According to the World Economic Forum and the McKinsey Health Institute, women spend 25% more of their lives in poor health compared with men.
This difference is often referred to as the “women’s health gap,” which has consequences beyond quality of life.
Closing this gap would undoubtedly improve productivity, participation and overall well-being.
Women’s wellness is undergoing a fundamental shift. Rather than being defined by isolated life stages such as pregnancy or menopause, it is increasingly viewed as a continuous, lifecycle-driven journey shaped by everyday health priorities.
Women today are taking greater ownership of their health, consulting multiple sources and adopting proactive self-care strategies that extend well beyond hormonal milestones.
At Gnosis by Lesaffre, we define women’s wellness as foundational support that adapts across life stages, rather than solutions confined to a single biological moment.
Our approach starts with science-backed ingredients that support core physiological systems—bone, cardiovascular, vaginal, digestive, and microbiome health—that remain relevant from early adulthood through menopause and beyond.
For example, vitamin K2 plays a critical role in bone and cardiovascular health throughout the lifespan, offering benefits during peak bone-building years and again later in life when bone density loss accelerates.
Similarly, bioactive folate supports fertility and early development while also contributing to cardiovascular health and healthy homocysteine levels for women of all ages.
Clinically studied probiotic yeast solutions also support intimate and vaginal health during adolescence and adulthood, helping women navigate often underserved and sensitive transitions.
Going to the source: consumer insights
Gnosis took the opportunity to launch its new “Think like Nature to raise human health” corporate vision and evolved brand identity at the biggest stage for the dietary supplement industry: SupplySide Global 2025 in Las Vegas, NV. This vision is grounded in six foundational pillars:
- decades of fermentation and biotransformation for health and nutrition
- scientific excellence rooted in insights from Nature’s intelligence
- quality portfolio and production of European and pharma standards
- cocreation and proactive partnerships
- sustainable impact in our own ecosystem and beyond
- educators of future proactive health and well-being.
As part of our Education pillar, Gnosis is devoted to understanding consumer needs to promote prevention and deliver effective solutions.
On 1 October 2025, Gnosis welcomed its new Consumer Insights Director, Dalia Fouad, who will lead the company’s efforts to deepen its understanding of consumer and customer needs, behaviours and motivations across markets.
According to Marie Tutein Brenoe, Gnosis Global Head of Marketing: “Understanding our consumers is at the heart of what we do."
"With Dalia’s expertise, we will be even better positioned to listen, learn and design solutions that meet evolving consumer expectations in our new strategic opportunity areas and existing portfolio.”
Earlier this year, the first Consumer Insights Project was initiated as part of our broader commitment to deepen our understanding of women’s health across life stages.
“While global data clearly highlights the scale of the women’s health gap, we wanted to move beyond statistics and explore lived experience: how women interpret health changes, when they decide to act, and what makes support feel credible,” said Fouad.
In collaboration with its research partner, Gnosis conducted qualitative interviews with 90 women in three regions: the United States, France and China, spanning ages 25–70+.
The interviews were designed to be exploratory, allowing women to speak openly about their realities, challenges and decision-making patterns in terms of their health.
The fieldwork phase lasted approximately 6 weeks. According to Fouad, this timeline ensured depth, cultural nuance and careful analysis of insights across markets and life stages.
The primary objective of the initiative was to explore women’s perspectives on health during different life stages, with a particular focus on how health priorities evolve with key life transitions.
The goal was to translate those human truths into a clearer direction for innovation and communication.
“Women’s health was the central lens; we explored how women interpret physical, emotional and cognitive changes, how they manage them and how those experiences influence their broader health behaviours, including lifestyle choices, proactive approaches and supplementation patterns,” explained Fouad.
“In that sense, the initiative was focused but not narrow. It was centred on women’s health while recognising that health itself is multidimensional.”
The insights from these and future efforts help Gnosis to identify what truly matters to people, how they define health, what their needs are, when they decide to act and what builds trust.
This understanding guides innovation by clarifying where meaningful opportunities exist. It strengthens our portfolio by sharpening relevance. And it informs communication by ensuring that messaging connects to lived experience and not assumptions.
“With a structured insights capability, we are better positioned to listen continuously, learn systematically and design solutions that evolve alongside consumers,” said Fouad.
“This is the first step of exploring the women’s health category … and more research will complement this explorative phase.”
Findings from this initiative were shared during Gnosis’s live online Women’s Day celebration on 18–19 March, exemplifying our commitment to advancing women’s health globally and empowering our partners with fresh insights.
Answering women’s health needs
From increased cardiovascular risks to hormonal fluctuations that can affect overall well-being, women have distinct nutritional needs that require specialised solutions. Fortunately, two powerful nutrients — MenaQ7® and Quatrefolic® — have continued to demonstrate their essential role when it comes to supporting women’s health.
Both MenaQ7 and Quatrefolic safeguard cardiovascular health, a primary concern for women.
The most clinically studied natural vitamin K2 on the market helps the body to properly utilise calcium by directing it into the bones, where it belongs, while stopping the buildup of plaque that can lead to heart attacks and strokes.
Meanwhile, Quatrefolic, a highly bioavailable form of folate, supports healthy homocysteine levels, an independent risk factor for cardiovascular issues.
Beyond the heart, MenaQ7 also plays a vital role in maintaining strong bones and reducing the risk of osteoporosis — a condition that disproportionately affects women.
