In today’s society, brain health is a growing concern for consumers of all ages. In order to maintain a relatively healthy mental state in a high-pressure environment for a long time, more and more people start to care about products for brain health, and educational products are gradually becoming popular.

“Brain Health” Economic Era

Brain health link functional ingredients have great potential

The brain is a vital interconnected network that contains hundreds of possible connections, allowing for a wide range of functions. As humans go about their daily lives, the brain begins to prioritize specific neural pathways to function more efficiently. It governs our movement, sensations, emotions, memory …… Protecting brain health is arguably the foundation of all health.

The brain is one of the most complex systems on the planet. As we age, the brain inevitably ages to some degree as well. Currently, there are 250 million people over the age of 60 and 0.1 billion Alzheimer’s patients in China, and these groups of people have an urgent need for brain health-related products. In order to alleviate the diseases caused by brain aging, more and more people begin to pay attention to how to help the brain through diet, health care and other ways to “charge”.

In addition to the elderly, there are 300 million people with sleep disorders, 0.7 billion students, 0.9 billion people with depression and a large number of newborns every year, who are also potential users of brain health products.

The huge market demand for brain health products provides the driving force for the research and development and production of brain health raw material enterprises. So, under the rise of brain health market, what are the brain health functional ingredients worth our attention?

01 γ-aminobutyric acid

γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA for short) is a naturally occurring non-protein amino acid, is an important inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system, about 30% of the synaptic sites of the central nervous system with GABA as a transmitter. It plays an important role in the human cerebral cortex, hippocampus, thalamus, basal ganglia, and cerebellum, and has a regulatory role in a variety of body functions.

The benefits of GABA, on the other hand, support the balance between the autonomic nervous system (stress response) and the parasympathetic nervous system (rest, relaxation, and recovery) to alleviate the imbalances brought on by the excessive tension and stress of daily life.

02 Saffron Extract

The mood-relieving and anti-anxiety effects of saffron extract have been demonstrated in more than 10 clinical trials. One clinical study found that a daily intake of 28mg of saffron extract reduced adverse mood associated with stress anxiety.

03 Ginkgo Biloba Extract

Ginkgo biloba extract is currently the most used ingredient in brain health supplements. Experiments have proven that ginkgo biloba extract is effective in enhancing memory and improving concentration, and these functions are achieved by promoting blood circulation in the brain and regulating the tone and elasticity of blood vessels in the central nervous system. In addition, Ginkgo biloba extract increases the sensing speed of the nervous system and accelerates the information processing process in the brain.

04 Geranium Extract (Rosmarinic Acid)

Clinical studies have shown that substances contained in the polyphenol complex of spearmint extract can cross the blood-brain barrier, thereby improving memory function in the brain. A randomized clinical trial on spearmint extract found that subjects who received 900mg of spearmint extract per day performed significantly better on a focused task compared to a placebo group, with an 11% increase in sustained attention to work compared to baseline.

05 Sunflower soft phospholipids

Sunflower lecithin is a phospholipid rich in sunflower seeds, and although soy is a major food source of lecithin, people who are concerned about soy causing allergies prefer to get their lecithin from sunflower seeds. Supplementation of lecithin can enable the brain nerves to receive timely nutritional replenishment, maintain a healthy working condition, and improve the impatience, irritability and insomnia caused by nervous tension.

06 omega-3

The benefits of omega-3 fish oil come from two fatty acids. They are eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).EPA is best known for its effects on improving mood and reducing inflammation.DHA is a fatty acid that improves cognitive function and brain development.

Fish oil has many mental health benefits. This brain pill reduces cortisol levels while increasing cerebral blood flow. It also clears brain fog, fights cognitive decline and improves memory. Studies have shown that fish oil can also reduce anxiety and depression. It reduces aggression, decreases stress, and even helps your mind process accurately. Because of its effectiveness, fish oil is the main ingredient in most daily puzzles. When taken with vitamin D, omega-3 has a synergistic effect on brain function.

The Mediterranean diet is known for its cardiovascular health benefits, the centerpiece of which is omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, and emerging research suggests that this diet also benefits brain health. The Mediterranean diet typically contains unsaturated fatty acids from olive oil, nuts, fish and polyphenols from plants.

