Webinar preview: Novonesis promotes mental health benefits of psychobiotics

20 May 2024 --- In the continuously growing mental wellness market, Novonesis Human Health division is pinpointing the potential of a new class of biotics for mental wellness — “psychobiotics” — targeting the gut-brain axis. The company highlights the importance of clinically proven psychobiotic strains, with a sophisticated and demonstrated mode of action to satisfy consumer demand for multi-functional supplements addressing the multifaceted and interconnected dimensions of mental wellness.

Science defines psychobiotics as “any exogenous influence — probiotics, prebiotics or dietary fiber — whose positive effect on mental health is bacterially mediated.”

Ahead of the company’s webinar next week, “The psychobiotic era: A fast-growing mental wellness market,” Nutrition Insight sits down with the Novonesis Human Health team to dive into the world of psychobiotics and mental wellness.

You can register for the webinar for free here.

In the webinar, the panel will discuss market data and consumer insights on mental wellness and share scientific information on the company’s unique psychobiotic solution, ProbioBrain, containing the clinically documented Bifidobacterium longum 1714 strain.

“Psychobiotics are witnessing a growing consumer interest due to their ability to meet high-level expectations in terms of science, naturality, sustainability, safety — the famous clean and green, hassle-free and compromise-free imperatives. However, not all psychobiotics are created equal. In this coming webinar, we will come back to the basics of science on the gut-brain axis and give our customers concrete tools to fully and wisely embrace the psychobiotics movement,” Geraldine Blanc, category strategy and innovation lead on mental health at Novonesis Human Health tells us. 

“While we understand it is not yet obvious for them to include psychobiotics in their mental wellness formulations, as it may already be the case for digestive and immune applications, we would like to demonstrate with Novonesis Human Health proprietary documented market data and consumer insights that using the right psychobiotic will help them differentiate and tap sustainably in the fast-growing mental wellness market.” 

Novonesis expects that psychobiotics will gain traction as consumers’ understanding of the gut-brain axis grows.The psychobiotic era
Novonesis sees a growing demand for probiotics targeting specific health benefits beyond digestion and immunity, with a particularly increasing interest in mental health. As consumers’ understanding of the gut-brain axis grows, psychobiotics will gain traction.  

There are a lot of probiotics on the market. Still, only a few psychobiotics are available, with the substantiated science and identified mode of action to address mental health via the gut-brain axis. 

The webinar will highlight solid scientific evidence leading to psychobiotics. It will show how Novonesis Human Health offers a unique solution with its psychobiotic strain Bifidobacterium longum 1714 behind ProbioBrain, “the first and only psychobiotic solution” addressing the complex, multifaceted and interconnected dimensions of mental wellness.

Veronique Rufin-Soumine, global marketing and customer engagement manager on mental health at Novonesis Human Health, adds that current offers on the market related to mental wellness solutions are not always providing the “effectiveness, safety and quality ‘holy grail’ they are looking for.”

“With consumers getting more and more knowledgeable on their biology, they have started to understand that the microbiome plays a critical role within their health, leading ‘psychobiotic’ solutions to a very bright future.” 

Mental wellness demands
According to Rufin-Soumine, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the fragility of modern health, with the most substantial concern being mental wellness. The post-pandemic era, mixed with a global polycrisis, has driven the rise in mental health and wellness care. 

“We know that the mind-body connection or ‘mental wellness’ is the number one indicator of health for global consumers. Other top five indicators refer to other mental wellness interconnected dimensions such as ‘quality sleep,’ ‘feeling good’ and ‘emotional wellness,’ which highlight that mental wellness is central to consumers’ minds.”

In the webinar, the Novonesis Human Health team will highlight scientific information on ProbioBrain.“Global consumers have understood for a while now that body and mind are strongly connected and that taking proactive care of their mental health from the earliest days will help them live longer and healthier.” 

Blanc expects that the trend for mental wellness is not about to end, noting that society has moved from a “pandemic” to a “mindemic.” She highlights that mental wellness includes stress, sleep, mood, social functioning energy and vitality. “For many people, a ‘healthy mind’ is a ‘healthy body’ and vice versa.” 

“In a world where we are constantly challenged, connected and bombarded with constant flows of information, and a social imperative to over perform in all aspects of our life, people are looking for peace of mind and support with safe and natural solutions without side effects or dependency.” 

With eco-anxiety growing and impacting mental wellness, Blanc adds, consumers are also cautious about the environmental impact of their supplements. 

Considering all the above, the team highlights that psychobiotics have strong arguments to meet consumers expectations and become a must in future mental wellness formulations.

By Jolanda van Hal