Aristoleo a High Phenolic Celebration
Ancient Wisdom + Modern Science
A High Phenolic Celebration
The Way of Aristoleo Awards 2024
This year will be remembered as the High Phenolic Celebration. On June 28, 2024 the 9th annual Aristoleo Awards for High Phenolic EVOOs and Olives took place on Aigina Island in Greece. From there we travelled to the new Laconiko Facility in Manassas, Virginia for their Grand Opening. I have spoken many times about the need to have dedicated high phenolic EVOO facilities and wholesale and retail outlets in the USA and around the world. All the brands that took part in the Aristoleo Awards 2024 can be found with this LINK A High Phenolic Celebration — At the Aristoleo Awards 2024, a High Phenolic Celebration, LACONIKO earned DOUBLE GOLD for ZOI Ultra Premium, GOLD for OLIO NUOVO, and SILVER for their ESTATE EVOO.
I remember vividly standing up on the podium at the 1st ever Aristoleo Awards in 2016 at the Olympic Academy at the ancient city of Olympia and offered my vision for High Phenolic EVOO:
This was the first time I ever gave speech in front of an audience. We chose this location for the inaugural Aristoleo Awards Ceremony for a specific reason. This has been a labor of love since the Health Claim for polyphenols in Olive oil was accepted by the EU Commission in 2012.
The 1st Aristoleo Awards Winners were announced during a conference for the International Society of Oleocanthal for which I am a founding member. It was no accident that we decided to honour high phenolic EVOOs with their own competition right here where it all began.
All the brands that took part in the Aristoleo Awards 2024 can be found with this LINK
“ Athan and I wanted the ancient Olympians to be the first to hear
that high phenolic EVOO is being produced once again
in Modern Greece and the MED region.” Marilyn Harding
“We need to build our own stores in major cities around the world dedicated to early harvest High Phenolic EVOO” I declared from the podium of the Olympic Academy Amphitheatre at the the ancient city of Olympia..
8 Years Later I am standing in it. Today July 6th 2024 at the grand opening of the LACONIKO new facility in Manassas Virginia, I am standing in that vision I had 8 years ago, but I had nothing to do with it.
It is a bigger facility than I ever imagined. This is a true family business the result of years of hard work and investment.
I was invited by the Pierrakos brothers owners and operators of the LACONIKO brand to speak at the opening of their new 15,000 sq. ft. facility. I eagerly accepted because when I am on this side of the Atlantic, this is where I get my supply of High Phenolic EVOO which I use in my personal battle with Metastatic Prostate Cancer.
High Phenolic EVOO has really helped me manage the negative impact of having to lower my testosterone levels. This is the reason I am so adamant about how High Phenolic EVOO is produced and handled once it leaves the olive mill. Since 2012 High Phenolic EVOO has firmly established itself in the Wellness Industry for its enhanced health benefits as well as in Gastronomy for its unique bitter and spicy taste.
The European Union Health Claim Labelling Regulation 432/2012 states that olive oils with polyphenols of 250 mg/kg or more can claim: Olive oil polyphenols contribute to the protection of blood lipids from oxidative stress. In order to bear the claim, information shall be given to the consumer that the beneficial effect is obtained with a daily intake of 20 g of olive oil.
“The EU 432/2012 health claim for polyphenols has created a new category of olive oil which is somewhere in between a food and “medicine.” Athan declared.
Let Food be the Medicine and Medicine by thy food. Hippocrates
I am so grateful the United States now has a variety of High Phenolic EVOOs such as: ZOI, OLIO NUOVO and the Laconiko Estate EVOO to choose from. Soon there will be more High Phenolic EVOOs that call Laconiko their home stored here and bottled on demand… This ensures freshness and potency for those who need it the most. It also guarantees the freshness for those seeking to add unique bitter and peppery flavour of High Phenolic EVOO to their meals.
Laconiko Family are expanding their offerings with olive oils from other regions like Spain. One of the other speakers was Lucia Games, the owner of the Organic Tropicual EVOO which is represented by Laconiko with more brands to follow. For an Artisinal olive grower, Lucia expressed her happiness with the collaboration with Laconiko. It has given Lucia the opportunity to enter the American market knowing her olive oil is well cared for. This is the first olive oil from another independent olive oil producer represented by Laconiko.
