Nutraceutical ingredients can be formulated into a wide variety of health-related products, including vitamins, supplements, mineral blends and foods like energy bars. Many of these formulations involve the fine blending of as many as 40 to 50 components, including powders and trace elements. While nutraceuticals are not regulated like pharmaceuticals, the products still must substantiate…
People in many countries, including the U.S., are experiencing an increased life span.1 However, the aging population aims not just for increased, but optimized, years of life. Paramount to this are strategies to improve cognition or delay age-related cognitive decline. Supporting cognitive function is something that can, and should, be considered, even before the earliest signs of…
Supply chain management involves the careful oversight and organized handling of a product’s development flow, from purchase and receipt of the raw materials to its manufacturing, testing, label development, labeling, packaging and distribution processes with the various service providers in each segment of the supply chain. Supply chain management is crucial for contract manufacturer selection…
Cognition is top of mind for consumers. Tom Druke, director of VitaCholine brand development, Balchem Human Nutrition and Pharma, pointed to data from Natural Marketing Institute’s (NMI) 2015 Healthy Aging Study showing loss of cognitive function is the top age-related apprehension reported by respondents. Their concerns aren’t without merit. “As we age, changes in brain…
Post-workout recovery supplements replenish energy stores, promote muscle repair and reduce muscle breakdown after a demanding workout. Intense physical exercise is energy-dependent. When the muscles burn calories by oxidation, free radicals and other reactive oxygen species (ROS) are formed as a byproduct.1 Free radicals can damage muscle fibers and reduce their ability to contract.2 Moderate…
Sleep aids are rapidly growing in popularity across the globe, posting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.5 percent between 2012 and 2017 to reach retail sales of US$2.3 billion in 2017, according to market research firm Euromonitor International. Driven by an increasingly stressed and sleepless consumer base, particularly in the developed world, sleep…
Branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) are incredibly popular with hardcore athletes and body builders. BCAAs include leucine, isoleucine and valine, which are essential amino acids that humans only get from food and beverage because the body doesn’t make them on its own. Among the benefits of BCAA products are stimulation of muscle protein synthesis (MPS), prevention…
Nitric oxide (NO) is a critically beneficial molecule for sports nutrition due to its role in cardiovascular function. Previously viewed as a noxious atmospheric gas, research in the 1980s began to illuminate the role NO plays as an important chemical messenger. Named “molecule of the year” in 1992 by the journal Science (1992;258(5090):1861), NO received…
The Trump Administration has approved the latest round of superimposed tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, including many dietary ingredients. The move places an immediate burden on the supply-side of the natural products industry, as companies scramble to figure out pricing and availability, while hoping for relief via an exclusion process. The effects,…