Women's health

Women’s supplements trend towards reproductive, digestive and bone health

19-Apr-2023 By Asia Sherman

Menopause, painful sex, urinary tract infections, menstrual cramps, infertility, bloating, vaginal PH, hormonal imbalance, brittle bones – all health issues filling supplement lines increasingly focused on the female consumer and her specific needs. But...

PODCAST: Business woman and new mum sees sales soar after dazzling TV dragons

18-Apr-2023 By Olivia Haslam

A botanical supplement startup founder has seen business explode after impressing TV show ‘dragon’ investors with her scientific and personal knowledge of how hormones impact the skin.

Medium GI rice intake reduces insulin therapy in women with gestational diabetes – Thailand study

12-Apr-2023 By Tingmin Koe

The intake of rice with a medium glycemic index (GI) has shown to reduce the need for insulin therapy among women with gestational diabetes, according to a four-week clinical trial conducted in Thailand.

The Rise of the PMS supplement: ‘Making it easier to go with the flow’

11-Apr-2023 By Asia Sherman

The recent influx of PMS supplements enters a sizable market considering that three in four women experience the aches and pains associated with the hormonal fluctuations of the menstrual cycle.

Blueberries benefit postmenopausal women with high blood pressure: Study

05-Apr-2023 By Asia Sherman

Daily blueberry consumption improves endothelial function in postmenopausal women with high blood pressure, according to a recent study.

From informed to involved: Qina shares shifts in personalised nutrition space

31-Mar-2023 By Olivia Brown

Mariette Abrahams, CEO and founder of Qina, discusses how consumers are now seeking support to action personalised advice, urging personalised nutrition (PN) platforms to prioritise behavioural change approaches and incorporate technology and wearables...

Scientists urge maintenance of vitamin E status during pregnancy to control blood sugar

30-Mar-2023 By Olivia Brown

A large-scale retrospective cohort study observes that low first-trimester vitamin E (VE) levels are associated with increased fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels and gestational diabetes (GD) risk, in the Chinese mothers studied.

Gut-bone axis: Probiotic strain may boost bone measure in older women

29-Mar-2023 By Stephen Daniells

Dietary supplementation with a specific strain of probiotic may boost bone measures in postmenopausal women, says a new study from Korea.

March 2023 Launch Pad

29-Mar-2023 By Nikki Hancocks

This month's new product launches include a vitamins and minerals range for women, a partnership between sports nutrition and confectionery giants, and omega-3 supplements for all ages.

Start-up spotlight

FerryX for IBS: Start-up launches probiotic able to thrive during inflammation

27-Mar-2023 By Olivia Brown

Jenny Bailey, PhD and FerryX founder, discusses how her work as an immunologist researching gut inflammation at Bristol University enabled for the identification of the 'Ferrocalm' probiotic strain and subsequent launch of her brand FerryX....

Amino acid and antioxidant offer heart health benefits in post-menopausal women

27-Mar-2023 By Nikki Hancocks

A new industry-funded study involving healthy post-menopausal women suggests that the amino acid citrulline combined with the antioxidant glutathione can improve cardiac function in this population.

Women’s health on the high street: Parla and Holland & Barrett campaign for endometriosis

23-Mar-2023 By Olivia Brown

Holland & Barrett's new endometriosis campaign aims to increase awareness and research into the condition

Collagen support for the vegan market: SkinGlo meets demand

16-Mar-2023 By Olivia Brown

SkinGlo discusses the popularity of its new ‘Vegan Collagen Support’ supplement containing a blend of amino acids that occur naturally in animal-based collagen products.

Podcast: Seaweed as a 'wonderful' powerhouse for skin

16-Mar-2023 By Olivia Brown

The marine biologist and CEO of Weed & Wonderful, Craig Rose, discusses the company’s venture into the world of seaweed which he describes as a largely underutilised nutrient powerhouse that is abundantly available around the UK.

The growing beauty-from-within market: Benefits beyond skin deep

16-Mar-2023 By Nikki Hancocks

The beauty-from-within market has experienced a significant evolution over the last decade, driven by a growing consumer base and demand for 'clean' and personalised products that promote overall health and wellness.

Startup Spotlight

Startup spotlights long-overlooked over-50s market with protein innovation

13-Mar-2023 By Olivia Brown

The recently launched Provytl 50+, founded by dietician Zoe Cotrell, provides subscription boxes of daily pre-portioned protein sachets to the over-50s, to meet heightened protein needs and prevent muscle loss.

Podcast: Pura Collagen founder on scientifically-astute consumers and the menopause trend

10-Mar-2023 By Nikki Hancocks

Interest in the symptoms of menopause and how supplements can support women in this life-stage has skyrocketed of late but Pura Collagen MD and co-founder Jennifer Mo, is confident consumers are astute enough to seek out science-led brands, as opposed...

