Ingredient Idol is the award competition that honors best-in-class ingredients in three health conditions. Held annually at SupplySide West, the contest this year focused on ingredients that target healthy aging, performance and women’s health.
More than 50 entries were received this year. This is indicative of an innovative marketplace for natural, functional bioactives that can power new product development in dietary supplements.
Three finalists in each of the three categories assembled on stage to give elevator pitches to a panel of three judges. The judges were Diana Morgan, VP of legal and regulatory for Nutrabolt and impresario for the What’s Up With Supps parties, David Foreman, R.Ph., formulation consultant known as The Herbal Pharmacist, and Doug Lynch, president of MarketWell Nutrition. They listened to the pitches, then peppered the contestants with follow-up questions, then huddled to decide the winners. All in all, a raucous, good-time event, which also included a special People’s Choice Award, bequeathed on the contestant who received the loudest applause from the packed house.
The finalists in the three categories were:
Aging:
Performance:
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Women:
Watch the video interviews with the three winners. Following are their entrance dossiers for the three winners, judged on the three metrics of innovation, science and market potential.
Aging
FutureCeuticals
cognatiQ
Innovation: Healthy aging, particularly within the cognitive health space, is experiencing immense growth due to the popularity of the category. However, cognatiQ stands alone as the ONLY healthy aging ingredient that delivers the complete package- story, science, substantiation and efficacy -based on the following: 1) It’s the ONLY healthy aging ingredient derived from a well-known, vibrant red botanical food called coffee fruit rather than from some exotic herb or animal or synthesized molecule. This appeals to supplement companies looking to step into healthy aging while also protecting them with domestic and international patents on our product. 2) It’s the ONLY healthy aging ingredient derived from sustainably sourced, zero waste, coffee fruit (by-product of coffee manufacturing) that has been rescued (upcycled) and repurposed to help improve both people and the planet. 3) It’s the ONLY healthy aging ingredient clinically shown to significantly boost BDNF, a key neuroprotein known to decline as we age, by 143%. This neuroprotein is well-known in the research and science community as crucial for brain health support and cognitive function- giving people cognitive reserve. 3) It’s been clinically shown to induce measurable improvements in concentration, alertness, reaction time, and accuracy both within 60 minutes post ingestion and sustain those benefits over 28 days with daily use. Additional research showed participants felt improvement in energy levels and less fatigued after taking cognatiQ demonstrating that this unique, natural and non-stimulatory ingredient can deliver clinical efficacy the consumer can feel without the harsh side effects.
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Scientific merit, safety and efficacy: CognatiQ is backed by 5 clinically researched studies supported by a development strategy that 1) identified activity of key brain biomarkers, 2) confirmed structural changes in neurophysiological pathways, and 3) demonstrated functional changes in brain performance both acute and over time. Study 1 and study 2 (bioactive benefits): Single 100 mg dose of CognatiQ showed increased blood levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) by 143% over baseline within 60 minutes. BDNF is a key neuroprotein that plays a vital role in brain health, including maintaining the health of existing brain cells, supporting the growth of new neurons, and supporting overall cognitive function such as memory and learning. CognatiQ (coffee fruit extract) was also the only botanical to significantly increase BDNF vs other known chlorogenic acid, caffeine and coffee bean ingredient sources, establishing the novel activity of this material. Study 3 (structural benefits): Employed fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) and MRS (magnetic resonance spectroscopy) during a pair of cognitive challenges to determine the underlying neurophysiological changes associated with cognatiQ supplementation. Results showed that cognatiQ increased activity and connectivity in regions of the brain involved in attention, focus, higher-order cognition and working memory. This brain activity, post 100 mg of cognatiQ, demonstrates that it crosses the blood brain barrier (BBB). Study 4 (functional benefits): Participants were subject to fatiguing cognitive working memory tasks through 28 days of supplementation. CognatiQ demonstrated positive effect on measures of cognition in as little as 7 days that persisted and increased through 28 days. Study 5 (functional benefits): Participants were subject to a series of working memory and cognitive tasks 1 hour post supplementation. CognatiQ demonstrated a significant improvement in accuracy and omissions rate, providing participants with elevated cognition, a sharper mind within 1 hour, and unlocked mental agility.
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Market potential: CognatiQ is fully soluble, stable and efficacious at a low dose of just 100 mg, making it versatile in a variety of supplement and functional food applications. CognatiQ is being used in a wide range of applications and delivery systems that include ready-to-mix and ready-to-drink beverages, capsules, tablets, gummies and functional bars/snacks. CognatiQ is on trend as brain health has manifested itself into markets including healthy aging, women’s health, sports nutrition, energy drinks, gamer products and brain-boosting foods.
