The core pillars underpinning brain health

It’s too reductive of a mindset to simply view brain health as a singular section of health. After all, the brain plays a role in how we think, feel, focus, perform and recover, and the needs surrounding it naturally shift depending on the moment, occasion and desired outcome. Instead, we view the category through four distinct but interconnected pillars: Energy & Focus, Cognition, Mood and Sleep.

And while there is inevitable crossover between the four, from the active ingredients being used through to the benefits being communicated – each pillar has its own distinct formulation architecture and positional narrative.

The Energy & Focus pillar is framed around the ability to “focus, be alert and react quicker”. Taking a look at our tracker data, a breakdown of 171 capsuled products shows that choline leads the way, appearing in 55% of products, followed by bacopa monnieri [43%], natural caffeine [42%], theanine [30%] and ginkgo biloba [29%].

The formulation architecture is equally telling as the majority of products feature 5+ actives, typically clustered around a two-capsule serving, with an active load of around 400–600mg per capsule. And for reference, just 31% of products include a branded ingredient, pointing towards clear whitespace for brands to use branded actives as another route to differentiate increasingly complex formulations.

Want to know how the other three brain health pillars are structured? Sign up to our Insights Platform to read the full details.

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