The growth of the women’s health category: SupplySide Global 2025 Report

After decades of neglect, the women’s health category for nutraceuticals has seen a resurgence in interest and research, and the growth can be attributed to a variety of factors. Female-specific conditions, such as menstruation and menopause, have become a focus for the industry, offering opportunities for innovative solutions and targeted health benefits.

Lori Lauersen, senior vice president of global R&D at Unilever Wellbeing explains that the empowerment of consumers is one factor in the growth of this category, along with empowered conversations.¹ Additionally, the new discoveries uncovered by women-focused research are also driving these conversations. “There's new insights around learning about her specific needs,” Lauersen explains, noting that women were rarely part of clinical studies prior to 1993, with few personalized supplements. “And so as more and more evidence is generated, we're learning about the different biological needs for women and really helping them think about that, what does that mean, and what are the end points? What are the real-world benefits? How can we, with those insights, better curate and customize personalized products that will be meaningful to her?”

Regardless of the reasons, the result includes products that address multiple health benefits, sometimes more than one at a time, and continued research in this overlooked category.

Probiotics for benefits across women’s life stages

Research on the benefits of probiotics in women’s health has proven to be a productive area. “We're still investing very actively in the woman's health space,” explains Jordi Riera, chief business development manager at Kaneka Probiotics, in an interview with Nutritional Outlook at SupplySide Global 2025. “At Kaneka, we have made a very strong belief on women's health because we believe that on one hand, woman across the life stages that women transition to, there are several aspects that probiotics can contribute to a better health. In particular, recently, we've developed two very important products for us. One is the world’s first menopause probiotic, where we're capable to modulate the estrogens with the use of a precision probiotic.”

This probiotic, called KABP Menopause, contains a bacterial strain tested in an in vitro study to demonstrate high β-glucuronidase activity – an enzyme that helps restore estrogen to its active form.² Additionally, the probiotic contains the strains L. brevis KABP052, L. plantarum KABP051, and P. acidilactici KABP021. In an in vivo study, KABP Menopause was tested for its effect on serum estrogen levels in peri- and postmenopausal women.² As the study explains, gut microbiota is involved with regulating endogenous estrogen, which declines when entering menopause. Declines in estrogen are associated with symptoms including insomnia, hot flashes, and skin fragility. In the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 113 women experiencing mild menopausal symptoms were given the probiotics or a placebo in capsules daily for 12 weeks. At the end of the study, estrone and estradiol levels in the probiotics group were significantly higher when adjusting for baseline than in the placebo group, which declined. Additionally, the estrogen levels measured in the test group were maintained over time.

More recently, in August 2025, a double-blind and placebo-controlled study examined the effects of the probiotic strain L. gasseri KABP 064, highlighted at SupplySide Global, for a balanced vaginal environment.³ The bacteria species is known for its potential to support urogenital and reproductive health. In the study, 46 healthy premenopausal women between the ages of 18 to 45 years old received either the probiotic or a placebo for 18 days. L. gasseri KABP 064 was detectable in the vaginal tract of 55.9% participants who were given the probiotic. Inhibitory activity was also seen with several microorganisms, including yeast.

Riera described the probiotic as “one of the few strains that have been able to colonize after oral use.” As explained in the study, to be effective, oral probiotics must be able to withstand multiple environments in the body. Additionally, probiotics for vaginal health remain an area in need of more research. “For a long time in women's health, we've seen those that haven't been developed specifically for that population group and also not specifically for the different benefits that we want to tackle,” Riera explained. “We had to do two steps back to be able to deliver better products, investigating what strains are, for instance, capable to colonize the vagina after all years, just to make sure that we deliver the right product at the right spot. And then thinking about the benefits, strains that can do mechanisms such as modulating the hormones, which is the way we can deliver a better impact on the on the on the consumer.”

Protein and gestational diabetes

At SupplySide Global 2025, Arla Food Ingredients highlighted how its protein concepts can offer benefits for certain conditions, including gestational diabetes. Recently, its whey protein isolate, Lacprodan ISO.WaterShake, was studied in a randomized, single blinded clinical trial for its ability to help manage blood glucose management in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).⁴

In the study, 12 women with GDM and 12 women with normal glucose tolerance, all between 20–36 weeks’ gestation were given either 20 g of Lacprodan ISO.WaterShake, or the placebo before a meal and before oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The protein isolate lowered peak glucose in the women with GDM and normal glucose tolerance.

“We've been looking into different areas, and this one in women is super exciting, because it does show that it has an effect,” explains Clara Komischke-Konnerup, sales developer at Arla Foods Ingredients, in an interview with Nutritional Outlook. “You're more likely to develop diabetes if you have certain glucose spikes over time. So if we could sort of stabilize that by using protein and not having to do insulin, that’s something we thought maybe we can help out in a more nutritional way.”

