Banerjee was speaking to NutraIngredients at the recent Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit held in Singapore last month, where GLP-1 was one of the main topics, with Banerjee leading a roundtable discussion on “Health & Wellness: Is GLP-1 really the big opportunity in Asia?”
In the West, the popularity of GLP-1 medications has led to a new wave of opportunities for dietary supplement and food and beverage innovation.
Most innovations center on companion foods rich in protein and fiber, or portion control, where each serving has fewer calories, sugar, or sodium.
These innovations have also given rise to trends such as “fibermaxxing” or the “proteinification of everything” in the past year.
While most Asian markets have now embraced protein-rich products, the trend of fibermaxxing and portion control is still in its early days in the region, Banerjee said.
“We in Asia are following the trends; we are not driving and leading the trends,” said Banerjee, founder and director of Bangalore-based food and nutrition consultancy Thinking Forks Consulting.
However, one niche area where Asian companies can tap into to pioneer a new wave of GLP-1 nutrition innovation is fermented foods and beverages.
“For Asian companies, I think an area where we can pioneer a new trend is around fermented products,” she told NI. “Across Asia, food fermentation is already part of our regular everyday processes at home. Be it South Korea, Japan, China and India, we all have our different versions of fermenting. We ferment our grains and rice, and fermented products benefit the gut microbiome, which is a big opportunity for us.”
In fact, there is already one product that Banerjee said constituted an ideal option for GLP-1 users: Yakult’s fermented probiotic milk.
“Yakult is an example. It’s portion-controlled, dose-controlled and it’s fermented,” she said. “That ticks all the boxes for something that a GLP-1 user would be looking for.”
Gastrointestinal disturbances are common side effects reported by GLP-1 users, including nausea, vomiting, constipation and diarrhea, according to a review published in Nature Health.
These issues have driven demand for gut support products, especially fiber and biotics.
Other opportunities
While protein, soluble fiber, and micronutrients should form the basis of nutrition designed for GLP-1 users, Banerjee said there were also opportunities for companies to design products offering parallel benefits.
One such benefit is beauty from within, which is closely linked to GLP-1 users’ pursuit of a more desirable physical appearance.
“What I think is an interesting space to look at is bioactive ingredients, such as collagen, which contributes to skin appearance,” she said.
Mounting evidence also shows that GLP-1 medication use, especially semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro), is associated with an increased risk of hair loss, as shown in a systematic review published in Science Progress.
Another opportunity is formulating products that work in the GLP-1 pathway and botanicals could be a space that companies could explore.
“Botanicals, whether they are Traditional Chinese Medicine or Ayurveda, could be very interesting for us to look at. We have a big opportunity there,” she said.
Berberine is one such example.
A recent study published in the International Journal of Clinical Trials showed that supplementation with berberine extract Metaberine for 14 days could significantly increase fasting plasma GLP-1 and postprandial GLP-1 versus placebo.
Other potential candidates include white mulberry leaf extract, hops extract and red ginseng.
The gut microbiome opportunity for GLP-1 users, from fermented foods to probiotics and biotics, sits at the heart of what the microbiome sector will be examining at Probiota Global 2027.