The ‘untapped’ innovation potential of female nutrition: ‘A new wave of food and beverage products is expected’

10-Mar-2023 By Flora Southey

Significant opportunity exists for food and beverage companies to target holistic nutrition for women, according to insight from R&D consultancy Sagentia Innovation.

Breaking the cycle: getting data equity in research

07-Mar-2023 By Danielle Masterson

As we celebrate International Women’s Day this week and throughout the month of March, we examine the lack of representation in clinical trials and ask whether the FTC’s new guidelines are enough to disrupt the current system’s cumulative bias.

SPINS: The opportunity for Active Nutrition is golden right now

07-Mar-2023 By Stephen Daniells

As the sports nutrition mainstreams to be more about active nutrition, the opportunity for the category is “golden right now”, says Scott Dicker, Director of Market Insights for SPINS.

Gut-muscle axis: Bifidobacterium potential marker of sarcopenia, study finds

07-Mar-2023 By Olivia Brown

The species of Bifidobacterium longum and Prevotella copri differed significantly in abundance between sarcopenia sufferers and healthy controls in a new study of elderly women, highlighting potential treatment intervention opportunities.

Study links anaemia in adults to magnesium deficiency

02-Mar-2023 By Olivia Haslam

A study involving data from 13,423 adults concludes that magnesium deficiency is closely related to a higher rate of anaemia occurrence, especially among women and older Americans.

NutraWomen Wednesday: Elodie Aragon, Product Manager, Lallemand Health Solutions

01-Mar-2023 By Danielle Masterson

After working as a product manager in the pharmaceutical industry, Elodie Aragon left to pursue a career focused on proactive health solutions.

Insights from Probiota 2023

VIDEO: 4D evolution of the EU microbiome market with innovation driving growth

27-Feb-2023 By Olivia Brown

With the strong growth of the European 'biotics’ market revealed in the doubling of online product reviews, Lumina Intelligence ecommerce insights highlight postbiotics, women’s health and synbiotics as key opportunities.

Faster pregnancy: Probiotics, myo-inositol, micronutrients intake quickens conception in overweight women – 12-months trial

21-Feb-2023 By Tingmin Koe

A year long trial showed that the daily intake of a supplement containing probiotics, myo-inositol, and micronutrients could shorten the time needed for overweight women to conceive.

Study: selenium intake may prevent cataracts in menopause

03-Feb-2023 By Olivia Brown

Researchers have postulated that taking selenium supplements at the beginning of menopause may help women prevent cataract.

Creating user-friendly fertility supplements for both sexes

02-Feb-2023 By Nikki Hancocks

The industrialised world is gripped by an "infertility crisis" and there’s great opportunity for supplements to help but the market needs more consumer friendly dosage forms, according to Hermes Pharma.

Study observes gut dysbiosis in anaemic women

01-Feb-2023 By Olivia Brown

Significant differences were noted in the intestinal bacterial populations of iron-deficient anaemic (IDA) women compared with healthy controls, with Faecalibacterium species displaying the greatest reductions, a new metabolomics study finds.

Review provides consensus on vitamin D recommendations for Poland

31-Jan-2023 By Nikki Hancocks

Clinicians and researchers from across Poland have contributed to a review of scientific literature, concluding with a consensus of vitamin D recommendations, pointing out the importance of the vitamin to reduce the risk of spectrum of diseases.

Offspring obesity: review stresses “urgent need” to address maternal vitamin D deficiencies

30-Jan-2023 By Olivia Brown

A recent literature review highlights collated evidence that maternal low vitamin D (VD) levels may result in abnormal growth of the offspring, as well as disordered lipid and glucose metabolism disorders.

5 take-aways we learned during our Business Leaders Forum

27-Jan-2023 By Stephen Daniells

From 2022 sales numbers to consumer enthusiasm remaining high, and from progress with equality and diversity in the industry to the growth in awareness around the importance of the microbiome for health, there were lots of talking points from our 3rd...

Sold out! IPA World Congress + Probiota in Barcelona sets new records

27-Jan-2023 By Stephen Daniells

The upcoming IPA World Congress + Probiota is officially sold out. The event, which will take place 6-8 February, will bring together over 450 delegates in Barcelona.

The rise of femtech: a “rapidly growing industry that should not be ignored”

27-Jan-2023 By Olivia Brown

A report published by personalised nutrition (PN) experts at Qina emphasises that the opportunity for using PN with female technology (femtech) to address health conditions is vast, following an increased awareness of gender-specific health conditions...

L. salivarius probiotic modulates vaginal microbiome to improve fertility, research concludes

17-Jan-2023 By Nikki Hancocks

Administration of the probiotic L. salivarius CECT 30632 for six months led to modulation of the vaginal microbiome and improved fertility health, according to a study involving 74 women.

