GREGORY CHANDLER--OLIVE LEAF

Individuals who are overweight can have blood sugar problems similar to those with type 2 diabetes, where the body does not produce enough insulin or does not use insulin to efficiently metabolize glucose. 

In one study. 46 overweight males took olive leaf extract each day or a placebo, in two alternating 12-week phases.  The daily amount of the main active ingredient in olive leaf extract was oleuropein, which was taken in pill form in a single dose.

While there were no improvements during the placebo phases, after each olive leaf phase, insulin sensitivity--the ability of cells to use insulin to metabolize glucose--improved 17 percent.  Also, cells in the pancreas responsible for secreting insulin improved by 28 percent, a benefit that does not occur with the diabetes drug metformin. 

GREGORY CHANDLER, Attorney at Law