Move over nasty-tasting bars and chalky drinks—sports nutrition’s new users are completely reshaping a booming category.

The Participants Are:

• Tim Hammond, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Bergstrom Nutrition, Vancouver, WA, https://bergstromnutrition.com

• Dan Lifton, President, Maypro Ventures, Purchase, NY, http://maypro.com

• Elyse Lovett, MS, MBA, Senior Marketing Manager, Kyowa Hakko USA, New York, NY, https://kyowa-usa.com

• Jamie Luu, RDN, LD/N, Nutrition and Analytics Manager, Almased USA, St. Petersburg, FL, www.almased.com

• Sam Michini, Vice President, Marketing & Strategy, Deerland Probiotics & Enzymes, Kennesaw, GA, www.deerland.com

• Amanda Orloske, Senior Director, Marketing & International Sales, Biova, Johnston, IA, www.biova.com

• Andrew Rice, Director of Product & Brand Strategy, Stratum Nutrition, Carthage, MO, www.stratumnutrition.com

According to a March 2019 report from Mintel, Sports Nutrition and Performance Drinks—U.S., consumers are seeking greater “functionality from beverages in a growing number of categories, which will continue to put pressure on sports, performance and nutrition drinks.”

The report also points to a blurring of lines between nutritional drinks, performance drinks and weight-loss drinks.

In addition, Mintel’s data indicate that a majority of consumers between the ages of 18 and 54 believe that performance and nutrition drinks contain “too many artificial ingredients,” bad news for mainstream brands, such as SlimFast, that still feature artificial flavors and artificial sweeteners (like sucralose)—not to mention high-fructose corn syrup—but good news for “clean label” natural brands.

The report also shows that consumers are more than twice as likely to make dietary changes that support healthy aging as they are to make changes solely based on athletic performance.

Says Mintel, more than 20 percent of consumers seek performance products that offer value-adds, such as being anti-inflammatory or supporting brain health, vision or bone health.

Our expert panel weighs in:

NIE: Briefly, how would you describe the sports nutrition market that is emerging today, and how does it differ from the market of just a few years ago?

Hammond: In the past, sports nutrition products only focused on what consumers might consider the end result of their efforts—getting bigger, stronger and faster. But consumers are now understanding that outside influences, beyond what might fall under typical training parameters, can also affect these end results.

Companies are meeting this increased awareness with products that in the past might have been considered for outside issues, such as immune function, exercise-induced pain and soreness, and even mental focus.

Luu: Over the last few years, social media has played a larger role in directly influencing the market by making fitness and healthy living popular, including influencers posting about their fitness journey—from everyday meals to sweat-selfies to before-and-after pictures—which has had a direct impact on consumer behavior. The impact has contributed to a surge in demand for sports nutrition products that support muscle building, energy and overall athletic performance.

Lifton: It has transformed in a number of ways. Just building muscle is no longer what many consumers are looking for. There is much more of an interest in supporting several areas at once, for example energy, performance, recovery, joint health and bone health. Each health area supports the others, and that, to me, is a more a holistic way of looking at sports nutrition.

Michini: There is much more clarity and emphasis on how the gut microbiome contributes to fitness, whether it is endurance or power workouts or competition. Also, workouts such as Peloton are opening new areas for product launches, as people can reach fitness goals in the comfort of their own homes, making it easier to use sports nutrition—they don’t have to carry anything with them to the gym.

Rice: The sports nutrition market today is a fast-paced, highly competitive category. Through just ecommerce and social influence alone, the sports nutrition market looks much different than even two to three years ago. Like other categories, when highly targeted and well-informed digital/social strategies are possessed, they offer a rapidly accelerated product conception to launch process for today’s digital savvy start-up brand.

NIE: What happened to the stereotypical “sports nutrition user?” Has the target consumer changed from bodybuilders seemingly happy to chug nasty-tasting drinks and sticky chemical-laden bars to human performance hobbyists? Or something else?

Michini: The muscle-bound bodybuilders are still there—typically younger and middle-aged men, and some women as well. To these individuals, bodybuilding is not so much a sport as it is a lifestyle that features extreme elements, such as dietary restrictions, to achieve a fat-free sculpted look. And these athletes still require the same elemental products—proteins, enzymes, probiotics, recovery ingredients—as other active lifestylers and fitness enthusiasts.

