Olives and the oil they produce have been staples of Mediterranean culture for thousands of years. The highly resilient olive trees have developed phytochemicals that provide them protection from fungus, insects, bacteria, and disease. More recently, olive leaf extract has become an incredibly popular natural health remedy because of the belief that its natural resistance will transfer over to the human body too.
These are common health issues that not only affect adults, but children too. So is olive leaf extract safe and effective to give to your kids?
How Olive Leaf Extract Works
In general, olive leaf extract is made up of oleuropein and other flavonoids, including hydroxtryosol. These bioactive compounds are known to assist the body with many different essential functions.
Our Olive Leaf Extract is a whole herb extract that concentrates all of the valuable phytonutrients from the olive leaf, rather than trying to concentrate one single chemical. Our extract contains seven important phytochemicals that contribute to the benefits available from this extract: caffeic acid, verbascoside, luteolin 7-O-glucoside, rutin, apigenin 7-O-glucoside, luteolin 4’-O-glucoside and oleuropein.
Potential Health Benefits of Olive Leaf Extract
Medical studies have suggested many promising health benefits of this extract, including its antioxidant properties. This powerful extract has the potential to help many people in daily life. However, more research with human subjects is needed to solidify these promising benefits with hard science.
Olive Leaf Extract & Children
Many homeopathic practitioners agree that olive leaf extract is safe for kids over one year of age. Since not all extracts contain the same ingredients, it’s important to choose one that is alcohol-free for children.
Always read the product label for dosing instructions and consult your pediatrician before giving anything new to your child. Liquid forms of olive leaf extract are often best for kids who dislike taking pills or the sour taste associated with some powders. The length of time that you give your child olive leaf extract depends upon the reason for its use. Again, consult with your doctor for advice.
Seagate’s Olive Leaf Extract for Kids
As many parents have found, swallowing pills is a big challenge for young children. Our Olive Leaf Extract for Kids is in liquid form and comes with a handy dropper.
It’s convenient for kids who can’t swallow Olive Leaf Extract Capsules or just like the taste of the liquid version. It’s naturally flavored with raspberry and spearmint, contains no alcohol, and doesn’t need to be diluted with water. We suggest using a half-full dropper (about 15 drops) to a full dropper (about 30 drops) two or three times per day.
Other Uses of Olive Leaves
When purchased in leaf form, you can make a tea with dried olive leaves for you and your kids or just use ours – Olive Leaf Mint Tea. Simply steep a teaspoon of dried leaves into a cup of hot water for about 10 minutes and sip slowly. Olive leaves can also come in powder form and mixed with tea, juice, smoothies, or food. You can also use olive leaf extract as a salve for wounds to protect the skin and promote healing – Olive Leaf Cut & Wound Remedy .
Side Effects of Olive Leaves and Extract
Overall, the side effects of consuming olive leaves and extract are very minimal. However, some people have experienced minor stomach irritation while consuming it on an empty stomach. Try taking the dosage with meals to prevent this potential interaction. People who are allergic to olives may experience a mild reaction when taking the extract. Another very rare interaction is caused by the rapid die-off of fungi that may release mycotoxins into your system and cause an allergy-like response.
Again, these side effects are very rare, and dietary support may be useful to help protect you from resistant strains of bacteria.