Nutraceuticals, mix of “nutrition” and “pharmaceutical”, is a term applied to products such as dietary supplements and functional food and beverages…
Life expectancy increase, unappropriated nutrition, strong medical treatments such as cancer treatments, need of health and comfort… are the main reasons that explain the explosion of the nutraceuticals markets since the last decade.
One of the main application field of these products, among heart, digestive or eye health, is bone and joint health: prevent or limit the effect of osteoporosis or osteoarthritis, maintain healthy cartilage… Bone remodeling occurs throughout life and this process is carried out by osteoblasts and osteoclasts, which are responsible for the synthesis and resorption of bone, respectively. In order to maintain bone homeostasis, bone resorption and formation must be tightly regulated. An imbalance between osteoblast and osteoclast activity results therefore in skeletal abnormalities.
Atlantic Bone Screen evaluates such nutraceuticals through in-vitro testing of your compound to evaluate the final product and/or each component of the nutraceutical and also through in-vivo testing. Using osteoporosis model for example, Atlantic Bone Screen can support in the evaluation of the efficacy of the compound/ingredient, definition of the optimal dose, and giving scientific proofs for the consumers.
“Globally, nutraceuticals are gaining prominence and becoming a part of the average consumer’s daily diet. The key reasons for this have been the increased incidence of lifestyle diseases the world over, increase in life expectancy and inadequate nutrition due to the current lifestyle choices people make today. In fact, in developing nations, mortality due to nutrition related factors is nearly 40 percent, underscoring the need for nutraceutical products, to balance the nutritional intake of the individual.” (source: Global Nutraceutical Industry: Investing in Healthy Living, Frost & Sullivan, 2011).
A market research report produced in 2012 projected that the worldwide nutraceuticals market would reach US$250 billion by 2018 – source: Staff, PRNewswire-iReach Nov. 19, 2012. /Global Health Movement Drives Market for Nutraceuticals to $250 bn by 2018; Probiotics to Touch $39.6 bn and Heart Health Ingredients Near $15.2 bn.
