Steve Fink, Vice President of Marketing, PLT Health Solutions, Discusses the Weight-management Category

by Angela Sabarese | August 1, 2023

At PLT, we have long said that weight management is the single biggest thing that people can do to live happier, healthier lives. An unhealthy weight is a contributor to many of the chronic health conditions that Americans and people around the world experience. As a society, we’re not doing well in this regard, with rates of overweight/obese skyrocketing around the world. Sure, we understand that diet and exercise are the main components of sound weight management practices. But we live in a world where we need an ‘all hands-on deck’ approach—and weight management supplements have an important role to play here.

The most important thing that the market and consumers need are ingredients that are the subject of high-quality clinical science. This supports product formulators in the way that they can create compelling, trust-building messaging surrounding their products. It also supports consumers in their ability to trust and engage with these products. PLT Health Solutions is committed to funding, developing and communicating clinical trials with well-defined endpoints that address the major issues related to weight management.

Within the weight management space, consumers want convenience and diverse delivery systems from their weight management products. In 2019, PLT launched a water-soluble, neutral tasting version of our premier weight management ingredient, Slendacor Weight Management Complex. This has helped Slendacor go ‘beyond the pill’ into a broader range of delivery systems and has allowed it to become the foundation of large brands with a number of different weight loss products internationally. Today, it is included in products ranging from powders and shakes to chews, gummies and shots.

Another trend we are seeing is the inclusion of weight management ingredients in new categories of health-supporting products. This is particularly the case in active/sports nutrition where today, most major pre-workout or daily use products feature a weight management component. We don’t see why weight management can’t team up with other condition-specific products—like joint health or cardio health—moving into the future.

One trend that we see with leading weight management companies is a focus on the ‘whole person’ and not just the ‘dieter’ in developing weight management products and weight management regimens. We call this ‘smart weight management’—that, first, recommends diet and exercise as an integral part of weight management and then addresses a range of concerns for the target demographic. For example, when developing a weight management product for seniors, it is important to consider issues like maintaining muscle mass and blood sugar management. From a broader perspective, as important as weight loss is to many consumers, we know that healthy and sustainable changes to body weight must involve supporting other related systems, like cardiovascular and metabolic health.

PLT Weight Management Brands

Slendacor Weight Management Complex is currently the top selling, branded, ‘on-label’ weight management ingredient in the U.S., Brazil and Australia. The key to penetration of these markets is the multiple gold-standard clinical trials that support strong messaging.

Slendacor is a novel, patented formulation of three standardized herbal extracts: turmeric (Curcuma longa), moringa (Moringa oleifera) and curry leaf (Murraya koenigii) that was developed through an extensive botanical screening effort that had the goal of identifying herbs that impact weight loss. All three of these herbs have been in long use in Asian and Indian cuisines.

Three clinical studies on Slendacor Weight Management Complex offer support for an ingredient that offers rapid weight loss (starting at 14 days) and body shaping benefits and a thermogenic calorie burning benefit with a low, once per day dose. New data on lipolysis shows that Slendacor is not just breaking fat down but increasing the metabolism of that fat and changing the metabolic activity of those fat cells. It is burning fat rather than sending it to energy reserves.

In 2022, PLT unveiled a series of scientific studies in support of our Slendacor Weight Management Complex ingredient that offer new insights into the mechanisms of action behind its weight loss and body shaping benefits, and which demonstrate a thermogenic benefit that provides formulators of weight management products the ability to address consumers with scientifically supported metabolism-enhancing messaging.

Two published pre-clinical studies focused on energy expenditure and reveal a dual mode of action for Slendacor via controlling fat reserves (modulation of adipogenesis and lipolysis) and managing energy expenditure (increasing thermogenesis). The two pre-clinical studies1,2 showed that the mechanisms of action are related to the effect of Slendacor on white adipose tissue increasing UCP1 expression to resemble what occurs in more metabolically active brown adipose tissue.

Furthermore, the Natural and Non-Prescription Health Products Directorate (NNHPD) of Health Canada recently approved an expanded series of claims for Slendacor related to cardiometabolic health. These included:

• Helps lower blood triglycerides, total and LDL cholesterol.

• Helps support cardiovascular health by reducing total and LDL cholesterol.

• Helps to reduce blood triglycerides, total and LDL cholesterol levels.

• Helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels.

• Helps to reduce serum triglycerides, total and LDL cholesterol levels.

Supresa Crave Control is an extract of Crocus sativus L. saffron stigmas that are rich in safranal, crocin and picrocin. This proprietary extract is standardized to >0.3 percent safranal. Supresa induces a feeling of well-being to address the source of stress-related overeating and snacking. The best news? Clinical studies suggest that it starts working before 14 days. Su¬presa represents a different mechanism of action for weight management—giving the weight-management formulator an opportunity to differentiate their product.

Maintaining Sales of Weight Management Ingredients

I think these brands can keep doing what they have been doing. Focus on more and better clinical science. Develop products featuring more diverse delivery systems and greater convenience. Expanding the weight management benefit set into different products—including things like sports/active nutrition, joint health and more.

Healthy weight management has never been solely about shedding pounds. As important as weight loss is to many consumers, they know that healthy and sustainable changes to body weight must involve supporting other related systems, like cardiovascular and metabolic health. New data on the effect of Slendacor on lipolysis shows that it is not just breaking fat down but increasing the metabolism of that fat and changing the metabolic activity of fat cells. It is burning fat rather than sending it to energy reserves.