The following is an explanation of the reasoning behind why Seagate's olive leaf labels do not state a standardized % for oleuropein. The principal reason is that this is not a standardized extract but rather a whole herb extract. We use a cold-pressed freshwater extraction method to process this product, with no solvents or alcohol. Seagate is not trying to isolate any one specific phytochemical, like oleuropein, but rather is concentrating all the phytochemicals in this herb without chemically destroying or eliminating any one of them.

 

Oleuropein is just one phytochemical in a group of 8 that have so far been discovered to be in the olive leaves. The other 7 are: caffeic acid, verbascoside, luteolin 7-O-glucoside, rutin, apigenin 7-O-glucoside and luteolin 4’-O-glucoside, and maslinic acid. Seagate does not try to only select and concentrate the most famous of these 8 phytochemicals just for the sake of having it appear on the label. Oleuropein content by itself is not a measure of strength of this herbal concentrate. Companies that do not process this extract are likely unaware of the relationship of all these phytochemicals in the olive leaf to the effectiveness of this product.

 

This is also how Seagate processes its grape seed and grape skin extracts. After all, this is supposed to be the natural foods industry, not the pharmaceutical industry. Foods and supplements should be processed without chemicals or solvents like hexane, and without trying to precipitate out one chemical component from an herb.

 

Another factor involved is truth in labeling. Many manufacturers of grape seed extract were quick to put standardized to 95% OPC on their grape seed extract labels. Unfortunately the methodology to measure OPCs in a lab does not exist. Also, OPCs are not to be the only active ingredient in the grape. Resveratrol is also a very important phytochemical. There are also a host of other anti-oxidant phytochemicals and other active nutrients to be found in the grape. However, so many manufacturers that process nothing more than paperwork, continue to pick up these "buzzwords", and place them on their labels hoping present their product as better than their competitors, when in fact they are just clones of one another, trying to market their product as better or containing more active ingredient. This is basically the "mine is bigger than yours" mentality used to market supplements.

 

This same approach to sales was commonly used in the shark cartilage product category when Seagate entered this industry in 1994. Almost all the shark cartilage labels were then claiming a % of mucopolysacharrides, each trying to show that theirs had more than other competing brands. Unfortunately, mucopolysacharrides is a meaningless term in relation to shark cartilage. As with the case of OPCs in grape seed, there is also no methodology to measure the mucopolysacharrides in shark (we checked with the head of the chemistry dept. at San Diego State University).

 

Seagate's level of oleuropein in olive leaf extract, for the record, is 1%. The lab that performed the test has measured many other samples and found all to fall within the range of 1 to 7%. What really convinced us not to try to isolate oleuropein was the 1969 study by Upjohn in their search to create a natural anti-viral, where they further broke this chemical down into elenoic acid. It worked fine in in-vitro testing but completely failed in clinical trials. The isolation of that one chemical made it unstable; and combined with blood serum proteins, it became inactive.

 

The proof of this product's quality and potency has been in its results. Seagate has been used in clinics, and recommended by doctors. Syndicated national radio and t.v. health shows regularly discuss this Seagate product.

 

Seagate operates under the belief that Nature made olive leaf right to begin with, and we should be careful when we process it not to diminish this raw material nor change the balance of the various phytochemicals that are in it. We resist playing what is strictly a marketing game of randomly choosing this month's active ingredient and putting as large a number as possible on the label in hope that the public might overlook the fact that this is entirely a gimmick to sell a product.

 

As always, thank you for your interest in Seagate products and your concern that you are buying the best. While hopefully we actually prove to be making the best product in each category, at least we can say that we process these products ourselves, in our own plant, without chemicals, and without destroying or removing all the other active nutrients that were placed in this herb by Nature.