Gastronomy and Health are finally together again; Taste and EnhancedHeath Benefits are combined in this new category of High Phenolic EVOO. Laconiko also offers Balsamic Vinegars from Italy and Greece, Flavoured Olive Oils, Honeys, Pasta and a whole lot more. Laconiko is poised to become the go to place for tastings, cooking classes, and educational events. But most importantly a place you can find High Phenolic EVOOs treated with respect to ensure maximum potency and taste.
HP-EVOO is a New Category of EVOO — it Needed its Own Home
For the ancient Olympians, this type of early harvest EVOO and the Wild varieties was more than their food supplement. It was also their medicine for anything that aches or to use on their cuts and bruises and inflammatory conditions. It was prized more than anything. They chose the varieties grew them in nurseries and planted these High Phenolic olive oil producing olive trees wherever they went.
Laconiko controls the temperature, protects against unnecessary exposure to light or oxygen, and bottle on demand. This way they are able to test the EVOO in the storage tank before they bottle. This is the only way to guarantee what goes into each bottle.
High Phenolic EVOO is no longer part of the “olive oil business” we are now firmly established in the wellness business. We have an added responsibility to provide the best high phenolic EVOO we can. I have personally met and spoke with hundreds of people who use High Phenolic EVOO to manage their pain or ill health.
My joy at being here to witness this new home of Laconiko was indescribable. We have been struggling for the last 12 years to promote this new category of High Phenolic EVOO. High Phenolic EVOO has been accepted by research scientists worldwide who are conducting clinical studies and trials to better understand its enhanced health benefits.
The health claim for polyphenols in olive oil has changed everything. There is a growing excitement from olive growers from around the world for this new category of olive oil with enhanced health benefits for wellness as well as gastronomy. Jill Myers founder of Women In Olive Oil
After endless meetings, telephone calls and emails, the EU Commission acknowledged the method used by the IOC (International Olive Council) should not be used for measuring the concentration of polyphenols. But the Food Safety Agencies in the EU do not recognize any analytical method that identifies each bio-phenol present in olive oil. That’s like Big Pharma refusing to analyze exactly which vitamins are in the pills they market. They would only provide the total mg in each pill and not the concentration of every individual vitamin in each pill. As absurd this may sound, this is exactly what the Industrialized Olive Oil Industry is doing right now.
Jill Myers founder of “Women in Olive Oil” spoke eloquently in support of the Pierrakos Family having seen them grow over the last few years. It looks like the next Laconiko generation may be interested in Women in Olive Oil…
The most impressive accomplishment is Laconiko earned GOLD for their High Phenolic EVOO made from unripened green Kalamon olive variety for the last 2 years at NYIOOC. Kalamon olive variety is what they use to make the world leading Kalamata table olives. It has never won a gold medal in any organoleptic International Olive Oil Competition.
The Pierrakos family has managed to achieve the impossible. Despite producing a high phenolic EVOO they have managed to win consistently Gold medals at the NYIOOC and many other international competitions as well.
TRADITIONAL MEDICINE — My story begins way back in the earliest memories of my youth. Early harvest olive oil made form green unripened olives was our medicine of my early youth in northern Greece. This olive oil was harvested early but was never sold; It was given as a gift from one relative or friend to another.
Now this traditional medicine of the MED region is available in the USA at LACONIKO, a company that is dedicated to maintaining the proper temperature, during storage, bottling and display of High Phenolic EVOO.
MY STORY: Whenever I had a toothache, my grandmother would rush to the cellar where we kept the red wine and return with a thimble full of this precious early harvest olive oil. She would dip her finger in it and then apply it to my aching gums. It was bitter and peppery. I hated it but it did reduce the pain and swelling so I could get some sleep, but when my family emigrated to Canada in 1966, this olive oil was forgotten. It was non-existent there. I only remembered in 2012 when I heard about the health claim for polyphenols. I understood immediately why this olive oil needed to be made available to all who need it. Growing up this was our medicine! There were no pharmacies at every corner. We used it for cuts, bruises, toothaches, burns, arthritis, muscle aches, and much more… it was our medicine for everything…
Sources: This link below has a list of research conducted using High Phenolic EVOO Latest Research for High Phenolic EVOO
Aristoleo Cooler https://aristoleo.com/aristoleo-cooler/
DISCLAIMER: All content found in this article written by Athan Gadanidis on Medium or the Aristoleo.com website, or elsewhere, including: text, images, audio, or other formats is created for informational purposes only. Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read in this article here on this website or anywhere else.
Originally published at https://aristoleo.com.
