Personalized nutrition reshapes corporate wellness, diabetes treatment and daily vitamins

06 Jun 2022 --- Personalized nutrition is shifting focus away from the one-size-fits-all approach to health and wellness. Among new developments in this diversifying sphere, researchers have uncovered that creating a digital “twin” to map a person’s metabolic functions holds promise for diabetes treatment.

Other notable debuts include myAir’s “first of its kind” personalized corporate wellness program and Puritan’s launch of a precision vitamin pack subscription program that is customizable to a broad variety of individual consumers’ needs.

The global personalized nutrition market is projected to grow to US$16.4 billion by 2025, according to data cited by Nestlé Health Science (NHSc), with the supplement segment projected to account for the largest share during this forecast period.

“Specifically impacted is the direct-to-consumer segment because consumers are becoming increasingly aware of nutrition-rich products to enhance their health, which is a key factor in the projected demand for supplements,” highlights NHSc.

The global personalized nutrition market is projected to grow by US$16.4 billion by 2025, according to NHSc.According to Innova Market Insights, more consumers are interested in more varied personalized approaches, specifically, foods, beverages and supplements based on functional needs, mood-boosting properties and nutritional needs. Millennials are most likely to adopt personalized strategies, highlights the market researcher.

Creating a virtual nutrition twin for optimized health
A new study powered by the artificial intelligence (AI) platform Whole Body Digital Twin has concluded the “highest reported rate of remission of type 2 diabetes to date”.

The Whole Body Digital Twin is a “dynamic, digital representation of a person’s unique metabolism”, built from thousands of data points gathered daily from non-invasive wearable sensors and self-reported preferences.

This virtual “twin” delivers individualized guidance to help users “reverse and prevent” multiple chronic metabolic diseases.

In the latest study, researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial designed to determine the effect of “Twin Precision Treatment technology” (TPT) versus standard care on changes in Hemoglobin A1C – a measurement of a person’s average blood sugar levels over three months – and type 2 diabetes remission at 90-day intervals.

In combination with the Whole-Body Digital Twin Platform, the TPT intervention uses AI and the Internet of Things to produce multi-dimensional data for precision nutrition, sleep, activity and breathing guidance via its app and coaches.

The interim analysis of the study’s 262 patients (TPT n=199; SC n=63) who reached 180 days showed 94.9% (189/199) of TPT patients achieved an A1C less than 6.5% on no medications or metformin only.

Meanwhile, 83.9% (167/199) achieved diabetes remission based on ADA criteria.

“Our results demonstrate the potential of Whole Body Digital Twin technology to change the conventional, medication-driven management of type 2 diabetes to achieving remission of type 2 diabetes with a life free of medication,” comments Dr. Paramesh Shamanna, lead author of the study.

All nine insulin-using patients stopped insulin within 90 days.

The TPT intervention in patients with type 2 diabetes allowed for significant reduction in A1C, diabetes remission (around 84%) and improvement in multiple metabolic parameters at six months, the study authors highlight.

The findings were presented at the 82nd Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) in New Orleans, Los Angeles, US.

AI and plant-powered wellness at work
With more workers prioritizing the avoidance of burnout and strained productivity, myAir has launched a new Corporate Wellness Program – dubbed as the “first of its kind” to leverage AI insights to offer functional, plant-based nutrition tailored to an individual’s unique stress effects.

Eighty-three percent of employees surveyed by the company in its US report suffer from work-induced stress, leading workplace stress to be flagged as the “health epidemic of the century”.

Innova Market Insights highlights that more consumers are interested in more varied personalized approaches.Worsening the problem, 60% of employees report lacking resources from their employer to help manage stress.

As part of the Corporate Wellness Program, a personal dashboard measures each participant’s stress resilience based on physiological analytics. At navigation company Moovit where the program was trialed, 80% of Moovit employees who used the myAir stressless routine daily reduced stress levels.

Furthermore, 75% of Moovit employees favored the myAir stressless routine over other health and wellness benefits offered by the company.

“We all need stress to manage a successful company. We don’t believe that an organization can function without challenging KPIs, but we know that real leaders provide tools to their employees to empower them,” remarks Rachel Yarcony, co-founder and CEO of myAir.

The program is an extension of myAir’s “Stressless Routine” solution, which captures psychological data (through an online assessment) and physiological biomarkers (via smartwatch data) to help measure, manage and relieve stress.

The program begins with a cognitive stress assessment to give employees a better understanding of the impact of stress on their body – whether it causes difficulty focusing, trouble falling asleep, fatigue, irritability, muscle tension or other symptoms.

Based on these insights, myAir tailors a plan for each user that includes customized myAir plant-based nutrition bars proven to reduce stress, personalized insights and 1:1 coaching from the company’s stress management coaches to help employees manage the demands of work -life and improve their stress resilience.

Targeting convenient nutrient specificity
The Nutritional Business Journal reports that – while the overall supplement industry was expected to grow by 6.3% by the end of 2020 – brands in the personalized nutrition space were expecting sales growth of over 70%.

Earlier this month, Culina Health bagged US$4.75 million in seed funding to democratize access to health experts’ dietary recommendations, giving expert solutions to individuals, having given over 18,000 sessions to date.

Harnessing this momentum, vitamin player Puritan has launched a personalized vitamin pack subscription program with the focus on tailoring supplements to a variety of individuals’ needs.

The vitamins are personalized by taking information from a short quiz presented to consumers online, which is used to unpack their specific needs. After the test, the company ships the product monthly to the consumers’ doorstep.

The quiz includes multiple health conditions and problems currently supported by the Puritan program. These include joint support, heart health, digestive support, immune health, sleep and stress support.

“We can offer our customers a place to start their health and wellness journey and feel confident they are getting what they need to support their lifestyle at a reasonable price,” says Joseph Rowland, president of Puritan Pride.

Persona Nutrition – an NHSc company – employs a similar method of online diagnostics, with its app where customers complete an assessment and are provided with a personalized vitamin pack that can autoship each month.

Starting with two nutritionists in 2017, Persona reveals it is now at 22 nutritionists and two pharmacists on staff. The brand has reportedly shipped over 1.4 million orders to customers in the last five years, evidencing the rising trend of “keeping a nutritionist in your pocket.”

In other moves, Abbott is developing a new consumer biowearables – dubbed Lingo – slated to launch across Europe later this year. In 2020, the healthtech giant tapped initially tapped into the personalization trend with its glucose-monitoring sports nutrition with “lab on arm” wearable device.

ADM previously shared with NutritionInsight the latest consumer group emergence – personalized nutrition for children. With tasty functional dairy applications that incorporate prebiotics, probiotics or postbiotics anticipated to gain traction in this space, plant protein blends and exciting flavors and colors are expected to capture parents’ attention along the store aisle.

By Benjamin Ferrer