A back to basics approach for weight management

Published: 10-Feb-2015

From Atkins and Weight Watchers to Optifast, Slim•Fast, Ephedra and raspberry ketones ...


Time and again, individuals have signed up to the latest and greatest weight management product or programme in the hope of finding the one that works for them, notes George Pontiakos, BI Nutraceuticals.

Owing to this incessant search for the perfect solution, a culture of exaggerated advertising and unethical businesses promising 'the miracle weight loss product/programme has developed, resulting in an extremely trend-driven market plagued with controversies, fads and unpredictable sales.

Although the supplement industry, especially the weight management category, is no stranger to negative media attention, 2014 proved to be a particularly hard hit one with the year starting on the heels of the damaging multivitamin and omega-3 reports and ending with a Consumer Reports article entitled 'Taking Diet Pills? Don’t Waste Your Money.'

But the event that truly captures the type of year that the weight management segment endured is the Senate hearing (or others would call it the public berating) of consumer-renowned health expert Dr Oz. As you know, consumer trust in Dr Oz was so immense that one mention from him would send sales of a product skyrocketing overnight.

During the Senate hearing, Dr Oz was not only questioned, but also criticised, regarding the methods by which he promoted products and, specifically, the language he used. As a result, sales of the once popular ingredients plummeted.

Although the weight management category as a whole didn’t nose-dive because of the Dr Oz Senate hearing or any of the other negative media reports, the segment’s sales growth did slow down and is predicted to keep doing so during the next couple of years.

According to SPINS, there are 2.1 billion overweight and obese individuals worldwide: the weight management category should be booming, not faltering. So, the industry is forced to address these questions: What can we do to stop the slowing growth? What can we do to accelerate sales instead? Some believe that a groundbreaking new ingredient is needed to initiate the rebound, which is a not an illogical belief considering this category is extremely trend driven.

However, what this category needs to do, first, is regain consumer trust: a type of image revitalisation. One such way is to promote tried and true, historically used, familiar ingredients; go beyond the fads and the now meaningless ad lingo that comes with them.

We are witnessing a shift in demand from products that claim to be 'the miracle weight loss product/programme' to products that are research-backed and may require an extended period of time for results. As with other segments in the health and wellness industry, consumers are going back to the basics — simple ingredients with easily understood benefits. One such ingredient in the weight management category is fibre.

Owing to fibre's viscous nature, it can aid in weight management by adding bulk to foods without adding calories; it produces a gel in the stomach that increases nutrient digestion and absorption time, as well as the time it takes to empty the stomach, resulting in prolonged satiety. Simple as that!

This explanation is easy for consumers to understand and thus, easy for consumers to trust. In addition, consumers are already familiar with fibre and its benefits linked to cardiovascular health, digestive health and some cancers. This helps the promotion of fibre for weight management as there is already an established level of trust.

One such fibre is psyllium. Not only does psyllium become viscous when hydrated, it is also considered to be a low carbohydrate grain; it contains more fibre by volume than other grains, resulting in less “room” for dietary carbohydrate and fewer net carbs overall. In addition, dietary fibre not only provides health benefits to the consumer’s diet (specifically those who are overweight or obese) but also adds developmental and promotional value to finished product formulators and marketers.

This is because of fibre’s unique and diverse properties on top of increasing viscosity, such as enhancing mouthfeel, providing structure, replacing fat and retaining moisture. All this, combined with its prolonged satiation effects and consumer familiarity, makes fibre the ideal ingredient for weight management products.

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