“Maxxing” mindset: Balchem backs creatine and magnesium pairing for active nutrition

Balchem sees market opportunities in multifunctional formats as active nutrition consumers are seeking more value per serving, convenience, and measurable benefits. 

Nutrition Insight speaks with Oliver Riemann, senior manager of Marketing and Business Development for Albion Minerals at Balchem Human Nutrition & Health, about the synergistic ingredients meeting those needs. He says that combining nutrients, such as magnesium and creatine, could help brands deliver results in enjoyable formats. 

Riemann says that as sports nutrition becomes an everyday health staple and people turn to it for lasting energy, better recovery, and healthy aging, the logic of smart combinations gets stronger.

“The goal shifts from a single benefit to supporting the whole person, and that is hard to do with one ingredient alone. It calls for nutrients that work together, chosen for how they complement each other across performance and long-term vitality.”

He highlights the combination of creatine and magnesium: “A pairing rooted in athletic performance also speaks to strength, energy, and healthy aging, the things a far broader audience now cares about.”

“The winners will be the brands that formulate intelligently, turning proven science into products that do more for more people.”

“Maxxing” mindset

Riemann sees growing opportunities to create “maxxed” solutions as the audience expands.

“When we talk about the ‘maxxing’ mindset, we’re referring to people’s drive to optimize every part of their routine to achieve the best possible result,” he explains. “To understand its impact on sports nutrition, we need to take a step back and look at how this audience has changed in recent years.”

Oliver Riemann, senior manager of Marketing and Business Development for Albion Minerals (Image credit: Balchem).He says the category has grown beyond dedicated pros to include “everyday athletes” — people seeking healthy aging support and chasing an energy boost for their daily life. 

“Despite the different athletic performance goals, sports and active nutrition consumers share one expectation: they want more value from every product, without adding complexity to their routines. In short? It’s a hunt for greater ‘bang for buck.’”

According to Riemann, this demand for more from each serving is reshaping the segment, with a surge of multifunctional active nutrition solutions and category mash-ups.

Moreover, he sees these value-conscious buyers driving “one plus one equals three” thinking, where the right combination of nutrients adds up to more than the sum of its parts.

“That is where the real innovation is happening.”

Nutraceutical dream teams

According to Riemann, a few combinations of nutraceuticals stand out, such as caffeine and creatine. He says that, together, these have become a pre-workout staple, providing a mental and metabolic spark from the caffeine, alongside the performance and support of creatine.

“Electrolytes and branched-chain amino acids are a popular post-workout choice, tackling rehydration and muscle recovery in the same window,” he continues. “Creatine and magnesium combinations, meanwhile, are gaining ground for the explosive, high-intensity efforts where the body needs energy fast.”

“The common thread is that the ingredients belong together,” says Riemann. “That is the real test for formulators. A ‘dream team’ is not just about throwing a few popular ingredients together in the same mix. It is a combination with a clear reason for being.”

He advises formulators to first determine whether each ingredient plays a distinct role, but in a shared moment. For example, he points to a snack bar that fuels a morning run or a shake after a training session that helps consumers “do it all over again.”

“The most powerful examples go a step further, where the ingredients are linked at a mechanistic level, working hand-in-hand and enhancing one another. This is where ‘one plus one equals three’ becomes more than a buzzword and represents real biology in action.”

Riemann says that the combination of creatine and magnesium is one of the clearest examples of this synergy. “The powerful pairing is part of the same energy system in the body and, when brought together in the right way, delivers more than each can apart.”

Complementary creatine and magnesium

Riemann points to the body’s “energy currency” — adenosine triphosphate (ATP) — as one of the main drivers of magnesium and creatine’s complementary function in physiology and product positioning.

Riemann says creatine drives the rapid generation of energy, and magnesium keeps that process stable (Image credit: Balchem).“Every muscle contraction ‘spends’ ATP, so it has to be constantly replenished to keep one moving, especially during those brief, explosive efforts like sprinting, lifting, or high-intensity interval training,” he explains. “Creatine is central to that regeneration, with magnesium acting as an essential partner, binding to and stabilizing ATP. In other words, creatine drives the rapid generation of energy, and magnesium keeps that process stable.”

He says that this shared biology is what makes the pairing so compelling as a product story.

“Both are already among the most sought-after ingredients in active nutrition: magnesium and creatine were two of the top three ingredients for sports supplements in 2025, according to Innova Market Insights.”

Moreover, Riemann says that interest keeps climbing, pointing to Google searches that show creatine rose 17.2% and TikTok views for magnesium grew 46.6% over recent years.

“The demand is already there for each nutrient individually. But bringing them together is a little like the great sporting partnerships, where two individual talents achieve more as a duo than either could alone.”

One compound, two nutrients

The shared biology between magnesium and creatine is one of the reasons Balchem developed its Creatine MagnaPower ingredient, part of the Albion Minerals portfolio.

“Rather than a blend, it is a single compound of creatine, magnesium citrate, and magnesium phosphate, delivering both nutrients to support these reactions,” explains Riemann.

He says that the pairing is backed by clinical evidence. “A placebo-controlled trial found that supplementation with Creatine MagnaPower delivered muscular performance benefits — including improved cellular hydration, increased anabolic signaling, and increased muscle power and torque — more than placebo or creatine monohydrate and magnesium separately.”

Riemann points to other placebo-controlled studies that he says show significantly reduced sprint times in elite soccer players and increased bench press work capacity in gym-goers. 

Conventional functional food formats raise the bar for multifunctional formulas because they bring additional sensory demands.“For brands, this is another level of the story to tell, where a biological connection is harnessed to provide a real competitive edge.”

Formulation challenges

At the same time, Riemann cautions that combining ingredients is rarely a simple mixing exercise. “The more you ask a single format to do, the harder formulation becomes.”

“When you bring nutrients together in any format, they can interact in ways that cause one or more of them to lose their properties. This is why protected ingredient forms such as chelated minerals or microencapsulated vitamins matter so much, shielding nutrients from interactions so they remain effective throughout formulation, processing, and shelf life.”

He underscores the importance of thoughtful ingredient design to deliver an in-demand combination without compromising efficacy.

Riemann sees new challenges around delivery formats as the category evolves. “While traditional tablets and capsules still dominate the supplement aisles, consumers increasingly want their sports nutrition in convenient functional foods, like snack bars or powder sticks, that fit seamlessly into their days and routines.”

He says that those formats raise the bar for multifunctional formulas because they bring additional sensory demands.

“Every active you add brings its own taste and texture, so an ingredient that delivers more than one nutrient while already offering a neutral taste and good solubility takes real pressure off the formulator and travels more easily into the delivery formats consumers are looking for.”