When looking towards the trends that shape the health and nutrition sector for product developers, we often hear about the growth of consumer gut health awareness and increasing proactive health and wellbeing management.
But what does that look like in practice? One of the ways we can see this manifesting is in the increased media focus on the gut. We are seeing more attention than ever on how the gut microbiome, the community of bacteria in their trillions that reside in the gut, can be used to support physical and mental health. This includes articles that explain the importance of ‘good’ gut bacteria and what the latest studies and research tells the consumer.
Major UK-based newspaper, The Guardian, recently published one such piece, ‘Unlocking the ‘gut microbiome’ – and its massive significance to our health’.
The article aims to share gut health knowledge with the consumer in actionable terms, aiming to support better understanding of what it can mean day-to-day.
Useful excerpts and information taken directly from the article are below, alongside Clasado’s perspective of what this tells health and nutrition product developers.
Please click here to read the article in full.
“Your gut microbiome is bigger than the average human brain. It’s a bustling community of trillions of bacteria, archaea, fungi and viruses, containing at least 150 times more genes than the human genome.”
Looking ahead to the future of health and wellbeing, it seems clear that the gut has a central role to play. This, of course, means that how products in this category are shaped and developed has real impact, both on a commercial level and in terms of consumer wellbeing.
There is a significant turning point in public consciousness – the term ‘bacteria’ is shedding its negative connotations as shoppers become more aware of how they help the body to function.
For brands in this space, the message is clear – consumers are becoming more comfortable with technical elements that typically were not highly publicised, in favour of simplification. Now, consumers are engaging with the science and technology behind today’s nutrition products,
“Lots of things that people don’t think about, like depression or anxiety, are very clearly modified by your gut microbes. Appetite and ability to digest food are modified by gut microbes. The key finding recently is the link with the immune system. Basically, the gut microbiome is controlling it, sending signals, because most of your immune system is in your gut, helping you fight infections, such as Covid and early cancers, that the immune system is picking off.” (Article quote from Professor Tim Spector, Epidemiologist at Kings College London)
As science continues to uncover the gut microbiome’s influence and its mechanisms of action, much still remains unknown. However, we do know of connections between the gut microbiome, its composition, and key areas of physical and mental health. While there is much more work to do in terms of connecting the dots, it suggests future potential for gut microbiome modulation, increasing the level of good gut bacteria, as a positive health intervention.
“Studies suggest having a diverse population of gut microbes is associated with better health. But when human populations urbanise, microbial diversity declines.”
Scientific understanding of the gut microbiome is developing at pace, as the extent of its influence is discovered. This includes Clasado’s own studies into the efficacy of Bimuno, its proprietary prebiotic GOS ingredient that nourishes bifidobacteria, a good gut bacteria associated with several important functions of the body.
Bimuno is the most studied prebiotic ingredient of its kind, supported by over 90 scientific publications, including more than 20 clinical trials. This gives product developers looking to create next-generation supplements or functional foods and beverages the confidence and performance they need to successfully connect with today’s gut-aware shoppers.
“Gut microbes do things the gut can’t do, liberating or synthesising nutrients from food, especially from plants and their polyphenols, living off non-digestible substrates, producing thousands of metabolites – useful chemicals – and making vital short-chain fatty acids that are involved with immunity, with keeping the gut and colon healthy, with moderating the body’s inflammatory responses and with the metabolism of glucose.”
As consumers become more comfortable with more in-depth terms regarding gut health, there is opportunity to speak more clearly on the role of good gut bacteria. This includes the production of short-chain fatty acids that are important to the body.
For health and nutrition brands, this offers an opportunity to speak to the impressive gut health science that is powering the category forwards. There is growing interest in immune health in today’s public health climate, and while there remains more to uncover in terms of how gut bacteria interact with and support immunity, there is potential for more products intended to support immunity to include prebiotic fibre, due to the substrate being a major fuel source for bifidobacteria.
To learn more about Bimuno and its commercial potential for supplement and functional food product developers, contact info@clasado.com.