From nutrigenomics to nutritional therapy, more personalised approaches to diet and health in women are gaining ground. How do supplement brands respond to a growing consumer understanding that one size does not necessarily fit all? Paul Gander reports
Zita West, a midwife who founded a women’s dietary supplement brand under her own name over 15 years ago, has had a grandstand view of how female attitudes have evolved over that period.
“When I launched the range here in the UK, there were really only a select few women who understood the benefits of supplementation for fertility, especially; today, many more understand this,” she says.
“Pregnancy has always been a slightly easier ‘sell’, as the National Health Service (NHS) recommends women take folic acid, so many know to supplement.” She adds: “I think the postnatal period quite often gets forgotten about, and it’s as important as taking supplements during pregnancy, really.”
One challenge for this brand, and others which come with a premium price tag, is the importance of educating consumers about the benefits of bioavailability.
“Even if they know our supplements are ‘better’ than others, they’re also more expensive, and consumers don’t quite understand why,” West says. “We changed to folate from folic acid a few years ago—the body turns folic acid into folate to use it—and we still have a lot of women asking if they need to take a folic acid supplement, as ours don’t seem to contain it.”
Another ingredient which is a potential differentiator, but which can also cause confusion, is beta-carotene. This can be included as a way of avoiding the potentially harmful effects of excess vitamin A levels on pregnant women. “Vitamin A is still needed, but by using beta-carotene, the body will convert it to vitamin A on an as-needed basis,” says West. But some women see the mention of ‘beta-carotene’ and panic. “Certain brands would just leave vitamin A out altogether, if they were at the cheaper end of the market.”
Similar challenges are faced by brands serving other segments of the women's health market. Gut health, for example, can present issues related to messaging on probiotics.
Sophia Marinho de Lemos is a co-founder of the Källa brand (meaning ‘source’) of powdered supplements in Sweden. The range, which launches later this spring and will only be available online, is principally angled towards women, and is based around gut health and probiotics.
The enduring effects of the EU’s Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation (NHCR) mean that explicit claims about probiotics cannot be made. But the brand can identify the specific strains used. Of the For Relief variant targeting digestive health, she says: “We can also reference research, for example, the 50-plus clinical trials about the alleviation of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms.”