Expanding personalized nutrition: Promising role for microbiome modulation in growing market

23 May 2024 --- Consumers continue to become more aware of individual health needs, as well as how those needs change across an individual’s lifespan. Personalized nutrition provides an answer to this market trend and companies emphasize that the category is expanding into several offerings and spaces, including gut health and solutions that can provide support along the many gut axes.

Nutrition Insight sits down with experts from Ingredion and ADM to better understand personalized nutrition’s growing position in the industry.

“We’re intentionally positioned to collaborate with customers to help them (re)formulate with the right ingredients to create consumer-preferred products,” says Vanessa Bailey, the senior manager of global strategy and innovation and healthful solutions at Ingredion. “Growth in personalized nutrition products has been strong over the past few years as consumers seek ways to manage their diets according to their unique needs.” 

“Whether it’s ‘Better-for-you’ options such as reduced sugar, plant-based, high fiber as well as diet specific categories such as keto or paleo, Ingredion has a variety of options to support the growth in these categories. Tailored ingredients or products that have nutrition-related value propositions may support consumers’ individual health goals.”

She also notes that personalized nutrition recommendations may increase consumer compliance and adherence when it comes to taking products that are tailored for their specific needs. This, in turn, can help consumers achieve their dietary goals more efficiently.

Vaughn DuBow, the senior director of product portfolio marketing for health and wellness at ADM, agrees and underscores the need to educate consumers on the benefits of personalized offerings.ADM highlights that consumer education on the benefits of personalized nutrition is key to growing the space.

“To educate consumers about the benefits of personalized nutrition, it’s crucial to emphasize the effectiveness of individualized approaches supported by scientific research and to highlight individual differences in nutritional needs,” DuBow highlights. “Stressing the long-term health benefits, addressing concerns, collaborating with industry partners and professionals and encouraging continuous learning can further reinforce the importance of personalized nutrition approaches and solutions.”

“ADM works directly with our customers to share the research behind our solutions, which can then be relayed directly to consumers. Brands that transparently share research and efficacy will find success with discerning, wellness-focused consumers. Brands may also consider showcasing real-life success stories, introducing user-friendly technology for personalized analysis and providing accessible education on nutritional science.”

Proliferating personalized nutrition
Innova Market Insights data suggests a clear trend for personalized nutrition solutions, noting that in 2023, launches to support immune health saw the highest share, while supplements that support insomnia, mental acuity and sexual health also gained traction.

This shift highlights the departure from one-size-fits-all approaches and underscores the need for customized formulations and targeted solutions.

“We take a comprehensive approach to product innovation, tapping our deep understanding of evolving consumer behaviors coupled with our technical expertise and extensive library of microbiome-supporting solutions, plant-based ingredients and botanical extracts,” DuBow explains. “We’re committed to providing cutting-edge, science-backed solutions, and we have a team dedicated to leading research.” 

“With our global network of over 140 scientists, technicians and experts devoted to studying the microbiome across 13 research and development and applied research centers, we’re actively identifying new microbial strains that help address consumers’ individual and evolving needs.”

At the same time, Ingredion states that its broad portfolio of ingredients directly addresses the needs of customers who are looking to develop products for the personalized nutrition market. This includes emerging trends and growing trends such as plant-based, no and low carb and keto diets.

“One key challenge is the perception that nutritious foods don’t match the taste of traditional options,” says Bailey. “In a recent study from Innova Market Insights, half of US consumers reported that they felt that diet products do not taste as good as regular products.” Ingredion notes that personalized nutrition options can increase consumer adherence.

“Ingredion has the ingredient and application expertise to enable (re)formulations that deliver on consumer-preferred products that are both healthier and better tasting. Ingredion can help food and beverage manufacturers (re)formulate products by offering solutions and ingredients that align with their target claims by offering ingredients that are scientifically supported to have a desired effect. Many scientific publications have been published to support our portfolio of fibers, resistant starches and prebiotics.”

Boosting gut health
Bailey points out that ingredients like Ingredion’s Nutraflora short-chain fructooligosaccharide (scFOS) has been shown to consistently promote Bifidobacteria in the gut. Furthermore, the company’s resistant starch (RS) products improved RS degraders, such as Parabacteroides distasonis, Ruminococcus bromii and Faecalibacerium prausnitzii — bacteria that are generally considered beneficial and which are associated have been shown to have multiple physiological benefits.

“A specific example is Ingredion’s dietary fiber ingredients, including scFOS, gum acacia, Hi-Maize RS2 and Novelose RS4, have been shown to modulate the gut microbiota of human subjects to improve targeted health benefits,” Bailey explains. “Since the average fiber intake among the US population is around 16 g per day, substantially less than what the USDA has recommended at 25 g per day — our fiber ingredients can help bridge this dietary gap.”

“A recent study in Nature Metabolism showed that the effect of Hi-Maize was better in people who had a higher baseline Bifidobacteria level. Therefore, modulating the gut microbiota might be a potential strategy to turn the non-responders — people who do not respond to certain treatments — to responders.”

Utilizing the gut axes
According to DuBow, the gut microbiome is emerging as a key element in personalized nutrition. He adds that consumers increasingly understand the connection between the gut, digestive health and their overall physical, mental and emotional well-being. Consequently, products that support the microbiome, such as prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics, are gaining popularity.

“We’re continually investigating and researching microbial strains that can support specific wellness goals. In fact, new research recently published in Gut Microbes shows that probiotic Bifidobacterium longum CECT7347 (ES1) and heat-treated postbiotic Bifidobacterium longum CECT7347 (HT-ES1) may support overall gut and digestive health, pointing to improvements in IBS-Symptom Severity Scale, compared to placebo,” he reveals.DuBow points to AI and machine learning as tools that can “revolutionize” the nutrition space.

“This study also showed improvement in the quality of life score compared to placebo, an improvement of frequency of watery stools compared to placebo, a significant reduction of mean APS-NRS score — a tool for measuring abdominal discomfort — and a significant reduction in stress versus placebo, as measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Index.”

Moreover, DuBow notes that ADM’s BPL1 (Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis CECT8145) probiotic and postbiotic target metabolic health factors and its DE111 (Bacillus subtilis) spore-forming probiotic can aid in digestive health and may boost immunity.

The future of personalized nutrition
According to Bailey, a major hurdle in providing personalized nutrition through fiber is the collection of data because significant resources are required to comprehend each individual’s microbiome modulation needs. Additionally, maintaining consumer adherence over the long term can also be difficult.

However, Ingredion states that it stays on top of the latest scientific research by regularly reviewing the latest scientific journals, participating in webinars and attending conferences. The company also participates in research networks and consortia that are focused on personalized nutrition. This strategy significantly strengthens its position as a company that can provide proven, science-backed solutions for the personalized nutrition space.

DuBow points to artificial intelligence (AI) as an emerging tool in the space as well.

“AI and machine learning are poised to revolutionize personalized nutrition by offering tailored dietary recommendations based on individual health data and preferences. These technologies can analyze large amounts of data to identify patterns and correlations between diets and health outcomes, enabling the creation of highly personalized nutrition plans.” 

“Technologies like AI can also assist in bringing innovative solutions to the forefront, such as optimizing the identification and selection of microbial strains,” he concludes.

By William Bradford Nichols