myAir personalizes stress relief with AI-developed adaptogen snack bars

14 Oct 2020 --- Start-up myAir has unveiled a series of personalized, stress-countering nutrition bars featuring adaptogens and plant-based ingredients.

Available via a monthly subscription service, each bespoke nutritional bar’s ingredients are chosen based on consumers’ specific stress profiles and cognitive needs. 

These are collected via myAir smartwatches that continuously track psychological and physiological data, such as heart rate variability, respiration, sleep quality and physical activity. 

“When talking about chronic stress, one size does not fit all. Stress has many faces,” myAir co-founder Rachel Yarcony tells NutritionInsight.

myAir’s algorithms monitor each customer’s personal stress levels and effects through physiological and psychological data. “Stress affects my sleep quality and relaxation mainly at night, but stress affects my co-founder differently – mainly in the mornings and in terms of his energy levels and focus. Each one of us deserves a personal solution,” she details.

Using tech to dictate nutrition for stress
The analysis of each customer’s data allows myAir to customize the number of bars and blend of ingredients the customer will need for a month. 

Made with nuts and fruits, each bar is infused with a bespoke research-based proprietary formula of bioactive botanical extracts, including sage, hops, oats, valerian and rosemary. 

The botanical extracts work synergistically to provide a specific stress-countering effect, be it sharpening focus, reviving energy or reducing anxiety. myAir also asserts that its bars can support relaxation and promote quality sleep. 

“The data also enables us to provide our users with a dashboard that shows the user their own stress factors and how it changes over time,” says Yarcony.

When asked if being monitored continuously for stress via the smartwatch and app might be stressful for the user, Yarcony responds: “We can’t escape from the future of data, so if you can’t beat them, join them.”

“We believe that in five years, AI-driven technology will ‘drive’ our food decisions.”“We live in the era of ‘quantify the self.’ Knowledge is power and our mission is to provide empowerment to our consumers, so they will be able to understand how stress affects them and how to solve it.”

Clear demand for personalization based on data
Personalization is a “prominent trend” across several industries, says Yarcony, specifically in the health and food industries. 

Moreover, she sees a growing demand for individualized nutrition based on data. “Consumers insist on empowerment, from mindfulness apps to food for mood,” she highlights. Recent examples include biohacking digital coach Unfair and a personal wellness app collaboration between Nestlé and with/n.

Meanwhile, mental health and well-being are increasingly coming to the fore, with products using adaptogens for stress relief being increasingly seen across market categories.

According to the American Institute of Stress, 83 percent of US workers suffer from work-related stress. Furthermore, Innova Market Insights has seen a 21 percent CAGR in supplements launched with a brain/mood health claim (Global, 2015-2019).

Personalized nutrition and subscription models
Subscription models can be expensive and demanding for some consumers, ultimately deterring them from a product. Tapping into this need, digital health company Diet ID and vitamin player Nature’s Bounty recently opted out of a subscription model with its personalized supplement recommendation tool launch. 

Yarcony, however, responds that myAir is different in that it provides an “ongoing solution to an ongoing problem.”

“We can’t escape from the future of data, so if you can’t beat them, join them.”“Stress is not like a [spontaneous] migraine attack, we feel [stress] every day and it shifts between months. I believe that we should manage our stress the same way we manage our dietary or sports routine.”

Nutrition at the heart of health
The future of food is food with a purpose, “food that works for me”. This aligns directly with Innova Market Insights’ top fourth trend for 2020, “The Right Bite.”

“We are in the age of personalized nutrition where science and technology can dictate what food is right for us. Ten years ago, if you were driving somewhere, you’d have to either memorize directions or print out a paper map. Cut to now and it’s almost unheard of to drive anywhere new without a GPS.”

“That’s exactly what will happen to our diets. We believe that in five years, AI-driven technology will ‘drive’ our food decisions just like a GPS drives our directions,” she foretells.

By Anni Schleicher