“A growing silver economy”: Industry spotlights protein for seniors as prevention is focalized

11 Feb 2020 --- With people living longer lives than ever before, an increasing emphasis is placed on ensuring that they stay healthy into old age. This has created a lucrative market in the nutrition space, with companies rapidly innovating to address a range of needs, with muscle mass-protecting protein being a particular emphasis. In part one of its coverage, NutritionInsight speaks to key players in this space to learn more about how the face of aging is shifting away from outward appearances and why people are facing it head-on.

According to Isabel Gomez, Lipofoods Marketing Manager, quality of life is increasingly prioritized over maintaining youthful looks. “A very exciting pro-aging movement has emerged and is spreading globally. It consists of moving away from the ‘beauty ideal’ or the desire to fight aging on the product positioning and to embrace aging instead. This is a result of the consumer evolution, where they are not concerned anymore about looking younger, but they want to stay active and healthy to age in the best possible way.”

Additionally, there are crucial cultural differences surrounding aging to consider in terms of marketing, sales and portfolio development. “In the Western world, the focus is more on anti-aging, remaining youthful for as long as possible. In parts of Asia, however, aging is seen in a positive light, with wisdom and family a key focus. In families, the elderly are treasured and placed in high regard. Consumers are taking a more holistic approach to aging well and there is a growing silver economy,” explains Eloise Joiner, Head of Marketing for Fonterra’s Medical Nutrition and Healthy Ageing team. 

However, as people continue to live longer, it is important to recognize that their years in poor health are also increasing, highlights Elodie Macariou, Senior Product Manager at Lactalis Ingredients. “This means that their healthy life expectancy remains more or less the same. That is why healthy aging will be one of the main concerns in the coming years,” she explains. 

This inversion of the population pyramid is a structural problem that has economic and social aspects to consider, in addition to just health, argues Patricia Martorell, Cell Biology Lab Manager at ADM. “This has caused individuals to change numerous behaviors in their daily lives, such as increased practice of sport, concern for a healthier diet, increased skin care and others.”

In addition, aging has become, in some ways, a lifestyle that also encompasses a number of behaviors where functional ingredients play a key role. “This has led to greater elasticity of consumer demand and an even greater propensity for these ingredients,” she states. 

Aided by nutritional breakthroughs, people are no longer willing to take a passive attitude toward aging. Anne Louise Friis, Health & Performance Nutrition Manager at Arla Food Ingredients (AFI), notes that people have become more proactive in their attempts to remain youthful, healthy and energetic for as long as they can. The key to this is a multifaceted strategy that considers all aspects of aging.

People are turning toward nutritional solutions to maintain their health for as long as possible.Prevention better than cure? 
As a result of the prolonging of the elderly life-stage, there has also been a notable shift from cure to prevention. People no longer want to wait until aspects of their bodies start causing trouble. Instead, they are turning toward nutritional solutions to maintain their health for as long as possible. This is trickling down to younger markets as well, who seek to address the inevitability of aging proactively, notes Macariou. She further adds that as people are increasingly better-informed, this is also encouraging people to take a more active role in their health. 

“As society ages, we see increasing interest for products that may slow down the aging process in terms of mental, cardiovascular, skin, eye and bone health, and the desire to maintain healthy blood glucose levels. Rather than taking dietary supplements once an issue arises, we see the increase in consumers proactively taking supplements for prevention and as a precaution,” chimes in David Tetzlaf, Director of Marketing at Evolva. 

Meanwhile, Algatech CEO Doron Safrai also flags prevention as the major trend in this space. “People are staving off those issues associated with the aging body, which hold them back from their full ability. Small changes in eating habits and lifestyle were proven to lower the risk for, and impact of, many of the dysfunctions associated with aging,” he says.

Safrai continues that in addition, consumers are becoming more educated on the health benefits of dietary supplements that have the scientific backing to support aging healthfully. “The well-aging trend is mostly driven by the simple fact that people above 60 are nowhere near ready to slow down. There is too much to do, too much to see and too much yet to be,” he states. 

For Charlotte Magnant, Product Manager at Lactalis Ingredients, however, the preventative care must take individuality into account. “Aging will have an impact on many areas of society, which is why prevention policies are being widely developed.”

She adds that there is not a ‘typical’ elderly person, and that the diversity of older people’s capacities and health needs is the result of events that occur throughout life. “This again highlights the important role of prevention in limiting risks and promoting healthy aging. This includes nutrition adapted to the specific needs of older people, but aging well is a multifaceted process and physical and mental health are closely related,” she explains. 

Emphasis on protein to protect musclesMany high-protein beverages are unappetizing to older people who have a loss of appetite.
One key way that nutrition can help prolong the quality of life and prevent undue pain is in warding off sarcopenia. The prevalent condition characterizes the loss of muscle mass over time and is closely associated with physical frailty, higher risk of falls and an eventual loss of independence.

“We see a movement away from the focus on muscle mass or joint health alone, into a more systemic, functional focus on mobility. Healthy joints, healthy muscle mass, and healthy energy and vitality all work together in the body to maintain independence and assist in providing a healthy framework for people to live purposeful lives,” explains Joiner of Fonterra. 

Friis of AFI also flags the role of muscle health. “Later in the year, we will launch an ingredient with documented benefits for muscle strength and growth in older women. It will serve as part of a strategy to reduce the risk of sarcopenia in seniors,” she notes. 

Specifically, Macariou notes that protein is crucial for muscle mass, as well as to prevent malnutrition, which older people are particularly vulnerable to. “Although these proteins can be provided by products like ready-to-drink beverages, these are not always very appetizing and older people often have a loss of appetite. It is, therefore, important to have a nutritionally dense and palatable product. To meet this challenge, we are working on proteins to be able to increase the protein content in smaller formats while maintaining low viscosity and good taste,” she explains. 

Finally, Joiner has seen the focus moving from the amount of protein required to manage muscle loss in aging, through to a conversation on quality. Moreover, she also notes how the discussion has shifted toward the specific levels of amino acids required to trigger muscle protein synthesis for healthy muscle maintenance, particularly in the aging population.

Other key themes in the healthy aging market include brain and eye health, in addition to a focus on post-menopausal women, as detailed in part two of NutritionInsight’s coverage.

By Katherine Durrell