Question about olive leaf

[michele u]

straight virgin olive oil is very fattening! I took it when going through chemo, but i don't want to get all the fat now. Is there a less fattening way to get Oleic acid?

[R.B.]

Re ALA DHA and EPA.

It is a good point that flaxseed contains oleic acid. It can also contain up to 18% omega six.

If extracted by cold pressing oils may contain other things as well as fats. Olive oil and flaxseed have there own related chemicals.

In olive oil claims have been made that the phenols etc may assist as well as the oleic acid.

It is a question as always of balance. They did not shown a figure for the effect of DHA but used the word profound. Another trial said "Moreover, exogenous supplementation with DHA significantly decreased the expression of Her-2/neu-codified p185(Her-2/neu) oncoprotein (up to 78% reduction in BT-474 cells)."

All three are needed. The ones most likely to be lacking in most diets are DHA and EPA.

Another complication is the influence of direction of the funding eg Olive oil growers, flax seed growers etc which huma nature would suggest would result in the report being written from that perspective.

Figures vary depending which trials you read. What is clear is that a balance of all the threes is essential, and oleic assists.

Further may different plants have additional beneficial properties.


RB

[Barbara2]

Following up with Michele's question:

Is straight virgin olive oil the best way to consume oleic acid? Options?

[R.B.]

It is complicated because their is choice and no absolute answers.

AIM balance omega three and six and ensure you get some long chain omega threes. To do this you will have to label watch and check food contents until you get the gist.

The body can make all fats except the mother omega three and six. Lots of things can block the process including age, so that would be an argument for ensuring a mix.

There are no absolutes. Please discuss dietary change with your doctor.

Within sensible limits less is more but there are different views.

Variety is good as different things contain different fat balances - so a little saturate is ok eg butter coconut small amounts lean meat if you are not vegitarian etc. but scrapings not lashings.

Olive is low in six high in nine and even lower in three. It also has other beneficial things apart from the "lipids" (Fats)

Flax has high three some six some nine. This has a small chart of common high oil sources and a breakdown of contents. http://www.benbest.com/health/essfat.html
But please see posts on flax as much discussion. Whole food sources have as far as possible to be the best starting point.

UDOs has a good reputation and a useful mix.

RB

[RobinP]

I use Flaxseed oil, which is the richest source of the essential fatty acid known as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) or omega-3 fatty acid. It contains approximately 58% to 60% omega-3 fatty acids and 18% to 20% omega-6 fatty acids. It is estimated that the optimal ratio between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids is approximately 1 to 4. Most people are deficient in omega-3 and consume excessive amounts of the omega-6 fats and oils. In fact, studies report that the omega-3/omega-6 ratio for many people in the United States is between 1:20 and 1:30. Flaxseed oil, which contains 3 times more omega-3 than omega-6, may be used to help reverse the imbalance between omega-3 and omega-6.

[StephN]

Michele -
Wanted you to know which of the many offerings of Olive Leaf I have settled on. It is called "Olive Leaf Plus" from Oregon's Wild Harvest. (One thing I like is that the capsules are non-GMO vegetarian.

This particular version has 150mg olive leaf, 150 mg organic red clover tops, 55mg organic astragalus root and 45 mg of olive leaf powdered extract standardized.

The other ingredients are supposed to complement the properties of the olive leaf. Not being a scientist, I can't tell you exactly HOW that is done, but I have taken this off and on since we first had this discussion.

The olive oil and flax oil I use daily without exception.
Anyone have any thoughts on the combination listed above?

[RobinP]

Although, I really believe first in whole food sources, I think that olive leaf may be an alternative Michele, if you are concerned about the fat you are getting from the oil. You know, those of us who are hormonal negative should be on a low fat diet to help reduce relapse, according to the WINS study, so I understand your concerns about fat.
RELATED RESOURCES ON OLEIC OCID, GLA, AND HELPFUL FATS:
http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/c...id=QID_NOT_SET
http://annonc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi...tract/mdi090v1
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2407/7/80

http://annonc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi...5/11/1719?etoc