Some research even suggests that olive leaf extract may help counter the negative metabolic effects of a poor diet. The same study found that human participants with type 2 diabetes who took 500 mg of olive leaf extract daily experienced a significant reduction in fasting insulin levels and hemoglobin A1c, a marker of long-term exposure to elevated blood sugar. This, researchers speculate, may be why olive leaf extract supplementation helps stabilize blood sugar in humans. One study 13 tested the effects of olive leaf extract on rats and found that it slowed the digestion of starches into simple sugars. Olive leaf extract seems to help manage type 2 diabetes in several ways. Researchers suspect that the polyphenols present in olive leaf extract, like oleuropein, decrease the activity of key cholesterol-regulatory enzymes, resulting in reduced cholesterol production. Supplementing with olive leaf extract has also been found to lower total and LDL (bad) cholesterol in both animals and humans 5 with high cholesterol. This is important for heart health, as high triglyceride levels contribute to hardening of the arteries, or atherosclerosis, which increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. In the same study, olive leaf extract also lowered triglyceride levels (i.e., levels of fat in the blood), while Captopril did not. Olive leaf extract is thought to lower blood pressure by acting as a calcium channel blocker, which relaxes and widens the blood vessels. In this study 4, participants who took 500 mg of olive leaf extract twice a day for eight weeks experienced a comparable drop in blood pressure to those who took the medication Captopril. In fact, olive leaf extract may be just as effective as prescription blood pressure medication for some people.
Numerous studies 3 have shown that olive leaf extract significantly reduces blood pressure in people with hypertension or borderline hypertension-to the point that those who are already on blood-pressure-lowering medication should consult with their doctor before supplementing with the oil since their levels could potentially drop too low.
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