Formulating for everyday performance

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As the sports nutrition category expands, more consumers—not just athletes and highly active individuals—are looking for ways benefits from these supplements can apply to everyday life. In turn, manufacturers looking to offer consumers new products have several ways to explore this expansion of the category.

As Laura Kunces, PhD, RD, CSSD, vice president of medical strategy at Thorne, explains in an interview with Nutritional Outlook, “Everyone has a different definition of performance. It can be defined as your job you need to do, whether that is being a professional athlete or an athletic professional, or even just a general human being; there are numerous areas of overlap.” Nonathletes can benefit from performance supplements in some instances, she adds, due to health issues, changes in stages of life, genetic concerns, or gaps in diets.

Similarly, Susan Hewlings PhD, RD, co-founder of Substantiation Sciences, sees the new reach of the category as an opportunity. “This opens the door for formulating and marketing because it targets active people which can also include people who are trying or wish they were more active,” she explains. “This is in contrast to the ‘athletes’ that sports nutrition used to target. These people were more serious, more hard-core and very focused on performance and recovery. The active consumer has a broader area of interest and is trying to fit working out into their everyday responsibilities. This opens the door to many more categories, and with small changes more closely mirrors the general population but still has a sports and active vibe to the messaging.” One example Hewlings provides the is the goal of offsetting muscle loss due to aging, which is less about “gains” and more about remaining active in the long-term.

Ingredients like protein and creatine which have historically been associated with enhancing the performance of athletes can still benefit consumers with different active nutrition goals, Hewlings explains. Additionally, she points out, protein and creatine have an established record of safety. Notably, based on data from SPINS from the 52 weeks ending October 6, 2024, creatine was among the top 10 ingredients in the performance category of the mainstream multioutlet channel, with $51,573,676 in sales, a 46.5% increase from the previous year. Additionally, creatine is starting to be recognized by women as important to their unique physiology, Kunces notes.

“Ingredients rarely have one purpose,” Kunces explains. “Take collagen for example. Popular in the skin health industry, it’s a staple for athletes, but also in the aging population too. The same goes for electrolytes, creatine, fish oil, and many more nutrients that have benefits that extend beyond the field or the gym. Educating the consumer on why they need it, the research on doses and timing for their desired use cases, and meeting them with the right format (powder, capsule, etc.) is the bigger challenge.”

Nutrition and diet education can also be an important factor in supplementation choice. As a recently published review¹ noted, even among athletes, inadequate nutrition is occasionally replaced by supplementation as compensation. The review also noted prior studies demonstrating that protein and creatine were commonly used by athletes to enhance muscle repair and performance, with other supplements being vitamin D and vitamin C.

Carbohydrates do not necessarily get enough recognition as a sport ingredient, Hewlings suggests, as they are necessary for fuel for active people and can provide B vitamins and fiber. Vitamin D is also important not just for immunity support, but for recovery and muscle heath in extensive training. Kunces also identifies vitamin D, along with magnesium, as overlooked and that most Americans are insufficient or deficient in, while athletes may want to consider higher levels.

Kunces identifies curcumin as another ingredient for athletes and non-athletes to consider. “It helps to maintain a healthy inflammatory response in the whole body – including muscles, joints, GI tract, liver, brain, [and] nerves,” she explains. “Inflammation doesn’t have to be caused by physical exercise, as we see so many environmental, lifestyle, and dietary factors causing inflammation in the body.”

Whey protein is also becoming more in-demand, she adds. “People are recognizing the benefits of having protein at every meal to help stabilize metabolism, improve satiety, and meet nutritional needs with a convenience product,” Kunces explains. “Also, when protein is mixed with other powder nutrients like creatine, fiber, magnesium, it’s an easy way to build a personalized nutrition smoothie for anyone’s needs.”

The formulation of these kinds of products requires different considerations of consumer needs, though efficacy and compliance are the most important, Kunces explains. “High-quality, research backed, and sustainable ingredients that can then be put into the right format for user convenience while making sure it tastes good are all key pieces to the consideration puzzle.” Factors such as age group, health goals, health conditions, medications, and interactions with other formulations are also to be taken into account when formulating for certain populations.

“Match your science to your population,” Hewlings suggests. Ensure the research supports the claims for the target population and that the mechanisms of action are sensible.

Reference

1. Hopper, C.; Mooney, E.; Mc Cloat, A. Nutritional Intake and Dietary Knowledge of Athletes: A Scoping Review. Nutrients 2025, 17, 207. DOI: 10.3390/nu17020207