Probiotics expand from gut health to full wellness
schedule2 Min ReadSupplySide Supplement Journal editor Devon Gholam speaks with Abhijit Natu of Maypro about generating demand for dietary supplement ingredients. Probiotics have proliferated in dietary. . .
schedule2 Min ReadSupplySide Supplement Journal editor Devon Gholam speaks with Abhijit Natu of Maypro about generating demand for dietary supplement ingredients. Probiotics have proliferated in dietary supplements, but how did they go from digestive health to whole-body wellness?Abhijit Natu, VP of U. S. nutrition at Maypro, spoke with SupplySide Supplement Journal to share his take on using the science of an ingredient as a “springboard” for growing category demand. The gut-brain axis stemmed from a solid probiotic foundationProbiotics have evolved from serving a single need state — namely digestion — to impacting multiple facets of human health. Meanwhile, “biotic” solutions have grown to include prebiotics, postbiotics and synbiotics. This phenomenon happened as a result of a mindset shift in consumers, Natu explained. “Probiotics help them think about (supplements) as a means to achieve an overall wellness, and it transitioned from being an endpoint of their digestive health issues to being an entry point for an overall health wellness,” Natu said. Related:Protein developer unlocks the potential of leavesThe explosion of the gut-brain axis and biotic solutions catering to mood and cognition serve as a prime example, showing how new solutions “springboard” from established connections. “Springboarding is what transitioned the platform of probiotics and bridged the gap between clinical microbiology and clinical substantiation to the consumer trend around what their needs are and how they feel about it,” Natu said. The story of ingredients starts with the scienceThe springboarding approach can be replicated to grow demand for several ingredients and categories, but it must start with science and quality. As consumers become increasingly savvy about supplements, science must lead the way in delivering benefits, Natu shared. “Unless there is a clear substantiation and science for that ingredient, it's hard to get to a point where you can actually deliver a benefit to the consumers, and therefore, for a brand to use that ingredient,” he said. When discussing his advice for brands, Natu explained the importance of understanding consumers and what problems they want to solve. After identifying the target need state, then use science to tell the story. “I always tell (brands) and manufacturers, if you can explain to someone what the ingredient does for your consumer, how it does it and how long it does it, you have a solution,” Natu said. “And if you cannot do that, that's not the right ingredient for you. ”About the AuthorEditor, SupplySide Supplement JournalDevon Gholam, Ph. D. , is an editor at SupplySide Supplement Journal. She has been in the functional food and nutraceutical industry for nearly two decades, with a career touching on product development, innovation, technical sales and technical writing at companies such as the Kellogg Co. , Ganeden Biotech (now part of Kerry) and Step Change Innovations. Gholam is passionate about women's health and the impact of GLP-1 medication on the food, beverage and supplement industries. She is eager to share her trademark passion for knowledge and credible science to help foster an innovative and collaborative spirit within the nutraceutical community.