in this article was taken from
Doctor Jack Ritchason’s Book “Olive Leaf Extract” Woodland
publishing, Pleasant Grove, Utah. 1999
Nature’s multi-functional force against infections and
cardiovascular disease? by Amanda Jackson Ph.D.
Positive Health Publications LTD 1994-2002
Handbook of Medicinal Herbs, by James A. Duke, Pub. CRP Second Edition 2007
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