Bone, joint and women's health, and diabetes: Indian supplement start-up TruHealthy seeks to address 'lifestyle diseases'
Its 10 new products seek to improve bone and joint health, manage blood sugar levels, and address infertility, as well as the lack of iron and calcium in women, and will be made available in India next month.
The products were launched during the Conference on the Platform of Emerging Opportunities In Nutraceuticals (EON), which was attended by prominent industry players.
Founder Anil Jain told NutraIngredients-Asia that the two-year old firm had invested USD$100,000 in developing the products.
“These are our focus areas. Based on our market research and analysis, we found that women’s health in India is still not being taken care of and diabetes is one of the major diseases in India’
“We encourage our consumers to take their medicines, this is a must if they have a disease. But we also recommend them to take a supplement as well as a complementary measure.”
At present, he is working with 153 medical representatives to distribute the supplements via pharmacies and doctors’ recommendations.
By September, he hopes to sell the products online as well.
These new offerings will add on to the sports nutrition portfolio that Jain is already running since July last year.
Selling under the label Body First, he claimed to be the first to sell whey protein in sachet form which is made available to gym-goers via online and nutrition stores.
From the second half of this year, he hopes to sell the sports nutrition products through the doctors to address protein deficiency.
Nonetheless, the general health segment will remain his focus for now.
Besides developing and selling finished products, Jain also operates vertical businesses in the fields of regulatory consultancy, product marketing and as an ingredient supplier.
Optimised dosage
In terms of R&D, Jain said the team formulated the product based on existing clinical studies.
It then conducted a small scale product trial, where the supplements were given to patients through doctors to test the products’ effectiveness.
Citing the example of its Mega Shine-O, its flaxseed omega-3 oil for improving bone health and reducing triglyceride levels, he said that dosage was key.
“Our dosage is 1g/day, and many companies are just giving 250mg or 500mg. On top of that, we use patented flaxseeds, whereby it contains a unique ratio of omega 3, 6, and 9,” he said.
