Olive Leaf Complex from Fresh Olive Leaves – The New Echinacea

What is so good about olive leaf extract? Well, lets first make it clear that fresh is best. Extract produced from very fresh olive leaves that is. As leaves are left for a few days, or dried before being processed then they naturally lose much of their efficacy (goodness) during that time.

Now in Australia Olive Leaf Complex is being referred to by some people as the new echinacea.

OK, lets step back a bit and consider what Echinacea is good for. Echinacea is “popularly believed to be an immunostimulator, stimulating the body's non-specific immune system and warding off infections. A study commonly used to support that belief is a 2007 meta-analysis in The Lancet Infectious Diseases” (taken from Wikipedia). However, the studies referred to in the Lancet report meta-analysis used different types of echinacea, different parts of the plant, and various dosages.

This is an issue with Echinacea and many other 'natural products' – there is great variation between products available in stores. Different sub-species, different parts of the plant used, and different processing techniques. Nevertheless, in many countries there is Echinacea sold in health food stores for immune boosting and cold fighting potential.

Olives and everything olive – oil, leaf extract etc have become associated with good health in recent years from their association with Mediterranean good living. Olive leaf extract has been used for centuries in many cultures for medicinal purposes, and it has now been studied by the modern scientific world. It is now widely known that olive leaf extract is a very effective antiviral and antibacterial agent.

Well some clever people have taken things a step further. They planted over 60 different varieties of olive tree, and then tested them all to find which particular variety produced the highest quality leaf extract. They also learnt that processing the leaves when they are still very fresh from picking improved the end extract.

The result is the Comvita Olive Leaf Complex. An extract that is produced from only fresh leaves, harvested daily first thing in the morning and quickly processed.

High in oleuropein, analysis show it to be 400 times more antioxidant activity then vitamin C! (and significantly more than green tea extract and grape seed extract too). Research by Queensland University and Southern Cross University (both in Australia) has shown Comvita Olive Leaf Extract from fresh leaves contains 30 times more antioxidants than an equivalent amount of the best virgin olive oils. Most scientists familiar with olive leaf extract recognise oleuropein as a major component contributing to its health benefits for people.

From the research that has been done, it is considered that olive leaf extract aids the immune system and helps fight colds by interfering with viral infection by inactivating particular virus cells or by inhibiting them at the cell membrane. It also may directly stimulate the formation of immune system cells that fight against various types of microbes.

There is a brief but good summary of the health benefits, and research done, in the book 'Olive Leaf Extract – potent antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal agent' by Jack Ritchason.

Or learn more about olive leaf extract here.