Tips to help you with olive leaf extract dosage

It is reassuring to know when considering olive leaf extract dosage, that it has extremely low toxicity.
In tests using oleuropein, one of the major active constituents, researchers were unable to find the toxic dose.* Other complete extracts used in animal tests and on human tissues had no ill-effects on the cells tested.

Toxicity does not determine olive leaf extract dosage, but the purpose for taking it and the effect it has on the person who takes it determines the dosage.

Over years as a supplier to health shops, health professionals and the public I've had no feedback that was cause for concern. The few reactions experienced by some people were easily dealt with by reducing the dosage or ceasing to take it.

These are highlighted in 8 points further down this page.

There is a big difference between maintaining good health as winter approaches and struggling to overcome a bad infection.

Manufacturers are not allowed to make any claims regarding the curing or prevention of any disease as this would class the food supplement as a drug requiring full medicine registration complete with human trials and a doctor's prescription to buy it.
For this reason a wide dosage range may be given on the container without specifying an illness condition.

The three points given below may help to determine the best olive leaf extract dosage in that range.

• General health maintenance before and during winter, or maintaining cardiovascular health - Use minimum age-related dose
• Shorter term disease prevention when under stress or in an infected environment, or for chronic (long term) illnesses - Use middle age-related dose.
• Immune support during acute bouts of illness or when dealing with a stubborn chronic (ongoing) disease - Use maximum age-related dose, then reduce when feeling better.

Olive leaf extract dosage is usually calculated in terms of oleuropein content.
This is a rule-of-thumb method which works well for a balanced extract, not as well for one which has had oleuropein content boosted too far out of proportion to the rest of the constituents.
A reputable herbal manufacturer should have a balanced product.
If a product has "extra strength" or "super potency" splashed all over the label without quoting actual oleuropein strength, be suspicious. If you want to take it to alleviate a real problem it may produce disappointing or no results.

I use the following guidelines for olive leaf extract dosage.
I first work out how much absorbed oleuropein is required, assuming 100% absorption in an ethanolic tincture. These values I have found empirically (by trial and error).

If using a standardised tincture I convert this oleuropein amount into drops of tincture.
If using capsules/powder/glycerine extract, I adjust this upwards to get an approximate equivalent dose.
The process is as follows:

Step 1:
From the list below decide how many mg. of oleuropein is required per day for your purpose.

Step 2.Tinctures only.(Go straight to step 3 if taking capsules or powder).
Calculate how many drops this is equivalent to in the product purchased. (Must only be olive leaf extract, not a combination of herbs).

Step 3.
Divide this up into 1 to 5 doses per day according to the list below.

Adult
Health Maintenance: 25mg per day divided into 1-2 doses
Disease Prevention: 75mg per day divided into 3 doses
Acute Illness: 180mg per day divided into 4-5 doses

12yrs-adult
Health Maintenance: 12.5mg per day divided into 1-2 doses
Disease Prevention: 38mg per day divided into 3 doses
Acute Illness: 90mg per day divided into 4-5 doses

6-12yrs
Health Maintenance: 7mg per day divided into 1-2 doses
Disease Prevention: 18mg per day divided into 3 doses
Acute Illness: 40mg per day divided into 4-5 doses

2-6yrs
Health Maintenance: 5mg per day divided into 1-2 doses
Prevention: 12mg per day divided into 3 doses
Acute: 25mg per day divided into 5 doses

Step 4
For children use this dose of oleuropein in tincture, capsule or glycerine-liquid-based form.
For adults add 20% to 30% if dosage is in capsule or glycerine-liquid-based form due to lower absorption.

Then work out from the label of the product how many capsules/teaspoons liquid will be needed to give you this amount of oleuropein per dose.

For example:

You need 75mg oleuropein per day according to the above list.
You are an adult and have bought olive leaf capsules, each containing 35mg of oleuropein.

Step 1. Add 25% to the required dose (due to lower capsule absorption).
This gives you 75mg+18.75mg = 93.75mg approx.

Step 2. Your capsules contain 35mg oleuropein each, so you need 93.75mg divided by 35mg = 2.68 capsules per day.
Round this up to 3 capsules per day and take 1 capsule 3 times a day.

Step 3. Finally, double check that this is within the dosage given on the container.

These basic olive leaf extract dosages may be adjusted if necessary taking into account the eight factors below.

1. Safety first

Pregnant or breast-feeding? While there is no evidence of danger, it is not advisable to take olive leaf extract when pregnant or breast-feeding. There have been no animal or human tests to gauge its safety during pregnancy.

2. Herxheimer's Reaction, or "die-off"

When the pathogen's cell walls are damaged by olive leaf constituents, their "remains" are then absorbed by the sensitive surrounding tissue, triggering an immune response and causing inflammation, pain and a temporary worsening of original disease symptoms.

They may also appear as mild 'flu-like symptoms. This lasts until the body has processed these destroyed microbes and is usually followed by a surge of energy and a feeling of well-being.

