Aeons: Ancient Roots - New Name, Same Problems.

Ancient Roots was originally released as part of the Origin’s Diet website. It has now moved over to Aeons. A new website and label design set up to sell Ancient Roots oil, among other Origin’s Diet products.

We have already written about Ancient Roots and have received many comments from unhappy customers - you can read that here. But since they have created another website called Aeons, we think it's worth covering again.

Pay attention to bottle size!

The new Aeons website suffers from another issue brought over from the Origin’s Diet website. There is no clear mention of the bottle size. For £44.95 per bottle, you’d expect to get a litre of olive oil, maybe 750ml? No, these bottles are very small and only contain 250ml of olive oil. At their recommended dosage of one tablespoon a day this is only enough to last two weeks.

No Polyphenol Certification

Without a visible polyphenol certification, or even an idea of how many polyphenols are expected to be contained in the oil, it’s impossible to say if their dosage suggestion is appropriate. It also makes it very hard to compare Ancient Roots against other oils like-for-like. Other producers happily publish polyphenol numbers and certifications for all to see, just take a look at our homepage and you’ll see our top 5 polyphenol oils.

Not Organic or Globally Recognised

For an oil with a price tag much higher than the average competitor, you’d expect it to come with all the certifications, accolades and recognition that comes with being a longstanding premium producer of high polyphenol oil. Unfortunately it is very hard to justify the Aeons product in this regard. Never mind the fact that oil does not have a global reputation or show off any awards it has won from oil competitions, it’s not even certified organic. For some context, take a look at high polyphenol producer ONSURI’s list of awards from across the world.

ONSURI's list of global awards for 2021

Potential shelf-life issues

Even with the new packaging Aeons has released, there are still some issues with it that may negatively affect the shelf-life of the oil. Polyphenols are very sensitive and after a year in storage, even in darkness, polyphenols can decrease by an average of 42%. The presence of light will only accelerate this process. The new Aeons bottle is only partially darkened, which will still let light into the oil, reducing its shelf-life and the amount of polyphenols within.

Using aluminium tins for olive oil is not only more eco-friendly, but it fully protects the oil from light—allowing you to display the oil on your countertop. See ONSURI for a great example of a producer to have adopted aluminium cans in this way.

Our Recommendation

At current prices you’re paying £17.98 for every 100ml of Ancient Roots. There are other, more affordable options if you’re looking for a certified high polyphenol olive oil so you can consume it regularly and sustainably as part of a long term healthy habit.

If you’re looking for a single bottle of oil to start with and see how you get on, the ONSURI Arbosana is a great starting point. It has a certified polyphenol level of 584 mg/Kg, and it only costs £3.70 per 100ml of oil—that means you’re getting almost five times as much oil for your money with ONSURI.

You can take the savings even further if you stock up with more oil at once. Buying 6 x 750ml bottles of 484mg/Kg Opus Oléa for £125 works out to be £2.78 per 100ml.