Have you heard the latest news on the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet?

A breakthrough study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine this week and widely publicized, demonstrated that consumption of a Mediterranean diet, rich in olive oil or nuts, reduced the number of heart attacks, strokes and deaths from cardiovascular disease over 5 years.  The study, stopped prematurely due to the strikingly beneficial results, followed nearly 7,500 people in Spain.  Participants who consumed a Mediterranean diet plus 4 tablespoons per day of extra virgin olive oil or a Mediterranean diet plus 30g per day of nuts suffered significantly fewer cardiac events compared with a placebo group (3.8% and 3.4% vs. 4.4%, respectively).  Extra virgin olive oil was used in the study because it contains more polyphenols than the ordinary refined version; olive oil polyphenols have been shown to have beneficial effects on heart health.

Not interested in consuming that much olive oil?  Hytolive™ may be the answer.  This 100% natural solvent-free water extract of olive fruit, contains high purity natural hydroxytyrosol.  Hydroxytyrosol is the major phenolic compound found in olives and is thought to play a major role in conferring the protective health benefits of both olive fruit and virgin olive oil.   In fact, hydroxytyrosol was the measure used in the Spanish study as an indicator of how well participants were following the olive oil consumption recommendation.  A dosage of 100 mg of Hytolive™ powder contains the hydroxytyrosol equivalent to 10 table olives or 1/2 liter of extra virgin olive oil.

Hytolive™ can be formulated for use in dietary supplements and functional foods designed to promote cardiovascular, skin, brain, and joint health through the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of hydroxytyrosol.  Hytolive™ does not impact organoleptic characteristics of food or beverages and is Halal and Kosher.

To learn more about Hytolive, please stop by the P.L. Thomas booth #354 at Engredea (March 8-10).

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