Hammond: The stereotypical sports nutrition user has not gone away and is still more important that ever. What’s different is that now all types of people are interested in taking control of their health in more ways that just following a fad diet or getting their daily dose of exercise. These everyday consumers are approaching their health more holistically, with a keen understanding that there is more they can do to improve or maintain their health.

As science and research become more advanced, formulators are able to augment their products to meet the specific demands of different types of consumers.

Lovett: I think there are definitely still the target bodybuilders in the sports nutrition market who are very brand loyal, but I also think the active lifestyle user is becoming a more stereotypical sports nutrition user. Bodybuilders who have been the core users for years are well informed and critical about formulations but may not demand clean label like the active lifestyle user. They are pretty brand loyal and consistently purchase in high volume.

Lifton: Yes, there are bodybuilders and triathletes, both professional and amateur, and this will continue to be a core segment that must be catered to. That being said, there really is no longer a quintessential sports nutrition consumer. There are many users who are, in many cases, looking for an all-in-one product or a specialized product that will address one specific area: pre-workout, workout, recovery, endurance.

Orloske: The target consumer has changed dramatically in the past few years. The rise in the popularity of obstacle course racing, or OCR events, for example, has more “non-athletes” looking to train and compete at higher, more challenging levels.

Additionally, the added emphasis on the importance of weight-bearing exercises has a much wider variety of consumer hitting the weight room, and they want to be using products that will help make the most of that effort.

The target consumer today ranges from bodybuilder to Spartan racers to the average health-conscious person who makes fitness and nutrition a part of their everyday life.

Rice: Over the last decade, personal nutrition and fitness have become engrained into the lives of a much larger audience, unlike what we once knew as the stereotypical “sports nutrition user.” New diets, nutritional plans, and exercise programs seem to pop up every couple of months. Some of which come and go (P90X, Body by Jake, Beachbody, etc.), and some which have stood the test of time (CrossFit, Orange Theory, Peloton, etc.). Mainstream media has opened the opportunity for sports nutrition to not only focus on performance nutrition, but to also focus on sports nutrition that is convenient for lifestyle users.

NIE: Describe this new “lifestyle user” and the ways this user differs from the traditional sports nutrition consumer?

Hammond: The industry is coming to realize that it isn’t as easy as pegging all our efforts toward just one new lifestyle user. They simply do not exist. We are all on our own unique fitness journey influenced by age, gender, interests, past injuries and more. Companies are taking note of these specific demands, while also recognizing that the stereotypical “sports nutrition users” have their own set of challenges and concerns that can hopefully be addressed by science and research.

Lifton: The lifestyle user can be a casual or occasional user who might want a little more protein for workouts or wants to have a body composition that they feel better about, which can include weight loss.

With 70 to 80 percent of gym memberships going unused, the reasons and ways consumers use sports nutrition products have expanded exponentially, as have the types of products available.

Lovett: The lifestyle users are willing to invest heavily in what matches their “crowd culture,” what others are doing around them. Unlike the bodybuilders, they really want functionality and clean-label, as well convenient types of formats.

Luu: The traditional sports nutrition consumers look for functional products that can improve their endurance, strength and recovery. Lifestyle users, on the other hand, prefer products that not only provide the functional benefit, but also include healthful ingredients, like probiotics and plant-based protein and clean-label claims, like organic, all-natural, sustainable, cruelty-free and non-GMO (genetically modified organism).

Michini: The new lifestyle user is not hardcore but more devoted to a holistic, clean, healthy lifestyle. People of all ages understand that some type of workout benefits their health for the long-term, but no longer is it an isolated activity, it is an integral part of life.

One example we found are young female fitness bloggers who share their experiences on social media.

The refreshing aspect about this growing crop of bloggers is that they are your typical health-oriented woman who is a mom, who has a career, and for whom fitness is a powerful driver of her life’s journey.

A few have discussed their gut sensitivities such as bloating when consuming post-workout protein powders (such as whey).

One, who posted in August about how she was training for an upcoming Ironman, noted that she makes a fresh fruit and vegetable smoothie with yogurt and a protein powder containing the enzyme ProHydrolase, which significantly helps reduce GI distress by breaking down the large protein peptides for smoother and more effective digestion.

Rice: We currently live in a culture that pushes living a healthier lifestyle and looking physically fit (pushed predominately by “Insta Selfies”). Due to the broader customer base and increased competition, it has become necessary that the taste, options, efficacy, science and delivery methods not only needed to evolve, but also to provide more in product variety to meet the needs of sports nutrition consumers.

