Please attribute all answers to Anke Sentko, Vice President Regulatory Affairs & Nutrition Communication at BENEO.
When and how should consumers start looking to their diets to promote healthy ageing?
It has long been known that healthy eating, healthy living and healthy ageing are all strongly related to each other. As diet impacts metabolism at every stage of life there is a need to pay attention to what is being consumed, no matter a person’s age. However, the more that age related changes occur, the greater themotivation becomes for people to make healthier choices. People want to control their personal health.
In addition, more and more governments are promoting healthier lifestyles to ease the pressure on public health spending. The need to re-think ageing is also highlighted asthe United Nations has called the coming decade the Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030). The potential of functional ingredients to help manufacturers create heathier food and drink choices will thus continue to grow too.
How aware are consumers of the importance of nutrition for healthy ageing today?
Over the last ten years there has been a shift in consumer focus from life-threatening acute conditions being top of global health concerns to those centred around daily living and ageing .
As a result, consumer awareness is already high concerning the importance of nutrition for healthy ageing, and it is increasing daily. The pandemic has also added to this readiness by consumers to make diet and lifestyle changes that will last beyond the duration of the pandemic. For example, in a recent Health Focus International survey on behalf of BENEO, 85% of those aged 50 and older have shown a willingness to take charge of their health, realising that their short-term health depends on how well they take care of themselves. A key way of doing this is through changing what they eat and drink, with 30% of consumers aged 50+ saying that the primary reason for them choosing healthy foods and beverages is to ensure their future good health, with another 28% choosing these products to enhance their daily health.
Why do you think there has been a shift amongst older consumers from focusing on acute and chronic conditions to focusing on healthy ageing?
Consumers are adopting a long-term approach to health maintenance, wanting to stay fit and active until as late in life as possible. While this is a mindset that has been accelerated by the pandemic, it is one that consumers have been placing importance on for many years.
How important is nutrition for older generations? What benefits can nutrition offer in terms of managing health conditions in this demographic?
Older consumers understand that healthy nutrition enables the body to function well, providing a holistic approach to supporting body functions. According to recent survey results, two thirds of European consumers aged 65-75 are actively taking steps to making their nutrition healthier. However, healthy nutrition goes beyond ensuring the consumption of the right vitamins and minerals. Healthy nutrition also encompasses eating the right slowly-released carbohydrates, along with appropriate amounts of protein, good fat sources and foods and beverages that support the gut microbiome.
As people age, the gut microbiome changes anda person’s inner defence system is weakened. The benefits that nutrition can offer in terms of supporting gut health and helping strengthen the inner defence system is of increasing interest to older consumers, particularly as 50% are extremely or very concerned about gastrointestinal/digestive problemsand 56% about their immune health. To help manage these issues,half of consumers already choose foods and beverages to aid their digestion and to support their immune system .
Also, constipation becomes more common as people age, with 1 in 4 women aged 65+ struggling with this condition and 1 in 6 men. BENEO’s Orafti® Inulin is a plant-based natural dietary fibre and proven prebiotic that carries an EU health claim for digestive health by improving bowel regularity. At the same time, numerous studies have shown that this prebiotic chicory root fibre nourishes the gut microbiota, together with digestive health and wellbeing .
How does ageing affect a person’s digestive health?
With age, the stability of the microbiota composition goes down,there is a lower diversityof bacteria (dysbiosis) andan enrichment of the potentially harmful bacteria groups also occurs. As well as compromising a person’s inner defence system, gut dysbiosis in the elderly may contribute to changes in muscle size, their composition and function .At the same time factors such as the decline of physiological functions, diet, medication and the exposure to environmental factors and lifestyle factors can play their part in influencing the composition of the microbiota.
With 82% of those aged 50+ saying that digestive health is extremely or very important to them, it is no wonder that so many are looking to their nutrition to help relieve digestive symptoms – with 84% of consumers choosing digestive health foods and drinks to maintain general health and wellness. Gut friendly foods, such asprebiotics, can be supportive in nourishing the microbiota as a person gets older. Research has shown that microbiota-support using gut-friendly foods or food supplements-including pro-and prebiotics (inulin-type fructans)–not only promotes a person’s digestive health but can also improve their frailty index.
Prebiotics, such as BENEO’s Orafti®Inulin and Oligofructose chicory root fibres, play a role in selectively promoting the growth of goodbacteria and this in turn supports a person’s inner defence system. In fact, BENEO’s Inulin and Oligofructose have been shown to support a healthy microbiota and the selective increase in bifidobacteria in more than50 human intervention studies. Inulin and oligofructose are the only plant-based prebiotics. They belong to the very few proven prebiotics according to ISAPP (International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics).
When should consumers start thinking about supporting their inner defence system?
