Collagen, Mitochondrial Nutrients, and Certified Products Drive Sports Nutrition Innovation

The active nutrition category is an ever-evolving space propelled by a wide range of ingredient solutions, scientific advancements, and evolving consumer priorities. The consumer segment for these products has grown more diverse over the years across both gender and age demographics, providing manufacturers the opportunity to formulate products that satisfy the needs of many different active consumers. These benefits extend beyond pump, muscle building, and endurance products to include more nuanced approaches that support an active, healthy lifestyle.

Research Links Collagen Peptide Supplementation to Performance and Recovery

For example, hydrolyzed collagen peptides—broken-down forms of collagen protein sourced from animals such as bovine, fish, or chicken—can offer targeted benefits for active consumers. Gelita’s hydrolyzed collagen peptides are marketed as directly supporting sports nutrition by emphasizing performance, recovery, and joint health, expanding the scope of collagen peptides from nutricosmetics to targeting tendons, ligaments, bones, and muscles.

Highly digestible and efficiently absorbed into the bloodstream, Gelita’s collagen peptide ingredients can be formulated into low-sugar gummies, cereal bars that reportedly maintain both texture and shelf life, as well as ready-to-drink beverages due to collagen's neutral taste and high solubility.

When it comes to specific benefits, performance and recovery are 2 areas where collagen peptides may excel. For example, a 2024 systematic review¹ of 19 randomized controlled trials published in Sports Med—with a total of 768 participants—explored the impact of daily collagen peptide supplementation on musculoskeletal health and performance when combined with exercise training. The analysis found statistically significant results in fat-free mass, tendon morphology, muscle structure, maximal strength, and exercise recovery, with the latter including a boost in reactive strength recovery 48 hours after exercise-induced muscle damage. In other words, there are benefits associated with long-term collagen peptide supplementation.

Mitochondrial Support for the Active Consumer

Cellular energy and mitochondrial health are two other areas worth exploring in the context of active nutrition. Ingredients like NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) and NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide) can be applied to this effect.

At Natural Products Expo West, Jim Roza, chief scientific officer at Layn Natural Ingredients, discussed the role of NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) and NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide) in cellular energy and mitochondrial function, including its role in propelling metabolism, along with effectiveness in protecting DNA and chromosomes.

In a conversation with Nutritional Outlook, he described NAD as crucial for ATP production, essential for cellular energy, and declining with age due to factors like environmental toxins and obesity. Depletion leads to mitochondrial dysfunction and “zombie cells,” mitochondria that are either working inefficiently or have become senescent. Combining NAD and NMN supports the citric acid cycle (also known as the tricarboxylic acid cycle, or TCA) and ATP production.

Mitochondrial dysfunction can also be related to age-related muscle decline. As confirmed by another Sports Med review,² these changes can contribute to loss of muscle mass—often referred to as sarcopenia—along with decreased physical function in older adults. It also references several proprietary nutrition supplements that can support in this area, including mitoquinol mesylate, and Urolithin A, among others, that could reduce oxidative damage and improve exercise adaptations; one that stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis and mitophagy (or the removal of damaged mitochondria); omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids for muscle metabolism; and GlyNAC, an antioxidant combination of glycine and N-acetylcysteine.

“While exercise training is essential for the attenuation of age-related declines in skeletal muscle mass and function, many older adults have low levels of habitual physical activity,” the review authors wrote. “Therefore, there is a need to identify complementary interventions that can improve physical function in ageing either independently or in synergy with exercise. There is both mechanistic and functional evidence to demonstrate that several supplements can improve physical function in older individuals through direct or indirect effects on skeletal muscle mitochondria.”

Supplements that support age-related muscle decline help aging consumers remain active and healthy in the long term. This is a crucial area to address, as certain demographics of active nutrition consumers age and require solutions that better meet their specific needs.

Utilizing Adaptogenic Formulations

Another tactic that can help one reap ultimate benefits in the active space is the implementation of adaptogenic formulations.

Using what the company calls “sustainable precision,” LandKind Pure Salidroside from Gnosis by Lesaffre offers a branded form of salidroside—a bioactive compound in Rhodiola rosea—that reportedly supports energy, endurance, recovery, and fatigue management for those living an athletic lifestyle. It’s also manufactured under rigorously controlled processes.

