Healthy Aging: Emerging trends in the probiotic market
01 Aging population
Population aging is one of the most important trends of the 21st century and a major challenge facing China today. Domestic census data shows that the aging degree of Chinese population is further deepened, the aging population aged 65 and above reached 191 million, accounting for 13.5% of the total population, one in every four elderly people in the world is Chinese. The United Nations Development Program predicts that by 2040, older people will account for 21 percent of the population.
Behind the aging society is a big silver economy. Under the background of deepening aging population, the decline of marginal consumption tendency of the elderly in the future may not be as serious as imagined. The new generation of elderly people have money and leisure, and are expected to continue to maintain a high level of consumption. With people's increasing health awareness, middle-aged and elderly people pay more attention to healthy aging.
Healthy Aging
According to the definition of the World Health Organization (WHO), healthy aging refers to the process of developing and maintaining the functions and functions needed for the healthy life of the elderly. Healthy aging occurs throughout life and is relevant to everyone, not just those currently free of disease. To promote healthy ageing, WHO has identified the 10-year Action Plan for Healthy Ageing 2020-2030 as a key priority in its decade of global action. Healthy aging will usher in important development opportunities for related industries such as preventive health care, traditional Chinese medicine products and services, health management, combination of medical and nursing care, and intelligent aging health market.
02 The concern of aging
During the aging process, chronic low-grade inflammation, known as inflammatory aging, is associated with various chronic diseases of aging, such as cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, muscular osteoporosis, depression, Alzheimer's disease and cancer. In addition, gastrointestinal changes are common in older adults. Older adults often suffer from gastrointestinal disorders such as constipation and diarrhea. Other common diseases of aging include cognitive decline, arthritis or osteoporosis, and oral health problems.
On the other hand, the immunity of the elderly also gradually declines, resulting in a significantly reduced response to vaccination and the ability to fight infection. Older people are also at higher risk of autoimmune disorders, which are associated with many diseases and ultimately death.
Is healthy aging related to the gut microbiome?
As people age, the microbiome that lives in the gut is constantly changing. In recent decades, many studies have found that the proportion of gut microbiota changes with age. Among them, the elderly had significantly lower numbers of health-related bifidobacteria in their guts compared to adults.
Morinaga's team also found similar age-related changes in the gut microbiome among healthy subjects aged 0 to 104. Our research shows that in older people, the number of autoanaerobic bacteria such as bifidobacteria decreases, while the number of bacteria such as E. coli increases. We have also noted that changes in the gut microbiome in older adults are a major factor in inflammatory aging. In addition, we found a large number of health-related bacteria, such as bifidobacteria, in the gut of super-long-lived people, which means that bifidobacteria play an important role in healthy aging.
03 Focus on probiotics to explore new opportunities for healthy aging
The field of healthy aging offers opportunities for new product innovations in probiotics. Certain strains of probiotics can support the gut microbiome, maintain a healthy immune system, and support cognitive, cardiovascular, and bone health, which are major topics in aging.
According to the survey, improving the prevention of three high, cardiovascular disease and improving immunity are the elderly most concerned about the three directions of health. Probiotics are also increasingly well-researched in this area, especially in supporting immune health. Among them, Morinaga's amiable human bifidobacterium, Bifidobacterium longum BB536, is one of the most thoroughly studied probiotic strains in the world and has many profound beneficial effects on humans. BB536 is an excellent human friendly probiotic with a good safety and clinical efficacy in improving gastrointestinal tract, immune health and anti-allergy, and has been published in more than 220 scientific articles (as of March 2022). BB536 will be more suitable for human probiotics, bringing new opportunities for healthy aging market.
Bifidobacterium longum BB536 can promote healthy aging
Since its discovery more than 50 years ago, the safety and clinical efficacy of BB536 have been validated by extensive studies. BB536 was certified as GRAS by the U.S. FDA in 2009 for use in general food products and as GRAS Infant by the U.S. FDA in 2019 for use in infant formula. It is used in a wide range of examples, including milk, yogurt, infant formula, nutritional supplements, chocolate and more, and has been sold in more than 30 countries for more than 40 years. Clinical studies have shown that BB536 has positive effects on intestinal health, immunity, and cardiovascular health in the elderly.