Support for inner defence beginsin the womb. Also, the first months of life are a crucial period, as the gut is not mature when a baby is born and immune system development is influenced by the food a baby consumes. As a building block to immune health, prebiotics are supplied during breast feeding in the form of human milk oligosaccharides. If formula is provided, it should contain proven prebiotics (such asinulin and oligofructose or galactooligosaccharides) to ensure the selective growth of Bifidobacteria (the dominantspecies in breastfed babies). Breastfeeding is associated with improved immunity, a reduced number of allergies and lower incidences of obesity, diabetes and potentially other non-communicable diseases later in life. The development of the gut microbiota and the immune system is ongoing during the first 24 months of life. Studies have shown that support of the microbiotacan strengthentheimmune systemof nursery aged children. Although the first 1000 days are particularly important for the development of the gut and the immune system, continuing to support of the immunesystem later in life may prevent illnesses, orlead to less severe progression of illnesses.
While it is good to start as early as possible it is never too late to start: everybody can support their inner defence system.With consumption of only 5 grams per day of inulin or oligofructose, Bifidobacteria increase significantly and therefore support a person’s digestive health and overall wellbeing, whilst helping to keep their inner defense system in good shape.The chicory root fibres inulin and oligofructose are clinically proven prebiotics. Prebiotics promote the development of good bacteria such as Bifidobacteria, and they strengthen the inner defense system to help it fight pathogens.
What ingredients are key to promoting healthy ageing through our inner defence system? What evidence is there to support these benefits?
The functioning of the inner defence system is supported by a number of vitamins and minerals (e.g. folate, vitamins A, B12, B6, D, C, zinc, copper, iron, selenium) as they play a role in supporting the biochemical pathways important for the immune response. Bearing in mind that 70% of the inner defence system is located in the gut, nutrition that is beneficial to the gut and its microbiome also supports the inner defence system. Prebiotics, such as BENEO’s Inulin and Oligofructose, support a healthy microbiota, improve the gut environment to make life for pathogens more difficult, strengthen the guts barrier function and more.
ProfessorGlenn Gibson at the University of Reading, UK, posted in a blog for scientistson the ISAPP websiterecently thoughts on the COVID-19 topic and gut health: “…we know that indigenous gut bifidobacteria (strains of which are used as probiotics) do decrease with age and this possibly contributes to so-called “immunosenescence” with concomitant higher risk of acquiring, and dealing with, infections.” […]“Obviously, there is no evidence that probiotics or prebiotics directly influence COVID-19 and we may never know if they will, but a quick benefit-to-risk thought makes recommendation of some a “no brainer” for me”.
How do you expect nutrition that supports healthy ageing to change in the future? What impact might this have on manufacturers?
By 2050, 2 billion people will be aged 60 or older; that’s more than 1 in 5 people globally . This means that the demand for healthier food and drink choices is set to rise significantly over the coming years. In the future, manufacturers will be looking for ingredients that support healthy dieting even more than they are at present. With this, the importance of ‘healthy choice’ communications that carry tailored messaging of interest to consumers will continue to grow. This will mean that health claims, as well as logos such as Nutri-Score,will become more pivotal in helping consumers make food and beverage choices that promote healthier ageing.
[1]https://www.who.int/initiatives/decade-of-healthy-ageing
[1]Source: Health Focus International, Global Trends Study 2010-2020, *Global Total: Includes core trended countries – Canada, Mexico, Brazil, France, Germany, UK, Russia, India, Australia, China, Japan, Indonesia, and Philippines How concerned are you about the following (extremely/very concerned – top 2)
[1]Health Focus International, 2020 BENEO Healthy Ageing consumer research
[1]Health Focus International, 2020 BENEO Healthy Ageing consumer research
[1]Insites Consulting 2020/21
[1]Health Focus International, 2020 BENEO Healthy Ageing consumer research
[1]Gallegos-Orozco JF, Foxx-Orenstein AE, Sterler SM, Stoa JM. Chronic constipation in the elderly. The American journal of gastroenterology. 2012 Jan;107(1):18. Available from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4325863/pdf/0610152.pdf
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[1]Health Focus International, 2020 BENEO Healthy Ageing consumer research
[1] New Nutriiton Business, 10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition & Health, 2020
[1] Buigues C, Fernández-Garrido J, Pruimboom L, Hoogland AJ, Navarro-Martínez R, Martínez-Martínez M, Verdejo Y, Mascarós MC, Peris C, Cauli O. Effect of a Prebiotic Formulation on Frailty Syndrome: A Randomized, Double-Blind Clinical Trial. Int J Mol Sci. 2016 Jun 14;17(6):932. doi: 10.3390/ijms17060932. PMID: 27314331; PMCID: PMC4926465.
[1]Lohner S, Jakobik V, Mihályi K et al. (2018) Inulin-type fructan supplementation of 3 to 6 year-old children is associated with higher fecal bifidobacterium concentrations and fewer febrile episodes requiring medical attention. J Nutr 148(8): 1300–1308. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6074834/pdf/
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[1]Gibson GR, Hutkins R, Sanders ME et al. (2017) Expert consensus document: The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) consensus statement on the definition and scope of prebiotics. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 14(8): 491–502. https://www.nature.com/articles/nrgastro.2017.75.pdf
[1]Can probiotics and prebiotics go viral? – International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) (isappscience.org)
[1]The United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2020-2030)
