Ingredient synergies: Spotlight on innovative combinations to boost efficacy

04 Jul 2024 --- Amid a growing consumer demand for functional ingredients, holistic health products and effective formulations, the nutrition industry is exploring the potential of ingredient synergies — combinations that enhance products’ efficacy and performance. Synergistic formulations, supported by clinical evidence, can increase ingredients’ bioavailability, combine multiple health benefits in one product and allow for lower dosages. 

Nutrition Insight discusses the potential health and formulation benefits of ingredient synergies with Gencor, Lubrizol Life Science, SuanNutra, Clasado Biosciences, Balchem and TriNutra. 

“Many brands are combining ingredients for enhanced health benefits and developing more personalized nutrition products; addressing holistic health is a considerable consumer requirement,” says Maggie McNamara, VP of marketing at Gencor. “Some popular combinations include vitamins and minerals with added specialty ingredients such as ashwagandha, probiotics, PEA and omega-3s.” 

“Other leading brands are utilizing advanced delivery technology with specialty ingredients to enhance the nutraceuticals’ functionality and absorption, boosting the ingredient’s health benefits and giving consumers more ‘bang for their buck.’” 

Isabel Gómez, global marketing manager of nutraceuticals at Lubrizol Life Science, adds that ingredient synergy supports potentiating health benefits and combats nutritional deficiencies. 

“Synergistic ingredients are also used to increase the bioavailability of nutrients. This is the case of ascorbic acid with iron, improving the population’s nutritional status in terms of iron and preventing anemia. There is also evidence that piperine, a compound found in black pepper, can help increase the absorption of curcumin.”

Opportunities for the right combinations 
The industry experts note that ingredient synergies offer various opportunities. Maria López, product manager at SuanNutra, highlights their potential for improved efficacy, dose reduction, product innovation and better absorption and bioavailability. 

“Combining certain ingredients can enhance their individual effects, resulting in greater efficacy,” she explains. “Synergistic formulations can address multiple health issues simultaneously.”

Ingredient synergies can improve efficacy and bioavailability, reduce doses and support product innovation, says SuanNutra.She underscores that combining the right ingredients may reduce the need for high doses. “Synergy may allow the use of lower doses of individual ingredients to achieve the same effect, which may reduce the risk of side effects and toxicity.”

Regarding innovations, ingredient synergies also enable formulation development and nutrition customization. They offer opportunities to create new nutraceutical products that differentiate themselves in the market and develop personalized supplements that address specific consumer health needs. 

López adds: “Some ingredients can enhance the bioavailability of others, such as healthy fats that increase the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K).” 

Increased efficacy and bioavailability 
Gencor’s McNamara explains that as multiple factors cause various conditions, it is not possible for one ingredient to address all issues adequately.

“A combination of ingredients is required to address these multifactorial conditions,” she reveals.

“For example, curcumin and PEA are amazing broadband anti-inflammatories that act on different inflammatory markers. By combining the two, you achieve a synergistic effect and can now address conditions like pain at an entirely different and broad level.”

Such ingredient combinations can also better support specific health conditions. “Take, for example, a combination of Levagen+ (PEA) and HydroCurc (curcumin) for joint health. Both branded ingredients have robust published clinical studies in this health area.” 

“They both use an innovative delivery technology, LipiSperse, developed by Pharmako Biotechnologies, that dramatically increases their bioavailability to ensure effective results and optimized dosage.”

Advanced delivery systems, backed by human studies, can help address absorption issues efficiently. By combining ingredients with sophisticated delivery technologies, brands can create various delivery formats and a more bioavailable product with enhanced absorption and improved functionality of active ingredients. 

Gencor highlights that sophisticated delivery technologies can support delivery formats and more bioavailable products.Combining health benefits 
According to Gómez from Lubrizol Life Science, the benefits of combining ingredients depend on the synergy achieved. 

“Usually, when one component has a problem in its action, the addition of the other component compensates for it by increasing its activity,” she explains. “Iron and vitamin C are two of the most used combinations, and their mixture generates different benefits in terms of health and absorption throughout the body.”

Vitamin C plays a crucial role in energy production, and an inadequate supply can cause weakness or muscle pain. She adds that vitamin C levels also modulate several nervous system components. 

Meanwhile, iron is also required for cellular energy production and is known to be critical for neuronal differentiation and proliferation. “As a result, the combination of the two components leads to an enhancement of the response generated apart from the aid in iron absorption by vitamin C,” says Gómez. 

