Olive Leaf Tea has been consumed by ancient civilizations in Greece and the Middle East for as long as Olives have been cultivated. It is great, at last, to be able to share this health giving drink.
In 2005 an Australian study found olive leaves have five times the antioxidant capacity of vitamin C and almost double that of green tea or grape-seed extract. The study also discovered that extract of olive leaf was more powerful at getting rid of damaging free radicals than such acclaimed antioxidants as grape-seed extract and vitamin E. Plus, the study said olive leaf extract could help to fight some inflammatory conditions too!
Olive leaf extract is available to buy at health food stores but personally I favor a more natural approach. Rather than pay for the processing of leaves and the packaging of extract, I like to steep some sun-dried olive leaves in boiling water. This simple process extracts the goodness from the leaves in a more economical way.
Olive leaf tea is a smooth, golden drink with a very mildly bitter delicious taste. You can add a few slivers of ginger or a slice of lemon to add some variety to your tea drinking experience. Drinking two cups a day can give your body a boost.
The olive leaf is full of anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-bacterial compounds. This means people use it helps fight a huge variety of problems. Some swear by olive leaf tea in the fight against even the common cold!
Drinking olive leaf tea is a great way to get the benefits of the Mediterranean diet especially if you are trying not to consume too much fat for dietary reasons. We all know olive oil is a fantastic health food but it is still oil and therefore is still high in fat. Olive leaves contain the same chemical compounds as olive oil (in differing quantities) but without all the calories!
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