Hero ingredients power the next wave of bone and joint health supplements
Key takeaways
- Consumers are shifting toward proactive, holistic joint and bone health solutions that combine mobility, recovery, and beauty-from-within benefits.
- Personalized, life-stage-specific supplements and multifunctional ingredients like collagen, vitamin K2, and chondroitin sulfate are driving innovation in the category.
- Convenient, science-backed formats such as gummies, capsules, and beverages are increasingly preferred, supporting broader health span and wellness goals.
The bone and joint health category is evolving rapidly as consumers increasingly prioritize healthy aging and active lifestyles. Industry leaders highlight how hero ingredients like collagen, vitamin K2, and chondroitin sulfate enable brands to develop science-backed, multifunctional solutions in convenient formats.
Nutrition Insight explores core and emerging ingredients to meet consumer demand for proactive wellness with BioCell Technology, Balchem Human Nutrition and Health, Gnosis by Lesaffre, Lonza Capsugel, Bioiberica, and GC Rieber VivoMega.
Amir Vanderfox, global sales manager at BioCell Technology, says consumers increasingly prioritize proactive mobility, recovery, and healthy aging rather than reactive symptom management.
“A key trend is the convergence of joint health, active lifestyle nutrition, and beauty-from-within solutions, reflecting a more holistic understanding of connective tissue health. Consumers are increasingly looking for ingredients that support joints, cartilage, skin, and bone as part of an interconnected system, alongside demand for clinically studied ingredients with strong safety profiles and transparent sourcing.”
Dominik Mattern, VP of Science, Business Development, and Marketing at Balchem Human Nutrition and Health, highlights personalization as another key trend. “Consumers have a better understanding of how their health priorities change over time.”
“A younger active consumer may focus on performance and recovery, while for older adults, maintaining independence and quality of life often becomes the priority. This is driving demand for more tailored solutions that address specific life-stage needs, pushing the industry toward more tailored, purpose-driven solutions, rather than a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.”
Furthermore, Antoine Vanhove, product manager at Gnosis by Lesaffre, predicts a growth spurt in the sector. He says that when the fitness-oriented and aging markets converge, “mobility will become a top priority, potentially overtaking other wellness aspects.”
Vanderfox says that joint health, active lifestyle nutrition, and beauty-from-within solutions increasingly converge.“In addition, women are more likely than men to develop arthritis as they age, and this knowledge is not as common as the association of menopause and bone mineral density decline. The opportunity is to target menopausal and postmenopausal women not just with bone support, but with bone and joint support under the umbrella of freeform mobility.”
Future-focused consumers
Hanna Charron, associate director of Global Product Management for Lonza Capsugel’s UC-II ingredient, says people are becoming more aware of the holistic role joint health plays.
Pointing to proprietary Lonza Capsules and Health Ingredients survey data from 2023, she notes that “42% of global consumers aged 25–73 believe joint health is ‘extremely important’ for their overall health and wellness.”
Moreover, proprietary 2025 company data reveals that 93% of global joint health supplement users see joint health as essential to aging well and living better, for longer, adds Charron.
“This convergence of health span and movement creates a high-value innovation space — where brands can stand out by offering effective, science-backed solutions that help consumers of all ages move better so they can live better.”
Monica Gómez Navarro, marketing manager of Branded Ingredients at Bioiberica, reiterates that consumers increasingly look to care for their joints before problems arise, similar to trends in healthy aging.
“These future-focused consumer attitudes are being shaped by a combination of factors — from the fact that many of us are simply living longer to a wider cultural focus on wellness and longevity. As consumers rethink what ‘healthy aging’ looks like for them, joint support supplements are becoming relevant to a much broader audience — not just older consumers or those already experiencing discomfort.”
Core and emerging ingredients
Vanderfox from BioCell Technology highlights core ingredients in bone and joint health as collagen-based compounds, hyaluronic acid, glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, and foundational nutrients, such as calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D.
Vanhove of Gnosis by Lesaffre highlights postmenopausal women as a key bone and joint health segment.“Within collagen, there is growing differentiation between standard hydrolyzed collagen and more advanced, bioactive collagen complexes,” he details. “Clinically researched ingredients such as BioCell Collagen, which provides a naturally occurring matrix of hydrolyzed type II collagen, chondroitin sulfate, and hyaluronic acid, are increasingly recognized for their role in supporting joint comfort, mobility, and connective tissue integrity.”
“This multicomponent approach aligns with consumer interest in more complete structural support rather than single-nutrient solutions.”
In addition, Ståle Søfting, chief commercial officer at GC Rieber VivoMega, says omega-3s eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are increasingly recognized for their role in mobility and healthy inflammatory responses associated with physical activity and aging.
“Research also suggests omega-3s may support bone health by helping maintain bone mineral density and supporting calcium balance. As consumers look for more comprehensive mobility solutions, we are seeing increased interest in formulations that combine omega-3s, either fish or algal, with complementary musculoskeletal health ingredients.”
Søfting also highlights higher-concentration omega-3s as an important innovation area to address consumer preferences for convenience while maintaining efficacy. He also observes strong demand for triglyceride-form omega-3 concentrates with lower oxidation values and better sensory profiles.
“Another key innovation is the growth of algae-based EPA and DHA solutions, which support increasing demand for sustainable and plant-based alternatives without compromising quality or functionality.”