NIE: Nootropics appears to be an emerging trend for sports nutrition products. Why is this so, and please give examples of why this is important.

Orloske: The mind-body connection plays a huge part in sports or fitness performance. The saying, “What the mind believes, the body achieves” is a perfect example of this. Utilizing nootropics in sports nutrition makes perfect sense. Improve the focus and function of the brain and you increase the body’s ability to work harder and go longer.

Lovett: Cognitive health is one of the fastest-growing areas in the wellness field. Nootropics are so important because they are really providing value across many different demographics.

The younger users are using nootropics to enhance their performance, whether at the gym, at school or in their everyday lives for that jolt of mental energy. The competitive athlete might use a sports nutrition product with a cognitive ingredient for focus, extra focus during a tennis match or a sprint—which could mean the difference between first and second place.

The 55-plus users are using nootropics for both age-related memory and to keep up with physical activities in their everyday lives. Lifton: This is an emerging area that is being led, in some cases, by marketing, with science tagging along behind. The idea, of course, is that a critical part of performance is in the mind, along with the mental focus and concentration that’s part and parcel of that.

However, just like a racing outfit isn’t needed by the average “around-the-cul de sac bicyclist,” a 1,000th of a second faster lap isn’t really necessary for the weekend warrior. They’re not doing time trials or trying to qualify for the Olympics.

So, while focus and concentration are of value, it’s important that we don’t get too far ahead of the science of human performance here.

NIE: When looking at protein, very briefly describe the separate benefits of whey protein and casein for muscle-building and recovery, respectively.

Luu: Both whey and casein are proteins derived from milk, but each protein differs in its amino acid profile, absorption rate and bioavailability, which can affect its ability to aid in muscle-building and recovery.

Whey protein is a soluble protein, which digests faster. In a comparison study between whey and casein, researchers found that after exercise, whey provided a significant surge in amino acids, which stimulated muscle protein synthesis—the process by which muscles grow. Casein on the other hand digests slower, releasing a small amounts of protein into the body over time. Compared to whey, casein has more muscle-preserving properties that help with muscle recovery.

A combination of both casein and whey is ideal for muscle-building and recovery, but timing is important. Consumers should take whey immediately post-workout for muscle synthesis and growth. They should take casein before bedtime to help with muscle retention overnight.

Orloske: Whey is a faster-acting protein as it reaches the bloodstream faster. It elevates amino acid levels and has more leucine that builds more muscle.

Casein is slower to reach the bloodstream and releases smaller amounts of protein over time but stays in the bloodstream for longer. Casein contains more muscle preserving properties, which is important for recovery.

NIE: Manufacturers are increasingly looking at the amino acid profile of their sports nutrition products more so than just protein. Why is this important?

Lifton: This is a valuable area to pursue, because different foods and plants have very different amino acid patterns or profiles, and each of these provides its own unique benefits. Whether free form, branched chain or peptide bonded, each form and composition has its own benefits.

Luu: The composition of the amino acid profile can affect the rate of muscle synthesis and recovery, so it is important to look at the amino acid profile of products and not just the type of protein.

During exercise, branched chain amino acids (BCAA)—leucine, isoleucine and valine are oxidized—especially leucine. So, the amount available for muscle growth and synthesis becomes limited. Therefore, consuming sports nutrition products with BCAA can be helpful in preserving and building lean muscle mass.

When looking for a plant-based alternative, soy is the only plant that contains a complete amino acid profile compared to other plant proteins, which makes it the perfect alternative to dairy protein.

One popular soy-based formula on the market is Almased. Almased contains 27 grams of protein with a complete amino acids profile and bioactive peptides that contain immune-boosting and anti-inflammatory properties.

NIE: Ketogenic and paleo are huge right now. In what specific ways are these mega-trends influencing the development of sports nutrition products?

Orloske: The cornerstones of these diets are eliminating processed sugars and non-complex carbohydrates. Companies are responding to these trends with convenient protein and fat-rich nutrition products. There has also been a significant increase in meat-based bars and jerky offerings.

Lifton: These trends are intriguing, but manufacturers should tread with extreme caution. Paleo nutrition has some merit, as it points to the value of foods closer to what can be called our ancestral diets. But the true ketogenic diet—which calls for fat content of 75 or 80 percent—is both hard to stick to and may be dangerous.

NIE: Forget the blender or mixing bowl; consumers are increasingly seeking out ready-to-mix, ready-to-drink and add-in products. Can you speak to this trend and talk about the hottest delivery forms?

