Speaking to NutraIngredients at the recent SupplySide Global event in Las Vegas, Florencia Moreno Torres, global marketing manager at Rousselot noted that glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP‑1) medications have normalized conversations around weight management.
“Many people plan to stop these drugs eventually, but maintaining results afterward is challenging, especially if muscle mass has been lost and metabolic rate has decreased,” she said.
“We still don’t know what the long‑term picture will look like for the millions of people using these therapies, but that uncertainty creates space for nutritional solutions that support metabolism, glucose control and healthier transitions.”
GLP‑1 and glucose control
When an individual eats, the gut releases incretin hormones such as GLP-1 and Glucose-dependent Insulinotropic Polypeptide (GIP). GLP-1 slows gastric emptying, enhances insulin release to help regulate post-meal blood glucose levels and signals satiety to the brain, contributing to a prolonged feeling of fullness.
As Moreno Torres explained, the team spent years developing different collagen peptide variations and selected 17 candidates for testing. One peptide, Nextida GC, showed a clearly superior ability to stimulate GLP-1 in laboratory tests, which was then confirmed in animal studies and further in clinical research.
“GLP‑1 leads to lower glucose spikes and increased feelings of fullness,” she said. “What our ingredient does is boost the body’s natural GLP‑1 response on top of what is already released when you eat.”
She explained that this targets the management of the “glucose roller coaster.”
“Every time we eat, glucose rises and then falls, and that’s normal physiology, but with today’s highly processed diets, those spikes are often excessive,” she said.
“The higher the spike, the deeper the crash that follows. This dip is associated with fatigue, sluggishness and increased cravings, which often leads to more snacking and can perpetuate the cycle.”
Research from Stanford University found that around 80% of healthy individuals already experience excessive glucose spikes after a typical meal.
While these fluctuations are a natural effect of the digestive cycle, extreme fluctuations may contribute to metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
Target consumer groups
As interest in the GLP-1 movement continues to grow, Moreno Torres noted that Rousselot’s Nextida GC ingredient suits three main consumer personas.
The first group is people who are interested in the GLP‑1 journey but do not want to take pharmaceutical drugs.
“This product works with the body’s own GLP‑1 and only elevates levels around mealtimes, and unlike synthetic GLP‑1 drugs, which keep the signal ‘on’ continuously, this acts more like a temporary alarm that helps the body manage what you’ve just eaten,” she said.
The second group is people who are already using GLP‑1 medications, as many of them struggle to meet their nutritional needs, particularly protein intake, which can lead to muscle loss and other issues. A collagen‑based ingredient can help support protein intake, muscle maintenance and skin health, according to Moreno Torres.
“The third group is particularly interesting, that is people who are stopping GLP‑1 medications,” she said.
“What happens after discontinuation is still largely unknown, and this ingredient could offer a gentler transition, rather than stopping abruptly, and may be used periodically as part of a longer‑term strategy.”
Regulation and communication
As Moreno Torres explained, the GLP-1 space still requires a lot of education.
“Pharmaceutical companies have effectively taken ownership of the GLP‑1 narrative even though GLP‑1 is a hormone our bodies naturally produce,” she said.
“As soon as you mention GLP‑1, people often assume pharmaceuticals, which isn’t the case here. From a regulatory perspective, we have to be very careful with how we communicate, especially in the U.S., and even more so in Europe.”
This means that they are limited to using language such as “supporting normal glucose metabolism” or “for people interested in GLP‑1″ rather than making any direct comparisons to drugs.
