THE LEAFY CURE

THE OIL GETS ALL THE PUBLICITY BUT OLIVE LEAF IS ANOTHER PART OF THE OLIVE TREE WITH EQUAL, IF NOT GREATER, HEALING PROPERTIES

Words Dr Karen Bridgman

The olive tree is indigenous to the Levant, in the Eastern Mediterranean, but is now grown and used extensively throughout the world. The first Spanish settlers introduced the tree to America and, since ancient times, it has been used for its many medicinal properties. It’s the first botanical medicine mentioned in the Bible, being described in Ezekiel 47:12: “The fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.” Ancient Egyptians used it for mummifying royalty and the ancient Greeks used it to relieve fevers. In 1843, Englishman Daniel Hanbury reported the use of the leaf for healing malaria and fevers. ACTIVE INGREDIENTS The primary constituents of the leaf are the secoiridoids — oleuropein mainly — plus polyphenols, triterpenes, including oleanolic acid, and the flavonoids rutin, quercetin and diosmin. In the plant,…

You're reading a preview of

Good Organic Gardening (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue #13.5 - 2022

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.