The Fabulous Olive Leaf!
It turns out there are heaps of benefits to the olive leaf tree! Not only are the beautiful, ancient trees, and produce these amazing fruits (olives) that we then ferment (and make probiotic) and can consume flavoured in many different ways. The leaves themselves also how a lot of benefits and uses.
Because of the high amount of tannins in the leaves they can be used instead of tea to make Kombucha and also in pickles to keep things crispy.
As well as the above olive leaves are thought to have the following benefits, especially if consumed in an extract, tincture and to a lesser degree in a tea or kombucha.
- Boosts energy
- Improves brain function
- Reduces arthritis
- Antioxidant
- Anti-inflammatory
- Antiviral
- Antimicrobial
- Protects the skin as it reduces cell damage and thus the signs of aging
- Increases blood flow, restores a normal heart rhythm, and reduces cholesterol, blood pressure and the risk of heart disease
- Reduces blood sugars and insulin resistance
- Strengthens immune system
- Lowers your risk of many chronic illnesses like cancer, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. And, if you already have one of these it’s thought to slow down the progress of it
- Neutralizes bacteria, viruses and fungi
- And, as such fights Epstein Barr virus (EBV), so is thought to help illnesses like the herpes virus, mono, glandular-fever, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome etc.
- Is helpful for respiratory issues, sinus infections and colds & flu.
I have recently made a tincture (using a local spirit made from the bi-product of wine here in Portugal) and an extract using vinegar (not my own unpasteurized vinegar, for this job you need to use a pasteurized one) with chopped up olive leaves. To find out the difference between a tincture and extract here. These will be ready for cold and flu season!
Side note: I could not stand olives of any kind until I visited Corfu a few years ago and somehow loved there small, freshly fermented black olives and since then I have a love of all black olives at least (green not so much). Things taste different when fresh and not processed!
And, of more support with your health check out my online membership site here, it’s free to join for a month and totally rinse all the resources in that time and come along to our live sessions too.
