Extract van Olijfbladeren tegen hoog cholesterol en hoge bloeddruk*
Uit een studie onder 20 identieke, eeneiige tweelingparen blijkt dat het extract van
olijfbladeren voor een duidelijk lagere bloeddruk en cholesterol kan zorgen. In de studie kregen de deelnemers of een placebo of
500 mg of 1.000 mg extract dagelijks 8 weken lang. In de placebo groep veranderde niets. In de 500 mg
groep hadden de deelnemers een 6 mmHg bloeddruk verlaging. De 1.000 mg groep echter een verlaging van 19 mmHg bovendruk. Ook het slechte cholesterol (LDL) verlaagde afhankelijk van de ontvangen dosering.
Olive leaf extract helps tackle high blood pressure and cholesterol
Taking 1000mg of a specific olive leaf extract (EFLA943) can lower cholesterol and lower blood pressure in patients with mild hypertension (high blood pressure).
These findings came from a 'Twins' trial, in which different treatments were given to identical twins. By doing this, researchers could increase the power of their data by eliminating some of the uncertainties caused by genetic variations between individual people.
The research is published in the latest edition of Phytotherapy Research.
Hypertension is one of the most common and important disease risk factors imposed by the modern lifestyle. Many people would therefore benefit from finding ways of reducing blood pressure. Experiments in rats had previously indicated that olive leaf extract could be one way of achieving this goal.
To test this in humans, researchers from Switzerland and Germany conducted a pilot trial with 20 identical (monozygotic) twin pairs who had an increased blood pressure. Individuals were either given placebo capsules or capsules containing doses of 500mg or 1000mg of olive leaf extract EFLA943. Pairs of twins were assigned to different treatments. After the subjects had taken the extract for eight weeks researchers measured blood pressures as well as collecting data about aspects of life-style.
"The study confirmed that olive leaf extract EFLA943 has antihypertensive properties in humans," says one of the co-authors, Cem Aydogan, General Manager, Frutarom Health.
"This works showed that taking a 1000mg dose has substantial effects in people with borderline hypertension," says Aydogan.
Abstract
Hypertension is a harmful disease factor that develops unnoticed over time. The treatment of hypertension is aimed at an early diagnosis followed by adequate lifestyle changes rather than pharmacological treatment. The olive leaf extract EFLAź943, having antihypertensive actions in rats, was tested as a food supplement in an open study including 40 borderline hypertensive monozygotic twins. Twins of each pair were assigned to different groups receiving 500 or 1000 mg/day EFLAź943 for 8 weeks, or advice on a favourable lifestyle. Body weight, heart rate, blood pressure, glucose and lipids were measured fortnightly. Blood pressure changed significantly within pairs, depending on the dose, with mean systolic differences of 6 mmHg (500 mg vs control) and 13 mmHg (1000 vs 500 mg), and diastolic differences of 5 mmHg. After 8 weeks, mean blood pressure remained unchanged from baseline in controls (systolic/diastolic: 133 ± 5/77 ± 6 vs 135 ± 11/80 ± 7 mmHg) and the low-dose group (136 ± 7/77 ± 7 vs 133 ± 10/76 ± 7), but had significantly decreased for the high dose group (137 ± 10/80 ± 10 vs 126 ± 9/76 ± 6). Cholesterol levels decreased for all treatments with significant dose-dependent within-pair differences for LDL-cholesterol. None of the other parameters showed significant changes or consistent trends. Concluding, the study confirmed the antihypertensive and cholesterol-lowering action of EFLAź943 in humans
(Oktober
2008)
