Maximizing healthspan: Spotlight on holistic health and targeted solutions

Worldwide, consumers increasingly prioritize healthy aging — aiming to live an active lifestyle as long as possible. In addition to proactive, holistic health solutions, the nutrition industry is exploring targeted offerings in brain, gut, and metabolic health. Nutrition Insight discusses innovations and growing market demand with experts from dsm-firmenich, Finzelberg, and Gnosis by Lesaffre.

“The growing scientific understanding of how the mechanisms of aging influence health outcomes is changing how we perceive nutrition’s role in longevity,” says Endrigo Ramos, associate director of Global Marketing of Dietary Supplements for Healthy Longevity at dsm-firmenich. 

“As a result, the healthy aging market is experiencing a paradigm shift from simply extending life expectancy to maximizing health expectancy — in other words, the years lived in good health.” 

He adds that market data reveals strong consumer demand for ingredients targeting fundamental aging mechanisms. Coenzyme Q10 leads the market, followed by resveratrol and other bioactive compounds that address mitochondrial function, cellular senescence, and chronic inflammation. 

Martin Felkner, senior expert in Branded Ingredients at Finzelberg, highlights several key product categories that are becoming essential to address emerging health challenges in aging. 

“Within the scope of functional nutrition and dietary supplements, we expect to see an increase in nootropics, adaptogens, and established herbal and botanical ingredients.” 

“We further predict growth in products that pair biotics with mushrooms to leverage cognitive health benefits with pre-, pro-, and postbiotics being cited for their ability to modulate the gut-brain axis to support the nervous system.”

Systemic preservation to maximize healthspan

Silvia Pisoni, global market manager at Gnosis by Lesaffre, spots a changing mindset among aging consumers as they employ healthy lifestyle habits to extend their healthspan. 

“Consumers are seeking systemic preservation, knowing that doing so will extend their health and well-being as the years pass,” she explains. “Healthy aging encompasses a large set of conditions — all organs, cells, biochemicals, and systems age, slow down, and welcome opportunistic disease risk.”

As a result, the healthy aging product category is broad and “too vague,” while determining which products to use depends on a person’s physical or physiological status, needs, and family history. 

Although Pisoni notes that consumers like the broad category, there is a growing demand for targeted healthy aging solutions. For example, she details that consumers are more frequently turning to dietary supplements to help them “achieve mobility and protect systemic functions, and they are therefore seeking specific healthy aging-promotion products.”  

Pisoni says that healthy aging is a broad topic as all organs, cells, biochemicals, and systems age, slow down, and welcome disease risk.She highlights Gnosis by Lesaffre’s MenaQ7 Vitamin K2 ingredient, branded as MK-7 (menaquinone-7), which can address three key focus areas for an aging population: heart, bone, and brain health. 

The solution can activate inert K-dependent proteins that deliver incoming calcium to the health-appropriate locations and stop its deposit in arteries. “This last action, shown and validated to support heart function, has now been shown to impact brain function as well, according to a newly published review.” 

Earlier research showed the role of vitamin K2 in mitigating arterial calcification. Through this exact mechanism, researchers revealed the ingredient may also play a critical role in inhibiting cognitive impairment, linking vascular function to mental performance. 

Pisoni adds: “The authors commented that ‘cognitive dysfunction, which is prevalent in aging populations, may be partially explained by increased arterial stiffness and calcification. Evidence from clinical trials suggests that MK-7 may delay or even reverse vascular calcification.’”

Focus on proactive health

Ramos from dsm-firmenich says the healthy aging market offers significant opportunities due to unprecedented demographic shifts. 

“By 2050, more than 2.1 billion people, representing over 20% of the global population, will be over 60. This demographic transformation is creating substantial market potential, particularly as 80% of these older adults will live in low- and middle-income countries, opening new markets requiring innovative and accessible solutions.” 

He highlights that the industry is encouraging a fundamental shift in the consumer mindset — from reactive supplementation to proactive health management. 

“Consumer awareness is evolving, with research showing that over half of consumers now recognize the connection between diet, nutrition, and long-term health outcomes.”

In addition, Ramos says research indicates targeting key cellular processes is crucial. “These products are designed to support hallmarks of aging, starting with cellular senescence, where senolytic compounds like fisetin and quercetin help maintain healthy cell function.”

We met Finzelberg at this year’s Vitafoods Europe trade show to explore its botanical solutions for gut health.“Mitochondrial health is another key focus, with nutrients such as vitamins B, C, and E, zinc, selenium, and coenzyme Q10 playing a role in energy production.” 

At the same time, he cautions that regulatory complexity remains a significant challenge, specifically for novel ingredients that target cellular aging mechanisms, because requirements can vary significantly per region. 

Gut and metabolic health

Finzelberg’s Felkner points to the gut microbiome, which research recognizes as a potent physiological contributor to overall physical and cognitive health. “New product development in this area is focused on holistic and clinically backed solutions that can impact microbiome modulation and the gut-brain and gut-skin axis.”

“Our 360Gut, an emerging, polyphenol-based prebiotic, exemplifies this approach,” he adds. “It offers clinically validated benefits for digestive health and works by feeding beneficial gut bacteria and inducing a microbiome-balancing effect for broader wellness outcomes.” 

The solution is based on Thymus serpyllum and is effective in comparably low doses. “360Gut is highly versatile when combined with pre-, pro-, and postbiotics and can be integrated into supplements and functional foods,” Felkner continues. 

He adds that metabolic health and maintaining healthy blood glucose levels are also key for healthy aging. In this area, Felkner highlights Finzelberg’s Recovera, a clinically researched Opuntia ficus-indica extract. He says the solution helps to “replenish depleted muscle glycogen stores during and after exercise and also helps to maintain a healthy metabolic response after food intake, which is beneficial to counter glucose spikes.”

Cognitive innovations

The experts note that cognition and brain health are key focus areas in healthy aging. 

Although consumer interest in brain health products continues to rise, Felkner observes a challenge in developing evidence-based formulations that meet increasingly sophisticated consumer expectations. 

Ramos says research indicates targeting key cellular processes is crucial to support hallmarks of aging.At the same time, he sees “exciting possibilities for product innovation” by combining traditional ingredients with emerging research. 

“Supplement brands increasingly lean on botanicals and herbals supported by new clinical research for benefits in cognitive performance, mood, and memory, including ashwagandha, chamomile, ginseng, lemon verbena, Rhodiola, and Sideritis to support the particular needs for brain and mental health.”

Felkner also highlights new research on the benefits of mushrooms for overall brain health and on pre-, pro-, and postbiotics that can modulate the gut-brain axis to support the central nervous system. 

“This creates opportunities for product developers to combine established and well-accepted ingredients with new and emerging ones.”

He notes that formulators can develop effective solutions across multiple formats with innovative ingredient combinations. For example, he details how Finzelberg’s Concental solution, a plant-based and non-stimulant brain essential based on Sideritis species, can be paired with ingredients such as bacopa, B vitamins, and adaptogens. 

Felkner adds that researchers actively study the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying brain aging, such as neuroinflammation, protein aggregation, impaired autophagy, and vascular dysfunction.” 

“The impact of lifestyle choices like quality sleep, regular exercise, and a diverse diet is ongoing, as researchers seek to understand the complex interplay between genetics, the environment, and nutrition, including the gut-brain axis and its implications on overall health and well-being, which is a core element of healthy aging.” 

He notes that such findings could offer valuable insight into how personalized interventions and therapeutic strategies can potentially slow or mitigate cognitive decline. 

“This integrated approach reflects our new understanding that healthy aging involves multiple interconnected body systems working together,” Felkner concludes.