The Power of Prevention in Healthy Aging

The importance of health in modern society has never been in clearer focus amid the novel coronavirus pandemic that has physically and psychologically afflicted the entire global community.

SARS-CoV-2 and the associated respiratory disease COVID-19 represent the gravest public health emergency since the 1918-1919 H1N1 flu, the deadliest pandemic of the 20th century, which experts estimated infected a third of the population at that time.

Facing a highly infectious pathogen that researchers are still trying to fully understand, U.S. consumers in 2020 stockpiled what they deemed essential supplies. That included traditional immune health supplements like vitamin C, zinc, Echinacea and elderberry, as well as other supplements like multivitamins, vitamin D, and melatonin.

For example, according to IRI data, for the first week of March, compared to the same period in 2019, sales were up 146% for vitamin C, 255% for zinc, 415% for elderberry, and 122% for Echinacea.

Natural health products and nutritional supplements have been on the upswing for years. But with the economy stalled, and many important supply chain links severed, the long