“These supplement products are associated with claims such as cognitive development, energy and fatigue in terms of health benefits.”

At the same time, formulating with minerals offers several challenges that need to be resolved to obtain stable, bioavailable and palatable products that protect consumers from potential side effects, such as gastrointestinal irritation caused by ingesting mineral-enriched supplements. These issues include “off-flavors, reactivity, interactions with other ingredients and undesirable color changes.” 

Synbiotic gut health 
Steven Riley, head of B2B and corporate marketing at Clasado Biosciences, highlights another area for ingredient synergies — synbiotics. He notes that this combination of prebiotics and probiotics in a single product is “one of the most prominent trends seen in the health and nutrition industry.”

“This combination can significantly enhance the value of gut health-focused product formulations by leveraging the benefits and science of two distinct biotic components.”

Synbiotics combine probiotics and prebiotics to enhance the value of gut health-focused product formulations.Riley explains that prebiotics, such as galactooligosaccharides (GOS), are a preferred source of nourishment for beneficial bacteria in the gut microbiome. For example, GOS can enhance the growth and activity of beneficial probiotic strains within the Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli genus. He notes that this would be called a synergistic synbiotic if a prebiotic is “proven to nourish the probiotic, leading to an enhanced effect.” 

“These probiotics are popular with formulators due to their well-documented benefits for health, including gastrointestinal, immune and cognitive health.”

Clasado Biosciences offers two key synbiotic concepts that it developed with Probi, a probiotic specialist. These concepts feature the company’s versatile prebiotic ingredient, Bimuno GOS. This prebiotic is backed by over 120 scientific studies and 20 clinical studies on its support of gastrointestinal, immune and cognitive health. 

“The first is the combination of Bimuno GOS + Probi Defendum, specifically designed to support immune health formulations. This combination has recently demonstrated a proven synergistic effect in an in vitro study,” illustrates Riley. “The second formulation combines Bimuno GOS + Probi Digestis, designed to support gastrointestinal health.”

“Master the art of blends” 
Formulating with various ingredients allows suppliers and manufacturers to craft customized solutions tailored to different needs, says Lindsay Cole, sales and business development manager, North America, at Kappa Bioscience, a Balchem company. 

“However, brands have been challenged to meet consumers’ expectations and achieve the desired product characteristics — such as preserving absorbability, bioavailability and efficacy. This is because the interaction of different nutrients can impact ingredient absorption, preventing individuals from getting the full range of benefits.” 

To take the lead in the space, she urges brands to “master the art of blends” and find the optimal combination of ingredients and know-how to deliver effective products that resonate with consumers. 

Cole illustrates the synergistic combination in Balchem’s CreatineMagnaPower, a blend of creatine and magnesium for optimal nutrition to “fitness enthusiasts of every age.” 

Clinical support is crucial to determine the synergistic effects of ingredient combinations, stresses TriNutra.She highlights that magnesium plays a crucial role in physical performance, and studies suggest it may help prevent fatigue by moving blood sugar into the muscles and disposing of lactate. 

“Additionally, research has shown the mineral can help lower blood pressure, enhancing cardiovascular efficiency and aerobic capacity,” Cole states. “Creatine monohydrate, on the other hand, offers additional benefits, increasing lean body mass and strength when used along a resistance training program, as well as improving athletic performance and cellular hydration.” 

Clinical support 
Dr. Liki von Oppen-Bezalel, business development director at TriNutra, emphasizes the need for scientific support of ingredient combinations. “When clinically studied, ingredient synergies offer great potential for supporting wellness and lifestyle goals.”

“In some cases, taking a ‘standard’ X ingredient with known health benefits and combining it with another, less known active, can create a Super X via synergistic benefits. In an innovative way, getting more for less.” 

She illustrates that TriNutra’s proprietary black seed oil, ThymoQuin, has been extensively researched for synergistic pairings with a range of ingredients. 

“Specifically, ThymoQuin was shown to nearly triple omega-3s healthy inflammatory activities. In addition, another published study showed that the combination of ThymoQuin and omega-3s had a favorable effect on whole-body energy metabolism and played a role in balancing blood glucose, insulin sensitivity and lipid metabolism and supporting immune health.” 

Von Oppen-Bezalel cautions that the challenge with synergistic ingredients is when brands claim their benefits without studying how or if they positively or negatively impact each other. “When brands or suppliers put effort and time into understanding the pairings, there is an excellent opportunity to improve specific health benefits, and the research may reveal additional evidence to support other health-related benefits.”

By Jolanda van Hal