Science-backed innovations
Balchem’s Mattern notes that research is helping bone and joint health ingredients expand their scope beyond conventional and age-related applications into “exciting new frontiers.” As examples, he points to the company’s methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) ingredient, OptiMSM, and vitamin K2 in the form of menaquinone-7 (MK-7), branded K2Vital.
“A recent study looked at the effects of taking OptiMSM for 30 days before running a half-marathon,” he details. “Results showed that a low dose of 0.5 to 1 g/day helped modulate the expression of exercise recovery markers, including those associated with immune response, inflammation, oxidative stress, and muscle recovery.”
Life-stage-specific supplements, not one-size-fits-all formulas, are what consumers seek, according to Mattern.Mattern notes that the study expanded MSM benefits and observed its effects at a dosage significantly lower than previous studies, which gives formulators greater flexibility.
“Another trial examined the effects of supplementation with K2 MK-7, using our K2Vital ingredient, on post-exercise muscle recovery in healthy young and older adults,” he continues.
“In participants aged over 65, supplementation improved neuromuscular signaling, which supports nerve-muscle communication that helps maintain muscle control. These findings suggest that K2Vital can help support both neuromuscular activation and signaling in older adults after exercise.”
Bone and joint health support
Gnosis by Lesaffre’s Vanhove highlights the company’s hero ingredients in this space — MenaQ7 (MK-7) for bone health and MyCondro (chondroitin sulfate) for joint health.
He says that vitamin K2 MK-7 is an essential nutrient for bone health, linked to a reduced rate of age-related decline in bone mineral content and density in postmenopausal women.
“A systematic review and a parallel meta-analysis involving more than 13,000 subjects combined found distinct bone-support benefits from vitamin K2 supplementation,” he adds. “Specifically, those in the K2 group showed improvements in lumbar spine bone mineral density and a reduced incidence of fractures.”
Moreover, he notes research highlighting vitamin K2’s ability to elevate extrahepatic vitamin K status, a crucial factor contributing to healthy bone mineralization and strength.
Vanhove says that chondroitin sulfate is a longstanding solution in joint health, helping to relieve pain and enhance mobility. While most products on the market are derived from animal sources, Gnosis by Lesaffre developed a non-animal chondroitin through fermentation.
Charron highlights Lonza Capsugel’s research finding that 93% of joint supplement users link mobility to aging well and living better.“It provides superior quality and bioavailability with efficacy confirmed by two clinical studies (at only 600 mg/day versus placebo) in subjects with moderate knee osteoarthritis.”
“Unlike algae-sourced ‘chondroitins’ marketed as a plant-based alternative, MyCondro has a consistent molecular structure as animal chondroitin and is thus ‘real’ chondroitin,” he underscores. “Also noteworthy: MyCondro provides joint support at half the dosage required for traditional animal-sourced chondroitin.”
Research also found that participants with moderate knee osteoarthritis reported significantly lower scores for the condition after consuming MyCondro for three months. Participants taking a placebo reported higher osteoarthritis scores in the same time frame.
“What is particularly noteworthy is that a reduction in pain was experienced after 15 days of supplementation,” adds Vanhove.
“These results were confirmed in a subsequent study, in which obese adults with moderate knee osteoarthritis reported improvements in knee function and comfort while reducing inflammation within only two months.”
Multifunctional solutions
Charron says Lonza Capsugel expects solutions to shift to personalized, multibenefit formats to support broader health span goals.
“Our proprietary consumer insights reveal that global joint health supplement users want products with multiple benefits: 85.2% want energy benefits alongside joint health, followed by enhanced immune function (84.8%) and improved sleep quality (82%).”
“We asked joint health supplement users what matters most to them when it comes to formats and dosages, and 75% said the size of the dose, highlighting the demand for small and convenient dosage forms,” Charron continues.
She highlights the potential of collagen ingredients that enable flexible formulations in holistic health solutions. For example, Lonza Capsugel’s UC-II undenatured type II collagen has a low daily dose of 40 mg, making it easier to combine this ingredient with others for multibenefit formulations and diverse dosage forms, such as capsules and gummies.
Functional formats like gummies and beverages broaden joint health appeal, notes Gómez Navarro.Balchem’s Mattern underscores the challenge of combining multiple ingredients in one formulation while preserving stability, bioavailability, and efficacy throughout its shelf life.
“Solutions like K2Vital Delta were developed to help address these issues,” he highlights. “Its patented double-microencapsulation technology protects the vitamin from mineral interactions, enabling more robust formulations that deliver consistent performance, shelf life, and reliable health benefits for consumers.”
Functional formats
Bioiberica’s Gómez Navarro highlights opportunities for producers who go beyond traditional formats to develop solutions that better match audiences’ consumption preferences.
“The momentum behind functional formats is evident — gummies, snack bars, and ready-to-drink beverages all make supplementation more convenient and appealing,” she adds. “At the same time, brands are exploring ingredient combinations that support different aspects of musculoskeletal health simultaneously, creating more holistic mobility solutions.”
She underscores that ingredient selection is crucial to ensure these formats deliver meaningful results, especially if dosage, stability, or taste become formulation constraints.
Gómez Navarro says multifunctional products are already coming to the market that combine established bone health credentials with joint support ingredients in more familiar consumer formats.
“One example is Puleva Vita Calcio Colágeno in Spain, which combines the inherent bone health associations of milk with Bioiberica’s native (undenatured) type II collagen for joint support — illustrating how brands can create more multifaceted mobility propositions in an everyday format.”