The brain health market has huge potential

In order to deeply cultivate the brain health industry and help enterprises to seek for high-quality brain health raw material suppliers, “Natural Extracts Expo China (NEX China)” will closely follow the market demand, and display plant extracts, animal extracts, food/beverage raw materials, functional food raw materials, health food raw materials, traditional Chinese medicine raw materials, beauty and cosmetic raw materials in seven categories, to create a one-stop shop. The exhibition will provide a one-stop interactive trade and exchange platform to empower the brain health industry.

According to Allied Market Research, the global brain health products market size was about RMB 25 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach RMB 41.5 billion in 2023, with a compound annual growth rate of 8.8%. The trend report “Recharge Your Brain: The Age of Brain Innovation in Asia Pacific” by Ingenics also predicts that food and beverages designed to help different groups of people manage stress and boost their brain power will have a promising future in the global market.

Potential Opportunities for Educational Beverages

Puzzle drinks can improve cognitive functions such as mood, memory, creativity or motivation in healthy individuals. The two most common types of puzzle products currently on the market aim to either improve concentration or calm the brain. The former is used to refresh the mind for purposes such as gaming, exercise or work. The latter improves mood and reduces stress.

In addition, there is also differentiation in the needs of different age groups for brain health, with children and adolescents focusing more on learning and memory skills, adults may be more concerned with brain relaxation and stress relief, and the elderly concentrating on brain health prevention, among other things.

Excessive mental stress, busy lifestyles, and the need to improve efficiency are all driving the development of brain health products, and the food and beverage industry has also identified potential business opportunities. For example, some have launched the “brain-healthy” “brain-expanding” walnut coffee milk; some have launched the “brain-healthy” function of the double protein coffee milk drinks, etc. ……

These ingredients are worthy of attention

1

Theanine

Theanine is a popular ingredient that is often found in the formulation of educational products to promote cohesion and focus. Theanine is an active ingredient in tea and can be used as a natural alternative to caffeine.

2

Probiotics.

Probiotics are making a big splash in the brain health market. The link between probiotics and brain health has become a major trend in probiotic research and development. As science continues to emphasize the important impact of the gut on the brain, interest in natural supplements-products targeting brain health, and more specifically, probiotics targeting the regulation of stress-continues to grow.

According to Euromonitor International, the global probiotics market will be worth about €40 billion in 2019, and the probiotics market in China will grow at an average annual rate of about 15%, with a market size expected to approach 90 billion yuan in 2022. And in the past two years, under the catalyst of the epidemic, the sales growth rate of China’s probiotic industry once reached more than 20%. In the industry’s view, probiotics are expected to become the next hundred billion large health market.

3

Turmeric

Turmeric can improve human cognitive health in several ways. A laboratory study showed that curcumin helps protect neurons in the hippocampus region of the brain, so a lab rat model of amyloid-induced Alzheimer’s disease, supplied with curcumin for a long period of time, was found to have greatly improved cognitive impairment.

As far as the current market status is concerned, as a functional ingredient, the global market growth rate of curcumin has been very obvious in the past two years.In 2017, the global market size of curcumin amounted to $52.45 million, and is expected to reach $104 million in 2025, with the market growing at a CAGR of 8.9% during the period. Currently, turmeric its own anti-inflammatory, stomach-healthy, liver-protecting and liver-protecting properties, and consumer awareness of its ability to treat gastric disorders and Alzheimer’s disease is increasing year by year.

These ingredients are worth paying attention to how to love the brain?

Knowing so many functional ingredients for brain health, brain care is crucial for brain health.

First of all, we should pay attention to the safety and protection of the brain, to prevent the brain from accidental injury, in order to maintain the stability of the physiological and biochemical environment in the brain.

Secondly, it is necessary to establish a healthy lifestyle and stay away from factors that jeopardize brain health. The main points include the following:

1. preventing and controlling high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high blood fat, avoiding excessive obesity, excessive smoking and alcoholism.

2. Enhance the rest and exercise of the brain, ensure sufficient sleep, and carry out more aerobic exercise. 3.

3. Promote food diversity and choose foods containing proteins, fatty acids and sugars needed by the brain.

Conclusion

As consumers continue to pay attention to brain health, in the future, brain-healthy functional ingredients will probably become a fast-growing segment, and the market for brain health care has unlimited potential.