Twins Trial Verifies Blood Pressure Lowering By Olive Leaves
22 September 2008
Olive leaf extract can lower blood pressure, as confirmed by a study of 20 twin pairs from the Berlin Brandenburg region.
In a recent publication of the journal, Phytotherapy Research, the potential of twin studies in testing the preventive potential of herbal extracts has been demonstrated by research company, HealthTwiSt. The trial could show dose dependent benefits of EFLA®943 from Frutarom Switzerland Ltd, the company that had conducted the study together with HealthTwiSt.
The background to this type of study is a health claim regulation of the European Union. Any health related claim for food has to be substantiated by scientific evidence.
“Large variations between people and rather small effects usually require extremely large samples. As monozygotic twins not only look alike but share genes and lifestyle, they are ideally matched subjects for studies in food additives, nutraceuticals and phytopharmaca,” said Andreas Busjahn, CEO of HealthTwiSt in Berlin-Buch.
The company is also conducting health-related twin studies, which look into genes and environments.
Food supplementation with an olive (Olea europaea L.) leaf extract reduces blood pressure in borderline hypertensive monozygotic twins.
The study is by Perrinjaquet-Moccetti T, Busjahn A, Schmidlin C, Schmidt A, Bradl B, Aydogan C.