Performance
Red Leaf Biologics
ReDaxin
Innovation: Truly new and innovative ingredients don’t come around often. ReDaxin is the product of a one-in-a-million (two million actually) natural adaptation in sorghum that is so dramatic the traditionally green sorghum leaves turn deep red from a bioactive transformation that accumulates a unique, powerful polyphenol complex throughout the whole leaf. Notably, sorghum is known to produce a rare and potent class of natural polyphenols known as 3-deoxyanthocyanidins, but these are produced in miniscule quantities in wild-type sorghums, meaning they’ve never been commercially available before. However, RedLeaf Biologics’ proprietary, non-GMO sorghum variety was discovered in 2010 at the University of Kentucky as a single plant in a two million plant hybrid research study designed to understand health properties of sorghum. This single plant had leaves that turned deep red as it dramatically increased the production of these 3-deoxyanthocyanidins and other beneficial polyphenols in the leaves. RedLeaf has spent more than a decade tracing that non-GMO adaptation to create a proprietary, true breeding sorghum plant, making the first commercially scalable source of these 3-deoxyanthocyanidin bioactives. RedLeaf works with U.S. farmers to plant this sorghum, then harvests and extracts the 3-deoxyanthocyanidin complex from the leaves to create ReDaxin, a truly unique ingredient for a variety of applications. ReDaxin’s versatility is due to its rare bioactive properties including the reduction of oxidative stress, anti-inflammatory effects, and immunomodulatory benefits to activate and prepare the immune system. ReDaxin comes from an entirely new biomass, is grown and produced exclusively in the U.S. using sustainable agriculture practices, and has been clinically validated to support exercise recovery.
Scientific merit, safety and efficacy: The first human clinical study on ReDaxin was completed earlier this year in the area of exercise recovery. The randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted at the University of Kentucky and enrolled 29 recreationally active men between 18 and 35 years old across three study arms: placebo, 250 mg ReDaxin and 500 mg ReDaxin. The study utilized a delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) protocol and assessed participants over the 24-72 recovery period following exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD). The primary muscle recovery endpoints were measurements of strength output (maximum voluntary isometric contraction – MVIC) and muscle soreness (pain pressure threshold – PPT). Secondary endpoints included measurements of muscle thickness, arm circumference and perceived recovery status. Both ReDaxin doses were shown to significantly increase the percent change in peak torque output during the recovery window compared to the placebo group, outperforming the placebo group by 4x (250 mg) and 5x (500 mg) and demonstrating greater strength recovery. Both ReDaxin doses showed significant increase in peak torque output during recovery, while the placebo group showed no significant increase during the same time period, demonstrating faster strength recovery. Both ReDaxin doses also significantly increased the muscle pain pressure threshold during recovery while the placebo group had no change, demonstrating decreased muscle soreness during recovery. This study is currently being prepared for submission for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Additionally, a cognitive health clinical study on ReDaxin is currently under recruitment at the University of Kentucky. This randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study, enrolling 60 participants across the same three groups, is assessing cognitive function via neurocognitive assessments from the validated NIH toolbox, in addition to subjective questionnaire responses on a variety of topics including stress, mood, sleep and fatigue, and physical function. Additionally, blood biomarker analysis is being conducted on neurocognitive markers (BDNF, IFN-alpha), inflammatory markers (TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, CRP) and immune system markers (IFN-gamma, IL-2, IL-4, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13).
RedLeaf has also collected extensive in vitro data demonstrating that ReDaxin is a potent inhibitor of oxidative stress via upregulating Nrf2 expression, outperforming pure reference standards of other botanicals such as quercetin, resveratrol, ginkgo biloba and epicatechin. ReDaxin has also been shown to suppress the production of classic pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6) by greater than 90% in induced macrophages, while simultaneously supporting both the innate and adaptive immune systems and guiding them towards their anti-inflammatory, “heal and repair” phases. Pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages respond to ReDaxin by repolarizing to anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages while activated T cells become regulatory T cells, which combat excessive inflammatory responses in the adaptive immune system.
Market potential: Natural products with all the features and benefits of ReDaxin simply do not exist. This is a truly novel biomass producing a class of polyphenols widely studied in academia but never before available at a commercial scale. ReDaxion exhibits potent bioactivity that simultaneously modulates inflammation, immunity and oxidative stress, with clinically validated results.
