Chiseling away at the muscle supplement market

There are many ways to sculpt a muscular body. Following the Bronze Age, sculptors made human forms from marble. One of the most famous, Michelangelo, is credited with saying, “The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work. It is already there; I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.”

This is not always the literal case in humans, although some former athletes still have strong abs under middle-age fat. However, the template for building muscle is in each body just waiting for the right nutrition and exercise to free it from its imprisonment, a la Michelangelo.

Liberating the muscle from “stone” requires energy to move muscle fibers, and amino acids to repair and build muscle stressed by exercise. Considering this foundation, dietary protein is the primary nutritional tool to supply the necessary amino acids to muscle, while creatine has emerged as a leading energy ingredient that can be stored or loaded in the muscle.

Dietary protein has enjoyed a surge in popularity in recent years, as consumers are more interested in body composition (fat vs. lean body mass), satiety and limiting other macronutrients such as carbohydrates.

“The demand for protein supplements from the young population is increasing mainly in athletes as they provide various benefits such as lowering cholesterol, building of muscles, increasing strength, fighting cancer, improving immunity and lowering blood pressure,” reported Allied Market Research, in a 2019 report.

The market research firm further noted protein powder products, popular with athletes and active consumers, are expected to reach a market size of US$5.33 billion by 2025, driven by increased health consciousness as well as continuing demand from athletes and bodybuilders.

In its 2019 third quarter global survey of active consumers, FMCG Gurus discovered that among the health issues consumers want to improve over the next 12 months, strength was number one, with 57% of respondents.

To read this article in its entirety, check out the January 2020 digital magazine, Muscle quest: Developing products to promote lean mass.