The science of olive leaves

The Mediterranean diet — vegetables, seafood and olive oil — is one of the most studied traditional eating patterns in the world. Olives, and particularly their oil, are central to it, while the olive tree's leaves are a lesser-known source of plant phytochemicals (see Why Nutraceuticals Matter).

Olive leaves are a source of phytochemicals such as oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol. Oleuropein, one of the olive's most studied compounds, makes up a much higher proportion of the leaf than of the oil.

Once used as a simple folk infusion, olive leaf is now valued for its concentrated phytochemical content.

One capsule of Lifeguard Essentials delivers 200 milligrams of olive leaf extract — the equivalent of 20 grams of dry leaf — standardised to 20% oleuropein.