Slideshows
Slideshow: A Healthy Immune Support Market
New products and ingredients sustain an important consumer need.
1. Immunity in Demand
While the worst of this year’s cold and flu season may be behind us, maintaining a healthy immune system is still top-of-mind for many supplement users. According to Gallup, immunity is the health benefit consumers seek most from supplements, and Nutrition Business Journal reported that immune supplement sales were $2.3 billion in 2013. Here’s a look at some recent product news and introductions.
2. U!be Strong Children’s Lozenge
U!be Group Inc. from Taiwan has developed a children’s lozenge targeting oral health and immunity—U!be Strong. The new lozenge features Wellmune WGP, a natural immune health ingredient from Biothera, Eagan, MN.
Eight published, peer-reviewed studies have demonstrated that Wellmune mobilizes billions of innate immune cells that are part of the body’s natural defenses, without over-stimulating the immune system.
“U!be Strong children’s lozenge was created to help parents maintain their children’s immune health in today’s harsh environment and hectic lifestyle,” said John Perng, PhD, U!be Group Inc.’s vice president of R&D and business development. “Upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) and allergy symptoms due to weakened immunity are all too common in modern-day, school-age children. We know from years of experience that Wellmune—with its U.S. FDA-notified GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) status and solid body of clinical research—is the top immune-enhancing ingredient available. What we are doing now is to expand its benefit into the children’s nutritional products arena.”
3. Alomune with ResistAid
Alomune supports immune function with the help of ResistAid from Lonza, Basel, Switzerland. The proprietary formula is made with larch arabinogalactan (LAG), a safe, natural extract sourced from renewable Minnesota Larch trees.
LAG has been found to support the immune system in two different ways: by improving the innate immune response, which is with us from birth; and by improving the adaptive immune response, which is built over time and affected by exposure to various immune challenges presented by the environment we live in. LAG also helps to support the body’s own friendly bacteria in the digestive tract, which makes up 70% of our immune system.
In a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial involving 204 healthy adults, those taking Alomune were 57% more likely to stay healthy than those taking the placebo based on a primary immune health outcome.
Alomune daily immune supplements are available in Chocolate chewable tablets and Berry stick packs for mixing into water and other beverages.
4. Lacprodan OPN-10: Supporting Infant Immunity
Arla Foods Ingredients’ Lacprodan OPN-10 was recently evaluated in a randomized, double-blind clinical trial, which found the ingredient has similar immune health benefits as breast milk, and superior immune support than infant formula.
Lacprodan OPN-10 is made from the whey protein osteopontin, a bioactive component associated with maturation of the infant immune system. Osteopontin is found in high concentrations in human milk—about 138 mg per liter—but in much lower concentrations in bovine milk (about 15 mg per liter). This means infants fed regular formula have a limited intake compared with their breastfed counterparts.
Researchers from China’s Fudan University Hospital and the University of California at Davis conducted a trial in which Chinese infants between one and six months old were fed either regular infant formula or infant formula supplemented with Lacprodan OPN-10, with both groups compared with a reference group of breastfed babies.
The results found babies given infant formula supplemented with Lacprodan OPN-10 experienced a similar number of days of fever to those fed breast milk, and a reduced number of days of fever compared with a control group fed ordinary infant formula. The study also demonstrated that Lacprodan OPN-10 is safe for use in infant formula.
5. Medical-Grade Hydration with Drip Drop
Dehydration from severe cold and flu can be very serious, often resulting in a trip to the hospital for IV rehydration. In fact this year’s especially harsh cold and flu season lead to a nationwide shortage of IV saline rehydration solution.
To meet this healthcare demand, the company Drip Drop, San Francisco, CA, developed the first oral rehydration solution (ORS) that meets the medical standards of rehydration therapy. Drip Drops recently introduced a new berry flavor, in addition to its classic lemon.
Dr. Eduardo Dolhun, Drip Drop’s founder and chief medical officer, said Drip Drop is as effective as IV therapy for treating most cases of mild to moderate dehydration. He added, “Unfortunately, dehydration results in hundreds of thousands of preventable outpatient hospital visits a year. Drip Drop is a cost-effective, at home solution that could prevent trips to the emergency room, long wait times and painful IV injections. Kids especially love the new berry flavor, drink it readily, and feel better almost immediately.”
Founded in 2008, Drip Drop is based on an internationally recognized method of treating dehydration with a precise mixture of sugars and electrolytes known as Oral Rehydration Solutions (ORS). However, ORS has not gained popularity in the U.S. due to taste complaints from patients. By introducing the new flavor offerings, Drip Drop aims to brake through the “taste barrier.”
6. AllergEase Herbal Lozenges
Support of seasonal allergies is also a growing area of interest within the immune health category. AllergEase, from the company AllergEase Inc., San Diego, CA, is an all-natural, gluten-free, herbal lozenge designed to reduce the symptoms of seasonal and environmental allergies, which affect approximately 20 million individuals in the U.S.
The company, along with Medicus Research, recently revealed positive study results for AllergEase, which found that it improved nasal breathing and reduced sneezing.
“Controlling allergies has been a topic of discussion for years. It’s been a complex and challenging phenomenon for scientists,” said principal investigator Jay Udani, MD, CEO of Medicus Research. “Through our clinical research studies, we were able to show that the product improved nasal airflow—and leads to less sneezing.”
The randomized, double-blind crossover clinical trial concluded that consumption of the product during acute antigen exposure was safe and resulted in decreased sneezing and attenuation of the expected drop in nasal airflow, suggesting that consumption of AllergEase during acute antigen exposure may result in faster recovery.
Discussing the study’s results, creator of AllergEase lozenges, Omar Javery, MD, said, “It’s great allergy suffers now have a proven, all-natural alternative to help them get back to enjoying their lives, without the side-effects typical of other allergy products.”
By Lisa Olivo, Associate Editor 03.27.14
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