“The innovation is to have the most active part of Rhodiola in a form that is the same every time with a batch-to-batch reproducibility, because the fermentation process is something that is set, where each time, we can control any condition, and we have, at the end, the same products.

The ingredient is also supported by a clinical study³ that demonstrated that salidroside may help the body use oxygen more efficiently and reduce exercise-induced muscle damage and fatigue.

Certification and Safety Remain Key in Sports Nutrition

Active nutrition consumers are not short on choices. This makes it all the more important to stand out at retail. While creative marketing and the right claims are important, consumers also prioritize quality and safety, making third-party certification another important way to establish trust and, therefore, a long-term relationship with consumers.

Many manufacturers and formulators alike turn to NSF to earn its “Certified for Sport” certification,⁴ which is considered the only third-party certification program recognized by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, and Canadian Football League. Certification can be particularly important in online retail, which can be rife with adulteration. Popular ingredients, like omega-3s, can be especially vulnerable to poor quality control or outright adulteration when purchased from an online retailer, said David Trosin, NSF’s senior director of nutrition and wellness, at a Natural Products Expo West educational session, “Trends and Innovation in the Sports Nutrition & Protein Marketplace.” The active nutrition space, which demands results, can be rather vulnerable to adulterants, meaning that consumers may be unwittingly exposing themselves to drugs.

Trosin explained how products can be bad, irrespective of price point. “As a consumer, you want to look for things like our certification. When you're looking at something, it's not just that I'm buying because it's expensive, therefore, it might be good.” On the other hand, the industry veteran notes that a product being cheaply priced, accessible, and convenient—or having a sophisticated label— shouldn’t be a reason for poor quality either. Herein lies a challenge for responsible manufacturers: competing on price while also delivering safe, high-quality products.

Whey Protein Continues to Drive Market Growth

Protein has always been a staple of the active nutrition category. But several factors are now driving double-digit growth in the category. One is the growing consumer preference for protein-rich or protein-fortified foods, as protein is widely associated with good nutrition and carries a “healthy halo.” Another major driver is the rising use of GLP-1 drugs, along with growing awareness of the benefits of maintaining adequate protein intake while using these medications.

SPINS data indicates that whey protein in particular is experiencing notable growth across several categories. In MULO, whey and milk-based proteins rose 24.4% to $355.5 million, while the performance segment within the same channel grew 66.7%. Whey protein alone increased 14.4% to $687 million in MULO, rose 16.4% in the performance category, and climbed 29.7% to $37 million in the natural channel.

According to Scott Dicker, SPINS’ senior director of market insights, plant-based proteins experienced a surge in consumer interest about five or six years ago but have since plateaued. Whey protein has since emerged as both a leading market-share holder and a key growth driver. Its appeal stems from several advantages, including easy mixability, a favorable flavor profile, and the ability to position whey products with organic and “better-for-the-planet” label claims.

These developments reflect a sports nutrition market that is becoming more targeted, science-driven, and quality-conscious. As innovation continues across ingredients, delivery formats, and certification standards, brands that can connect meaningful benefits with credible substantiation will be better positioned to meet the needs of today’s active consumer.

References

1. Bischof K, Moitzi AM, Stafilidis S, König D. Impact of collagen peptide supplementation in combination with long-term physical training on strength, musculotendinous remodeling, functional recovery, and body composition in healthy adults: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Sports Med. 2024;54(11):2865-2888. doi:10.1007/s40279-024-02079-0
2. Broome SC, Whitfield J, Karagounis LG, Hawley JA. Mitochondria as nutritional targets to maintain muscle health and physical function during ageing. Sports Med. 2024;54(9):2291-2309. doi:10.1007/s40279-024-02072-7
3. Schwarz NA, Stratton MT, Colquhoun RJ, et al. Salidroside and exercise performance in healthy active young adults - an exploratory, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2024;21(1):2433744. doi:10.1080/15502783.2024.2433744
4. NSF. NSF Certified for Sport website. Accessed March 20, 2026. https://www.nsfsport.com