Alexis Collins, Director of Product & Brand Strategy at Stratum Nutrition, said two ingredients that stand out across the board are collagen and ashwagandha. Another trend she’s picked up on is ingredients that are sustainable.
“This doesn't necessarily mean plant-based, because there are certainly upcycled ingredients– I think that's one of the appeals of collagen. And then we have our obviously our NEM eggshell membrane ingredient which is also upcycled and we've seen that be a real nice selling point in addition to the health claims that we have on that ingredient. But then as far as sustainability goes, plant-based plays in there majorly. So people who are looking to be healthy but also support a healthy planet. I think that the plant-based trend is also playing into why we're seeing in herbals like ashwagandha, mushrooms and other adaptogens that really surged in popularity. It's kind of in a perfect storm combined with everyone really needing more stress and mood support.”
Multifunctional products are also making a splash, with Collins highlighting Bimuno, a prebiotic ingredient that Stratum added to its portfolio this year. It has digestive and cognitive benefits as well as fresh research that measured its immune support properties.
“There's a sports nutrition spin that we have with the latest clinical research study that was published using Bimuno and this was done in elite rugby players during their rugby season. So these rugby players supplemented with Bimuno daily and their duration of upper respiratory issues was decreased by two days. So when they basically got sick they were sick for less time, which matters a lot when you're in a high performance physical sport where you have to be on and you really don't have a lot of time to recover before your next practice,” said Collins. “So I found that study to be really interesting to look at because you're looking at a group of people that are under a lot of stress because it's their season and they don't have a lot of downtime at all to recover and then they're traveling a lot, so their immune systems are just always being tested and exposed.”
To hear more on trends, including the latest in digestive and women’s health, as well as Stratum’s 20th anniversary plans, listen to the NutraCast.
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