This is a water-soluble extract that is light-, heat- and pH-stable with a pleasant, tea-like aroma and flavor that does not require masking agents. This extract is free from any additives or carriers that is extracted using a clean label, aqueous process, from a crop that is grown exclusively in the U.S. using scalable, sustainable, row crop agricultural practices, and never leaves U.S. soil. It’s also certified non-GMO, kosher, halal, vegan, gluten-free, self-affirmed GRAS and produced in an SQF Level 2 facility. As a result, ReDaxin has already generated significant market interest from some of the biggest names in global nutrition and food and beverage, down to smaller, niche companies looking for their first hero ingredient. ReDaxin is already on the market in a dietary supplement blend capsule, an RTM recovery beverage sachet and as a standalone sports performance capsule. Additionally, it has been formulated into multiple products getting ready to launch in the coming months. Interested customers are utilizing ReDaxin’s numerous qualities to create gummies, RTD and RTM beverages, food and nutrition products in addition to capsules. RedLeaf also has an established research license with a leading specialty ingredient multinational to develop the extract for topical cosmetic applications.
Women’s health
Waleria Healthtech
Aspurus
Innovation: Aspurus stands out for its innovative, proprietary, clean-label extraction process of shatavari root, backed by human clinical research demonstrating its effectiveness in relieving key menopausal symptoms. Our full-spectrum shatavari (Asparagus racemosus) extract is standardized to 5% shatavarins, the main bioactive constituent. Aspurus offers the highest concentration of shatavarins, at a lower dosage, maximizing both potency and efficacy.
Scientific merit, safety and efficacy: Aspurus is backed by innovative research and deep-rooted expertise showcasing our commitment to providing effective, scientifically backed solutions for women. A gold standard clinical study was conducted to investigate the use of aspurus on 70 menopausal (peri, pre-and post) women. The study aimed to investigate the safety and efficacy of aspurus compared to placebo in the management of menopausal symptoms (hot flashes, night sweats, etc.) and regulation of the HPO axis. Link to Paper– Insilico Studies- Our in silico analysis of shatavarins’ binding activity with female hormones provides new insights into the multifaceted hormonal-balancing effects. Shatavarins, the primary phytoconstituents of shatavari, have high molecular weights and may interact with hormone receptors. We have conducted a molecular docking analysis for different shatavarins such as shatavarin I, shatavarin IV, shatavarin VI, shatavarin VII, shatavarin VIII, shatavarin IX and shatavarin X with different hormonal receptors such as estrogen alpha, beta and gamma receptor, progesterone receptor, FSH and LH receptors. The best docking conformations with the highest docking scores, specific interactions and bond formations, and the most important residues of the receptors were identified and reported. The study was successful in providing an initial comparative insight into the binding efficiencies of the shatavarins for different female hormonal receptors. Link to Paper
Under publication review / pre-clincial studies: This is a comprehensive biological assessment to understand the physiological, biochemical, cellular, molecular and genetic acceptability of aspurus by living organisms and animals. This study was done in two phases, the first phase considered the evaluation of mutagenicity cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of shatavari (Asparagus racemosus) root-extract formulation. In the second phase, the sub-acute toxicity analyses was done in Wister rats for the product formulation. We have filed a patent (pending) for our extraction process for enhancing shatavarins, the primary phytoactive constituent in our shatavari extract. We have conducted an in-depth bibliometric analysis considering the published literature data from 1967 to May 2024. This was consolidating all available literature on shatavari’s impact on women’s wellness. (Under publication review.)
Market potential: Aspurus addresses a significant consumer need by targeting the rapidly growing population of menopausal women, expected to reach 1.1 billion globally by 2025, according to the United Nations. Surveys from sources like Forbes, Menopause Matters and Google search trends highlight the increasing demand for natural menopausal remedies. In fact, one in three women now prefers natural alternatives to hormone replacement therapy (HRT). According to NBJ’s 2023 estimates, menopause-specific supplements currently account for 1% of the USA dietary supplements market, with sales projected to grow from $630 million to over $660 million by 2024. Women’s health as a sector is experiencing significant expansion, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.7%. With Aspurus tailored specifically to address women’s health needs, we are well-positioned to capitalize on this growing market. We offer a trusted, natural solution that merges time-honored ayurvedic wisdom with modern scientific research. Aspurus addresses a significant unmet need in the menopausal market while aligning with the growing consumer demand for natural and effective health solutions. Our company’s mission goes beyond financial success. We are committed to fostering economic empowerment for Indian women farmers, sharing profits to ensure Asprus reaches underprivileged communities in need of menopausal support. By focusing on women’s health, we aim to deliver effective solutions rooted in nature, improving the quality of life for women through the power of ayurvedic herbs. This gives us the potential to bring a holistic potential solution for this health concern to the U.S. market.
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