Nektium targets endocannabinoid system for natural rest and relaxation
25 Jun 2025 | Nektium
Nektium is gaining momentum in the mental wellness space with Vanizem, a natural Aframomum melegueta extract targeting the endocannabinoid system, without the complications of cannabis-derived ingredients. On the trade show floor, we sat down with Dr. Ana Beltrán Arranz, Nektium’s project manager, who detailed the company’s stress-sleep-energy portfolio, including innovations in Zynamite and Rhodiolife, and shared what’s next in the company’s adaptogen-driven pipeline.
Hello everybody, this is William Bradford Nichols, the editor for Nutrition Insight, and I am here live at Vita Foods Europe in Barcelona, Spain.
And today we are speaking with Ana Beltrain, the project manager for Nickname.
Hello Ana, how are you today?
Hello, thank you very much.
Thank you for coming by.
We're excited to talk to you.
I've got some questions, and if it's OK, I'd like to just jump right in.
Of course.
All right, , Venez.
Organism is kind of gaining attention as a finalist at the Vita Foods Award.
Can you talk to us through sort of how this , if I can say it right, Afrommum melegueta extract works and what makes it different from other natural stress and sleep ingredients on the market?
Yeah, we are actually very happy that Van was nominated as a finalist at Ma Foods Awards.
And we think that something that makes Vanism unique is that it's very fast acting.
In just a few days you can see the benefits and also with a very low dose.
So in our last clinical trial, what we saw is that Vanizem can reduce stress and anxious feelings, improve your mood and your sleep quality in very few days.
And something else that makes vanine quite unique is that it targets the endocannabinoid system.
So this is a system that naturally regulates the stress and mood, and what vanize does is to promote these benefits naturally in a natural way.
The indocannabiid system, as you just mentioned, is usually associated with obviously cannabiids and CBD and stuff like that.
How does vanism target that actual system and the pathway naturally and safety and without sort of the regulatory complexity of cannabis and cannabis-like compounds?
Yeah, so most of the regulatory complexity from cannabis-based products comes from the potential content on THC, which is the psychoactive compound.
And many of the products in the market right now are not totally THC free.
However, Afaun melegueta seeds are an African spice with a long history of safe use, and it's a totally different source.
So we know that vanism acts on the endo.
System, but it also does this modulation in an indirect way.
So what it does is to modulate or inhibit an enzyme that regulates the anandamite, which are the main molecules, the molecules that promote this stress and mood lift that we experience.
Very interesting.
We've also noticed that many consumers kind of want calm without sedation.
How fast does Vanism take to affect people and what does that what does the data sort of say about its performance in daytime use versus evening relaxation or sleep quality enhancement.
It is very fast acting, so in our last clinical trial we saw that in just 3 days you can experience benefits on reducing your stress and your anxious feelings and lifting your mood, and in just 2 days you can also see improvements in your sleep quality.
And this is with just a dose of 100 mg, which is quite low.
And in our last clinical trial, we tested van in the morning, so participants took one dose of van in the morning and they didn't experience any sedation or drowsiness, so we can take it during the daytime, but we also think it's suitable to take it before going to bed just to support your sleep.
In that case I might need some too.
It's also being sampled here at Vita Foods, in the capsule form which I think you have right there.
What other formats or delivery systems are you seeing as most compatible or in consumer demand, for stress and sleep support today?
So that depends, on whether you like spicy or not because, as I just mentioned, venison comes from an African spice, from melegueta.
And it's a bit spicy, so we usually in general recommend to have it in capsules.
Also, in general for sleep support, many people are used to take drugs like melatonin, for example, in pills or tablet format and also for sleep support before going to bed, you don't want to drink a lot of water.
So we think capsules.
Tablet format is like what's suitable for this application.
Kind of moving beyond that wonderful sleep and restfulness stuff, we have kind of the polar opposite here.
Dynamite is being backed by more than which was backed, you've said more than 10 clinical studies, I believe.
How are brands using xynamite differently today and are you seeing a shift from sort of.
Traditional energy to mental clarity, cognitive support, and focus and stuff like that.
So as you said, I think the market has shifted from looking just to purely boost your energy and feeling active to boosting your mental clarity, your focus and concentration, and your cognition performance, and we.
I think that cyanamide fits completely in this application.
In our last clinical study, we have seen that in university students, it actually is able to boost your energy and mental energy, concentration and focus during the period of exams and stress.
So we thinkyna is really perfect for this application.
And the new water, we recently ran a story on it, but the new water soluble form of dynamite that you have has showed significant cognitive gains for students.
Can this open new markets for like academic performance or e-sports or workplace productivity?
Absolutely.
So as I was just explaining before, so our last study was performed on university students during exam period and We could see that this was able to boost their cognitive performance, support their attention and focus, and this is perfectly also for other applications so it can be translated for other situations in life where we experience stressful periods like perfectly for professionals with demanding jobs or like parents are very busy taking care of the children, so it can be translated into many other applications.
And then your rodeo life also kind of continues to stand out as an adaptogen and for its quality.
So between like Vanism and xynamite and rodeo life, Nectium seems to have a lot, have built a lot of strong portfolios for mood, energy, resilience.
Are there plans to expand this line with other botanicals that are sort of.
That stress, sleep, energy continuum, or can you give us any sort of sneak peeks into Nexium's future plans?
Yes, so I think over the past years Nexium has built a very strong portfolio in this field of stress, mental and physical energy.
So we have Rodeo Li basically to boost your.
Physical energy to reduce your fatigue and to help you to cope with the stress.
Then we have cynaide that is more focused to boost your mental energy, your concentration, your cognitive flexibility, whereas Van we recommend is used for more to produce calm and relaxation feelings to reduce your stress.
And regarding the future, I think Neptune is going to keep developing botanical products that are going to be based on scientific research, so we will develop more clinical trials and experiments to keep expanding our portfolio on this field of stress.
Mood, physical and mental energy, which is, I think, part of Neptune.
Thank you so much for talking to us today and sharing all your insights.
Thank you so much for coming by and for having us here today.
Of course, yes, I hope you have a great rest of the show and we look forward to hearing more from Neptune in the future.
Thank you so much.
