Oleactiv® – Benefits and new discoveries in cardiometabolic health

1. Introduction: The Growing Burden of Cardiometabolic Risk

Cardiometabolic disorders are no longer confined to specific populations or lifestyles—they now represent a systemic global challenge. With more than 600 million people living with cardiovascular diseases in 2025 (Chong et al., Eur J Prev Cardiol), it is increasingly evident that conventional prevention strategies focusing solely on LDL cholesterol control are insufficient. The persistence of residual cardiovascular risk (RCVR), even among individuals achieving optimal LDL levels, points to overlooked metabolic pathways that drive vascular damage and insulin resistance.

Recent studies have shown that, beyond the well-known factors such as LDL, triglycerides, and insulin sensitivity, remnant cholesterol (RC) is in fact a direct contributor to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques within arterial walls. Most current approaches – including statin therapy – have limited impact on reducing RC levels. Therefore, controlling RC has become a crucial target in comprehensive cardiovascular disease prevention strategies.

Amidst this paradigm shift, polyphenol-based nutraceuticals have emerged as a compelling tool. Unlike isolated pharmacological agents, polyphenols exert pleiotropic effects across lipid, glucose, and inflammatory pathways, offering a systemic “metabolic recalibration” rather than symptom control. This integrative potential has placed polyphenol-rich formulations like Oleactiv® under the scientific spotlight as next-generation solutions for comprehensive cardiometabolic management.

2. Remnant cholesterol is an emerging biomarker of Cardiovascular risk

While LDL cholesterol has long been the cornerstone of cardiovascular risk management, remnant cholesterol (RC)—the cholesterol content carried within triglyceride-rich lipoproteins—has gained increasing recognition as an independent and underdiagnosed risk factor. RC particles, which include chylomicron remnants and very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL), are particularly atherogenic because they contain up to four times more cholesterol per particle than LDL and can readily infiltrate arterial walls, stimulating inflammation and endothelial dysfunction.

Recent large-scale studies and meta-analyses (Bays et al., 2024; Wadström et al., 2023) confirm that elevated RC predicts cardiovascular events even when LDL levels are well controlled. Unlike LDL, RC reflects ongoing disturbances in postprandial lipid metabolism, a facet often neglected in fasting lipid assessments. This insight underscores the need to move beyond static fasting markers toward more dynamic, metabolism-aware risk profiling.

RC is especially elevated in those population groups with elevated TriGlycerides, like Type 2 Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome.

While many drugs and interventions target LDL, many overlook the contribution of Remnant Cholesterol to Cardiovascular risk, and this is where we want to focus, to help our customers complete their approach to reducing the risk factors of metabolic disorders.

Oleactiv has been designed to specifically act on Remnant Cholesterol, allowing a CVR reduction through reductions in RC. 

3. Oleactiv®: polyphenol formulation for remnant cholesterol management

Oleactiv® represents a plant-based approach to cardiometabolic care, combining six polyphenols  - grape, pomegranate, olive leaf, artichoke, blackcurrant, and red grape - each contributing a complementary class of bioactive phenolics. What distinguishes Oleactiv® is not merely its diversity, but its precise standardization of key compounds such as ellagitannins (≥9%), secoiridoids (≥7.2%), flavonoids (≥5%), anthocyanins (≥2.2%), and phenolic acids (≥0.5%).

Oleactiv is standardized in polyphenols from different families and a daily dose of 450mg contains the same quantity of polyphenols as 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, to mimic the benefits of a balanced and diversified diet.  

Mechanism of action research and clinical trials show that Oleactiv® may modulate cardiometabolic risk factors by improving insulin sensitivity and reducing triglyceride and remnant cholesterol levels.

3.1 Mechanistic Insights: How Oleactiv® modulates lipid and glucose metabolism

Preclinical investigations using the Golden Syrian hamster model - a validated system for studying human-like diet-induced atherogenesis - showed that Oleactiv® acts simultaneously on lipids, glucose and vascular function.

Comparing three key health indicators across three groups: a normal diet group (ND), a high-fat diet group (HFD), and a group treated with Oleactiv.

• the levels of LDL-C and remnant cholesterol
• the HOMA-IR index
• Triglycerides

Preclinical study demonstrated that Oleactiv®  prevents the HFD-induced increase in LDL-C + RC, triglycerides and insulin resistance.

In addition, supplementing with Oleactiv® also helps increase reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) by 17%, helping to prevent cholesterol buildup and atherosclerosis.

Notably, Oleactiv prevents aortic fatty streak formation. In histological analyses, the aortic fatty streak area was reduced by 69% after 12 weeks of Oleactiv® supplementation.

Together, these results highlight Oleactiv’s potential to counteract the harmful effects of a high-fat diet by improving cholesterol handling and insulin sensitivity, ultimately supporting cardiovascular health.

3.2 Clinical Validation: translating science into measurable outcomes

The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover clinical trial supporting Oleactiv has been performed with The Institut Pasteur de Lille, an internationally recognized medical research center located in Lille showed results after 3 weeks of supplementing with Oleactiv® 450 mg/day, the group of participants (21 men, 40-70 years old) noted:

Key findings included 

• a −0.27 g/L reduction in triglycerides
• a −0.05 g/L decrease in remnant cholesterol
• a −0.72 improvement in HOMA-IR - a composite marker of insulin resistance. 

Together, these results suggest that Oleactiv may play a meaningful role in reducing cardiometabolic risk by improving both lipid and insulin-related parameters.

4. Implications for formulation and product innovation

Oleactiv offers a complementary approach to standard strategies in cardiovascular disease prevention. It can be used alone for a highly targeted approach to remnant cholesterol management, or alongside mainstream solutions to support overall cardiovascular health.

We thus demonstrate the benefits of Oleactiv® on modifiable risk factors of cardiovascular diseases, with a food-based ingredient providing the same content in polyphenols as 5 average servings of fruit and vegetables.

Formulated at a daily dose of 450mg/day for a single intake. 

Formulated at a daily dose of 450 milligrams per day for a single intake, Oleativ is GMO-free, gluten-free and available for tablets, capsules, soft gels., etc.