French pine bark extract intake reduces hair loss in postmenopausal women – six-month RCT

17-Jan-2023 By Tingmin Koe

The supplementation of French pine bark extract has shown to increase hair density in women who have undergone menopause, according to a six-month clinical trial conducted in Shanghai.

Q&A: Levelle Nutrition on fueling women to run the world

16-Jan-2023 By Asia Sherman

Levelle Nutrition, founded by Linda Alvarez and Stephanie Schrauth, is on a mission to empower female athletes with fuel formulated for their physiology. With sex-specific nutrition understudied in clinical trial and overlooked in product formulations,...

Kriti Chaudhary, Head of Business Development, Vedic Lifesciences

11-Jan-2023 By Danielle Masterson

Kriti Chaudhary manages sales, marketing and business development for one of the most experienced contract research organizations in the dietary supplement industry. With a passion for science and innovation, she is the Head of Business Development at...

Clinicians should consider “trade-offs” in prevention strategies for birth defects, say researchers

11-Jan-2023 By Nicola Gordon-Seymour

Advice on maternal supplementation to prevent birth defects (BDs) should consider the teratogenic effects of multivitamins (MVs) and adverse effects of excess folic acid (FA), according to Chinese research.

Kaneka Probiotics takes on precision probiotics

09-Jan-2023 By Danielle Masterson

The company is seeing success in recent studies and are ramping up for an exciting new study in women’s health.

7 Reasons to Enter the NutraIngredients Awards!

09-Jan-2023 By Stephen Daniells

The 2023 NutraIngredients Awards are back with new categories but the same commitment to honour the best and brightest in ingredients, finished products, companies, people, and initiatives in food supplements and functional food & beverage.

Folic acid and iodine supplementation speeds up conception rate – new study

04-Jan-2023 By Hui Ling Dang

Dietary supplementation of folic acid and iodine could boost fertility rate, while evening primrose oil is associated with a longer time to pregnancy (TTP), say Singapore researchers.

Women's Health

How are sports nutrition brands catering to the female athlete?

15-Dec-2022 By Nikki Hancocks

Female focused sports nutrition (SN) brands are successfully bringing taboo health challenges out from under the table but those looking to cater to female athletes should harness technology to provide the power of knowledge, says an industry expert....

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Link with low fibre intake found in Asian population

15-Dec-2022 By Olivia Brown

A new meta-analysis of 12 studies reveals that women with Polycystic Ovary Syndome (PCOS) had significantly lower dietary fibre intake, compared with non-PCOS controls, in Asia.

Researchers raise concern over folic acid awareness in high BMI pregnancy

15-Dec-2022 By Nikki Hancocks

Further work needs to be done to raise awareness of the need for women with obesity to supplement both with a higher dose of folic acid and vitamin D, and to be aware of the role of iodine, researchers say.

‘Probably the best event in the probiotic field’: 7 reasons to attend the IPA World Congress + Probiota 2023

12-Dec-2022 By Stephen Daniells

The IPA World Congress + Probiota 2023 is two months away! The leading event for the probiotics, prebiotics, and microbiome community is a must-attend event, and let us tell you why…

Study findings: "The good, the bad and the ugly"

09-Dec-2022 By Nikki Hancocks

There is "room for the improvement" of design, analysis and reporting of nutrition studies, researchers have concluded following a meta-epidemiological analysis of more than 2,000 studies.

High protein and BCAA diet supports muscle maintenance in bed-rested women

08-Dec-2022 By Olivia Brown

Researchers observed a significantly reduced loss of lean body mass (LBM) in the early stages of bed rest in women administered a high protein-BCAA diet.

NutraWomen Wednesday: Dawna Salter-Farfan, PhD, RD, Senior Manager of Clinical Research, PLT Health Solutions

07-Dec-2022 By Danielle Masterson

Dawna Salter-Farfan, PhD, RD, spent over a decade at Amway, providing expert scientific and technical guidance for product formulation, labeling and advertising claims. After 14 years at Amway, Salter-Farfan joined PLT Health Solutions to support the...

Gut-bone axis: Daily probiotic may boost bone health for older women

05-Dec-2022 By Stephen Daniells

Long-term supplementation with a specific probiotic strain may improve gut health and lower inflammation in elderly women with low bone mineral density, says a new study. The data suggests this may lead to beneficial effects on bone metabolism.

Blackcurrant supplements may protect against osteoporosis in menopausal women: Study

28-Nov-2022 By Nicola Gordon-Seymour

Daily consumption of 784 mg of blackcurrant powder can reduce postmenopausal bone loss and potentially enhance bone formation, according to study results.