Beauty from within

At SupplySide Global 2025, Kyowa Hakko was the sponsor of the women’s health category at the event. The specialty fermentation company aimed to bring more awareness to women’s health conversations and ingredients that offered multiple benefits.

The women’s health category encompasses beauty from within, with products aiming to provide health benefits at the cellular level that are visible on the surface. “Women's health is a great and growing category,” explains Maria Stanieich, senior marketing manager at Kyowa Hakko in an interview with Nutritional Outlook. “We're seeing a lot of discussion on women's health in sports nutrition, women's health as healthy aging, perimenopause, menopause, and certainly everyone is interested in from beauty from within, which Setria Glutathione really brings attention to.” Clinical studies with glutathione have established that a combination of the amino acid L-citrulline and glutathione increases the levels of nitrite and NOx, and that daily oral intake increased the body’s stores of glutathione.^5,6 The glutathione ingredient by Kyowa Hakko is intended to protect against oxidative stress and toxins.⁷

The ingredient goes beyond skin health for a holistic effect. “Setria Glutathione is the master antioxidant, and it works on every cell of the body, activates the mitochondria as well,” added Katie Emerson, senior manager, scientific affairs Kyowa Hakko. “So you're going to see various benefits throughout our entire system. What's so great about it is because it does so many different things, immune health, gut health, respiratory, skin, it has a space in sports nutrition as well.”

Additional research in antioxidants and women’s health

In 2024, Kaneka also published results from the consumer study with its Ubiquinol ingredient, an active antioxidant form of CoQ10.⁸ In this study, 200 women with menopause discomfort and symptoms, including sleep disturbances, poor skin, and stress, were given 200 mg per day of Kaneka Ubiquinol over two months. At the end of the study, 80% of the participants reported Ubiquinol relieved symptoms of stress, irritability, and sensitivity, as well as improvements in mood. Improved sleep and less muscular pain was reported by 70% of the participants.

Looking forward

These new products and research highlight the various pathways innovations in the women’s category can go. As the conversations and discoveries continue to expand, the category continues to offer tailored solutions to a previously underrepresented yet expansive demographic of consumers.

References

1. Krawiec, S. The Nutritional Outlook Episode 41: The evolution of the women's health category with Lori Lauersen of Unilever Wellbeing. October 31, 2025. https://www.nutritionaloutlook.com/view/the-nutritional-outlook-episode-41-the-evolution-of-the-women-s-health-category (accessed November 18, 2025).
2. Honda, S.; Tominaga, Y.; Espadaler-Mazo, J.; Huedo, P.; Aguiló, M.; Perez, M.; Ueda, T.; Sawashita, J.Supplementation with a Probiotic Formula Having β-Glucuronidase Activity Modulates Serum Estrogen Levels in Healthy Peri- and Postmenopausal Women. Journal of Medicinal Food. 2024. 27(8). DOI: 10.1089/jmf.2023.k.0320
3. Perez, M.; Armengol, E.; Del Casale, A.; Campedelli, I.; Aldea-Perona, A.; Pérez Otero, M.; Rodriguez-Palmero, M.; Espadaler-Mazo, J.; Huedo, P. Lactobacillus gasseri CECT 30648 shows probiotic characteristics and colonizes the vagina of healthy women after oral administration. Microbiol Spectr 2025 13:e00211-25. https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.00211-25
4. Smedegaard, S.; Kampmann, U.; Ovesen, PG.; Suder, LB.; Knudsen, JH.; Wegener, G.; Brunsgaard, LH.; Rittig, N. Premeal Whey Protein Lowers Postprandial Blood Glucose in Women With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Randomized, Crossover Clinical Trial. Diabetes Care. 2025. 48(6): 1022–1031. DOI: 10.2337/dc24-2831
5. McKinley-Barnard, S.; Andre, T.; Morita, M.; Willoughby, DS. Combined L-citrulline and glutathione supplementation increases the concentration of markers indicative of nitric oxide synthesis. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2015. 12:27. DOI: 10.1186/s12970-015-0086-7
6. Richie, JP Jr.; Nichenametla, S.; Neidig, W.; Calcagnotto, A.; Haley, JS.; Schell, TD.; Muscat, JE. Randomized controlled trial of oral glutathione supplementation on body stores of glutathione. Eur J Nutr. 2015; 54(2):251-63. DOI: 10.1007/s00394-014-0706-z.
7. Koywa. Setria® Glutathione. https://kyowa-usa.com/ingredients/branded-ingredients/setria-glutathione (accessed November 18, 2025).
8. Krawiec, S. Kaneka Nutrients announces positive results of consumer research on its Ubiquinol ingredient for menopause symptoms. May 21, 2024. https://www.nutritionaloutlook.com/view/kaneka-nutrients-announces-positive-results-of-consumer-research-on-its-ubiquinol-ingredient-for-menopause-symptoms (accessed November 18, 2025).