Marking only the fourth product launch in the company’s five-year history, the hydration solution joins the brand’s Vitals multivitamin, seven-strain probiotic capsule and pure magnesium SKU.
“We don’t feel like the world needs another supplements company, and the world definitely doesn’t need more supplements,” the company’s co-founder Dan Murray told NutraIngredients. “Our job is to help people reach their heights, and we believe the core to helping people do that are the brain, gut and cellular energy.”
Discussing why the science-driven team has opted to bring this particular product into its carefully curated range, Murray explained that hydration is at the forefront of everyone’s health and energy, yet most hydration solutions on the market are high in salt and glucose as they target elite athletes and marathon-running weekend warriors.
“This hydration product has been in the making for five years,” he said. “We wanted electrolytes with a specific brain focused angle and to be taken daily by everyday active consumers, meaning it had to be flavorful with no additives. Making it palatable was a longer process that we expected!”
Emphasizing the importance of user experience, he added: “We think as much about being a habit-forming company as we do about being a supplement company, and we think the best supplements are the ones we remember to take every day and that we feel working.”
The product comes in three cocktail inspired flavors: peach spritz, lime margarita and mango ginger mule.
The role of citicoline
Dr. Harry Jarrett, head of science and research at Heights, explained that citicoline is central to the product’s health benefits.
“Citicoline is so important for brain health,” he told NI. “It’s the precursor for the brain chemical phosphatidylcholine, which is important for memory, attention and concentration.
“My concern, which is shared by colleagues, is the shift from animal to plant-based diets has led to a lack of vitamin B12, iron, riboflavin, as well as citicoline.
“So Dan and I wanted to put citicoline into a supplement for a long time, but we don’t think if we came out with a citicoline product people would take it, it just doesn’t have the awareness, but hydration felt like a smart category to add it”.
The product uses science-backed Cognizin branded citicoline.
The plague of hyper-stimulation
Speaking at the company’s recent product launch, Oliver Patrick, independent physiologist and Heights chief well-being officer, explained that hydration status is often “the most effective lever” he can pull, when it comes to increasing elite athletes’ energy levels within 24 hours.
“The role of hydration in everyday energy always fascinates me,” he said. “This is a silly, overlooked area of energy. I’ll talk to corporates, and we’ll go through all the different facets of energy, mitochondria, NAD, and I’ll say ‘before we talk about all that, you have all drunk enough water?’ Because otherwise we are sort of wasting time.
“If you do not consume enough water, then don’t expect results down the line.”
He described the ‘plague of hyper-stimulation’ that causes the necessity for consumers to consider their ‘wellness’ in the modern era.
“Well-being 30 years ago was a luxury, it was a component you could opt into, it was a pleasure, it was a spa weekend,” he said.
“Now, we’re in a situation in the modern era where wellness is the sum of behaviors you need to resist an environment that’s pushing against you. Modern individuals have often ignored feedback loops for years and then suddenly [their health] is falling apart.”
He added that statistics suggest most “people aren’t adequately hydrated”, and this correlates with a high number of consumers reporting they are tired all or most of the time, suggesting a feedback loop that is regularly ignored.
But water alone is not always enough.
“When we just drink water and deplete our salts, our body excretes most of that water,” said Sophie Medlin, consultant dietitian and the brand’s head of nutrition research “Electrolytes are like anchors that pin water into cells or tissues where it’s needed.”
