Active botanicals: IFF Health and BY-HEALTH link up to explore anti-aging ingredients

25 Nov 2019 --- IFF Health Shanghai has entered an R&D collaboration with Chinese supplement and raw material supplier BY-HEALTH, with the aim to explore anti-aging ingredients. The teams will investigate highly effective ingredient synergies that offer “superior applicability” to better-for-you food, supplement and beverage applications. Maider Gutierrez, Director of Marketing & Product Management of IFF Health, tells NutritionInsight that the partnership “hopes to uncover the synergies between active ingredients from botanical sources.”

“Our purpose at IFF Health demands more than just being a healthy ingredients company,” says Dr. Raimund Hoenes, General Manager IFF Health. “This requires a committed partner to put uncommon sense to work in order to reinvent and refocus our industry. But more than giving consumers new products to support their healthy lifestyle, it’s also about how we deliver that capacity. BY-HEALTH’s focus on innovative research and development matches our commitment to quality, safety, science and innovation.”

Anti-aging ingredients are gaining traction as the global population continues to live well into older age. According to the World Health Organization, by 2050 the global population of people over the age of 60 will more than double to two billion. Economic stresses combined with increasingly better health and nutrition are expected to keep these seniors working and active. Moreover, the population of those living past 80 years is projected to nearly triple to almost half a billion.

The space has attracted widespread R&D attention. In May, Nestlé Health Science entered into a strategic partnership with Amazentis, a pioneer in science-driven nutritional health, to develop its new cellular nutrient Urolithin A. As part of the collaboration, the two companies will also conduct a joint research program to expand applications of Urolithin A – a pioneering cellular nutrient that supports mitochondrial health – into new consumer health and medical areas. 

 A diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains and low in added sugar, sodium and processed meats boosts cellular aging. The science behind aging
Together, IFF Health and BY-HEALTH are researching the production and international development of science-based anti-aging ingredient formulations. 

The formulations will have a special focus on fighting cellular oxidative stress, support of intracellular health such as of the mitochondria and telomerase research. 

Telomeres are the repetitive nucleotide sequences that cap chromosomes and protect them from deterioration or from fusing with neighboring chromosomes. This helps promote healthy cell replication and turnover. These biological functions have been identified as being key factors in the process of aging. Age is the strongest predictor of telomere length – telomeres shorten in length during each cell cycle.

Indeed, earlier this year, researchers measured the leukocyte telomere length (LTL) of people Alzheimer’s disease. LTL has been known to be associated with cognitive decline as well as a decline in LTL with aging. The study showed the LTL is shorter in Alzheimer subjects and also that excessive nitrosylation of γ-tocopherol influences the risk of developing Alzheimer’s only in those individuals with preserved telomere length (i.e., biologically younger). 

Other studies have also shown that telomeres can also be shortened due to behavioral, environmental and psychological factors. Shorter telomeres have been associated with an increased risk for heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and some cancers.

Meanwhile, a healthy diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains and low in added sugar, sodium and processed meats has been found to boost cellular aging. In this study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, researchers used telomere length to measure cellular aging. 

Functional ingredients for mitochondrial health
A string of ingredients available in the market are also heavily touted for their impact on mitochondrial health. 

One such ingredient, publicized by the Nestlé Health Sciences and Amazentis partnership, is Urolithin A (UA). The ingredient has a strong safety profile as recognized by its recent, successful Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) filing with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Another ingredient in the mitochondrial health toolbox is astaxanthin. Dubbed “nature’s most powerful antioxidant,” astaxanthin is 2.6 times stronger than lutein, 110 times stronger than vitamin E and 6,000 times stronger than vitamin C. According to Innova Market Insights data, there has been an average annual growth of 18 percent of product launches tracked with astaxanthin, between 2014 and 2018. Among the top ten health claims in products with astaxanthin are eye health, skin health, bone health and muscle health, the market researcher notes.

By Laxmi Haigh