And Quatrefolic's influence on women's health is truly multifaceted, supporting fertility, mood regulation and even skin health, a new benefit confirmed by recent research.
The science supporting MenaQ7 and Quatrefolic speaks to how each addresses women's unique health needs at every stage of life.
From there, Gnosis has innovated each with formulators’ needs in mind, providing forms that are ideally suited for women’s supplements.
The heart of the matter for women
For too long, heart disease was a “man’s disease.” Strictly studied in men, women were believed to have some natural protection from heart disease until their hormone levels dropped during menopause.
After which, it was believed that hormone replacement therapy could prolong that protection — a premise since amended to apply only to women who take it during the early stages of this transition.1
It wasn't until the turn of the century neared that evidence began to slowly emerge that women, as well as men, faced a substantial risk from heart disease, starting at a much earlier stage in life than previously stated and often with different clinical symptoms than men.
During the past 20 years, significant progress has shown how menopause contributes to heart health. For example, menopause symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats have been linked to an increased risk for high blood pressure, a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.1
As for a better understanding of differences in the ways heart disease develops in men and women, it's now known that atherosclerosis — the buildup of plaque in the arteries that leads to heart attacks and strokes — differs in the size of the plaque, where it is found and how vulnerable it may be to rupture.
Heart disease can look different in men and women — women are more likely to have non-blockage causes and unusual symptoms, whereas men more often have blocked arteries and typical heart attack signs.1
Fortunately, MenaQ7 speaks directly to these concerns; this has been shown in clinical studies specifically examining healthy female populations.
A long-term clinical trial published in 2015 demonstrated the potential benefits of vitamin K2 supplementation for vascular health.
After 3 years in 244 postmenopausal women, statistically significant results were shown. The trial showed that consuming 180 µg daily of vitamin K2 as MenaQ7 led to a reversal of arterial stiffness (as shown by pulse-wave velocity).2
A post-hoc analysis of the 1-year MenaQ7 study of 165 women divided into two groups — 78 pre/peri-menopausal and 87 postmenopausal — showed significant improvements in blood pressure, further underscoring its cardiovascular benefits.3
Additionally, early results from the ongoing VitaK-CAC trial are demonstrating MenaQ7's ability to slow the progression of coronary artery calcification, a key indicator of heart disease risk.4
Supporting women beyond the heart
Quatrefolic, the highly bioavailable 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) form, is also a cardiovascular powerhouse. It supports healthy homocysteine levels.
Elevated homocysteine is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular issues, and folate is essential to keep this amino acid in check.
Although Quatrefolic’s cardiovascular benefits are well-established, this remarkable active folate form is crucial for cellular function and DNA synthesis, playing a vital role in a wide range of physiological processes.
Quatrefolic's benefits are particularly noteworthy during women’s childbearing years.
Adequate folate intake is essential to prevent neural tube defects in developing foetuses, making Quatrefolic a critical consideration for those planning a pregnancy.
Folate has also been shown to alleviate symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and support healthy mood regulation, helping women to navigate the hormonal fluctuations of their menstrual cycles.
Even more exciting: emerging research has uncovered Quatrefolic's ability to help counteract stress, specifically UVA-induced stress that penetrates the dermis, exhausting folate reserves and jeopardising cutaneous regeneration.5
The study links intracellular bioavailability of the active folate with improved cellular viability and reparative function of fibroblasts under UVA stress.
These data support the use of 5-MTHF as a scientifically sound strategy for skin health and photoageing inhibition.
Readers following advances in skincare science may want to look ahead to the Anti-Ageing Skin Care Conference, returning 23–24 June 2026 in London. It’s a key meeting for experts exploring the future of skin health and ageing. Find out more HERE.
Forms for women’s health formulations
Gnosis has further innovated its nutritional powerhouse with MenaQ7 Olive Oil, a delivery system that enhances the bioavailability of this fat-soluble nutrient.
As vitamin K2 absorption depends on the presence of dietary fat, Gnosis created this solution to provide formulators with a clean-label ingredient — backed by a Mediterranean health heritage — that is perfectly suited for women's health formulations.
Meanwhile, Quatrefolic PRO represents the next generation of folate supplementation. It is a patented, fourth-generation active folate that offers superior absorption and utilisation.
It’s been designed specifically to meet the needs of formulators and manufacturers seeking the highest standards in oral bioavailability, flowability, stability and purity … even in high-humidity environments.
Conclusion
Ultimately, redefining women’s wellness means moving away from narrow, stage-specific narratives and toward science-led solutions that recognise women as whole people, not moments in time.
As personalisation and self-care continue to shape consumer expectations, lifecycle-driven innovation — grounded in clinical validation, transparency and education — will be essential to helping women thrive at every stage of life.
Whether you're formulating a comprehensive women's multivitamin, a targeted heart product or a skin-health solution, leverage these cutting-edge ingredients — MenaQ7 Olive Oil and Quatrefolic PRO — to give your customers the holistic support they deserve.
Gnosis invites you to stop by Stand 3F88 at Vitafoods Europe in Barcelona to learn more about the entire portfolio of science-based branded ingredients!
References
- www.heart.org/en/news/2024/02/09/the-slowly-evolving-truth-about-heart-disease-and-women.
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25694037/.
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40077685/.
- https://journals.lww.com/jhypertension/fulltext/2025/05001/menaquinone_7_slows_down_progression_of_coronary.39.aspx.
- https://tesi.univpm.it/handle/20.500.12075/25225.