Michini: Convenience continues to drive R&D because convenience remains a key priority among busy consumers, especially those who fit in workouts and practices to their already zooming lives.

Products such as gummies and other chewables are attractive in this arena, as they offer quick and treat-like alternatives to conventional capsules and tablets.

To show how vibrant this market is, Transparency Market Research projects that the global market for gummy supplements will rise at a steady CAGR of 5.2 percent from 2017-2025 to reach $4.1 billion in 2025.

Foods and beverages featuring probiotics are in demand among athletes and gym-goers, but typically adding strains in these products has been somewhat problematic due to stability issues. This is where a spore-forming strain is superior. Bacillus subtilis DE111 is a unique spore-forming probiotic; it forms a tough spore under harsh conditions, protecting it as it journeys through the stomach and also during harsher manufacturing conditions.

In addition, B. subtilis DE111 can be successfully added to dark chocolate. Chocolate and DE111 work well together because the beneficial bacteria near the end of the digestive tract ferments the antioxidants and the fiber in cocoa. This fermentation creates anti-inflammatory compounds. Combining certain probiotics with chocolate multiplies the benefits of chocolate.

Adding probiotics and enzymes in a protein powder offers the fitness-minded consumer an all-in-one experience.

Luu: Consumers like ease and convenience, so ready-to-mix and ready-to-drink products are a must-have when they are busy or are on-the-go all the time. Instead of foregoing a nutritious meal, consumers are looking for products that can easily and quickly replace their meals.

In addition, consumers also like personalized diets that support their individual nutritional needs, so that’s where add-in products come in. Giving consumers the ability to nutritionally enhance their shakes and create Instagram-worthy images while doing so is a plus.

NIE: For manufacturers and suppliers, in a few paragraphs please note why your flagship ingredient or formula is beneficial for sports nutrition consumers.

Lovett: Cognizin, the branded form of citicoline is potent brain health nutrient that has been studied in healthy subjects. Recent studies have shown [that] Cognizin supports focus, attention and mental energy. Cognizin is made by an innovative fermentation process to ensure quality and purity. Cognizin is GRAS (generally recognized as safe), stable and soluble so it makes a great fit in any delivery form.

Michini: In a study involving female collegiate athletes during off-season training, researchers found that DE111—1 billion CFU—in conjunction with adequate post-workout nutrition, can improve body composition and indices of athletic performance. The results of the study showed that compared to the placebo, the probiotic DE111 produced statistically significantly improvements in the reduction of body fat percentage, and a strong trend indicating improved performance of the deadlift exercise.

In a study involving male collegiate athletes during off-season training, researchers found that DE111, in conjunction with adequate post-workout nutrition, can promote tissue recovery and reduce likelihood of injury. The results of the study showed that compared to the placebo, the probiotic DE111 produced a statistically significantly reduction of tumor necrosis factor alpha.

Lifton: Sweating is one way the body utilizes to cool down in response to increases in temperature. But if people begin to overheat and sweat excessively, without replacing fluids lost, that can spell trouble.

Two recent studies show that Oligonol—a patented and low-molecular-weight polyphenolic extract derived from lychee fruit (85 percent) and green tea (15 percent)—helps the body better use body fluids to tackle heat stress, specifically reducing increases in body temperature under heat stress, partly via reducing inflammation.

And Oligonol also decreases fatigue and improves endurance. It also increases production of nitric oxide, improving circulation, on and off the field.

Orloske: Joint health is integral to the health and performance of an athlete in both training and competition applications. Athletes and fitness enthusiasts are becoming more focused on joint maintenance, productive recovery and mobility to remain at peak performance. Just as products that support muscle building are crucial for athletes, products that support their skeletal structure is just as important.

In a recent clinical study, subjects using BiovaFlex reported five times less stiffness and a 75 percent improvement on a six-minute walk test versus placebo subjects. A 450 mg daily regimen of BiovaFlex can reduce joint stiffness in athletes and increase agility.

Luu: Athletes or body builders looking to speed up their muscle recovery can drink an Almased shake post-workout. Almased is a plant-based formula with long-acting soy protein. The quality high protein in Almased and its complete amino acid profile help the body retain lean muscle mass.

Moreover, studies show that Almased can increase the basal metabolic rate and increase fat oxidation. Meaning: Almased can help the body optimize metabolism and burn fat, two important benefits that consumers look for when losing weight. NIE

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