Herxheimer’s reaction is experienced in a small minority of people and usually lasts about 4-7 days. It is a good indication that the olive leaf extract dosage is working.
It stands to reason that someone carrying a heavy load of pathogens should kill them off slowly in order to avoid unnecessary discomfort or overload. This is particularly the case in the old, frail and chronically ill.

Start with the minimum age-related olive leaf extract dosage on the container and increase day by day until die-off symptoms are experienced.
Maintain that dose or increase as comfortable until the maximum dosage is reached. If uncomfortable, reduce dosage of olive leaf extract for a few days or stop taking it and start again in a few days.
It is best not to stop if possible.

3. Product used

For this reason it is impossible to give a blanket dosage of olive leaf extract and the best is to follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

A useful hint when overcoming the early stages of an infection is to take half the recommended dosage of a tincture and half the recommended dosage of a capsule product together. While this means buying two products it gives both a quick-acting and a sustained effect.

Finally, because not all olive leaf extracts are equal, different cultivars having different constituents and amounts of constituents, and because like any other herb these components interact with our bodies in a complex and individual way, it cannot be claimed that olive leaf extract will have exactly the same effect on everyone.

Some benefits will only be experienced by using a sufficiently strong dosage of an olive leaf extract product which has all the constituents necessary for the desired effect.

For this reason, the benefits of a particular brand depend on the quality of the product itself. The benefits of a highly concentrated, good quality product will differ widely from those of a weak product made from the cheapest leaves available.

A product standardised in terms of one particular ingredient may be deficient in other ingredients which are collectively responsible for some of the properties of olive leaf extract.

The best solution is to buy a good quality product as described under Olive Leaves, start with a low dosage of olive leaf extract to gauge the effect on you and then increase until you have the desired effect. You may have to try a few brands and dosage forms to find the best one for you.

4. Acute or chronic illness

If you have a chronic or long-term illness, or have never taken olive leaf extract before, it is best to start on a low dosage and build up to the recommended dose over a few days or weeks as you feel comfortable.

The same dosage can be used for all kinds of infections, up to the maximum recommended dose. In some cases, Herxheimer’s reaction may determine the rate you increase olive leaf extract dosage.

5. Age

The manufacturer's stated 1-year-old dosage should be about the 2-year-old dose in the guidelines above reduced by 30%.
The tendency is to give very young children too much because it "looks so little" so rather go by the manufacturer's recommendations not the looks.

In adults, the older you are the higher the olive leaf extract dosage generally needed to have the same effect as on a younger person with a healthy immune system.

6. Weight

An elderly person who is very small should start on a small adult dose and slowly increase until the desired effect is achieved.

The same applies to children.
If dosages are given in a range, for example 5-10 drops for children aged 6-10, give a 6-year old 5 drops, or a 10-year old 10 drops.
Don't start the 6-year-old on 10 drops.

Likewise don't give your 13-year old son the maximum adult dose because he is over 12.
Roughly gauge where your child should be in the age range according to age and weight.

As already mentioned, olive leaf extract is a forgiving herb and too much will not likely cause any harm but use common sense to avoid wastage and also ensure a big enough dose to make a difference. Too much too soon can cause too much stress on the system.

7. Health

8. Duration

a.) Children should not be given olive leaf extract permanently like a vitamin tonic as they need to build up their own immune systems.
They should be given it when they are sick (if olive leaf extract is appropriate), when sickness is doing the rounds at school, for a few days in preparation for exams when under stress and perhaps before and during winter when colds and flu are about.
It is also a good idea to dose children before a school outing to museums and when using public transport if they are not used to it.
Other than that, a healthy diet and exercise should keep them in good shape.
After a winter season of taking olive leaf extract, it is a good idea to give the family a course of good probiotics to ensure a healthy balanced digestive system.

b.) Adults with chronic conditions can take olive leaf extract indefinitely if appropriate to the ailment or if a long term treatment is required.
For example, some people take olive leaf extract every day to keep sinus infections under control.
I have spoken to an elderly lady who had almost no immune system after a career as a radiologist in the early days when safety was not up to scratch. She was adamant that her daily dose of olive leaf extract was her immune system.
It would be well for such people to eat fermented foods or take probiotics regularly to ensure a healthy digestive tract. (Yoghurt is not sufficient).

For a bad dose of candida albicans or thrush, olive leaf extract dosage should be part of a planned treatment which tapers off as the correct flora are rebuilt in the gut and vaginal tract and healthy foods and habits take over from damaging ones.

c.) For acute illnesses in adults or children, continue with a lower olive leaf extract dosage for at least a week after you are feeling better.
The tendency is to forget to take it when you feel better because you don't realise that it is still destroying pathogens. You will soon find out what it was doing if you stop too soon, and the second time it often takes longer to subdue the illness.


* Fleming H.P.; Walter W.M.; Etchells J.L. "Antimicrobial properties of oleuropein and products of its hydrolysis from green olives" Microbiology 26(5):777-782, Nov. 1973.

"Olive Leaf Extract"; Dr. Morton Walker

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