The Outlook on Active Nutrition Preview: Conversation with Susan Hewlings

Nutritional Outlook's managing editor, Sebastian Krawiec, interviews Susan Hewlings, PhD, co-founder of Substantiation Sciences and vice president of research affairs at Radicle Science. Hewlings will be presenting about the importance of investing in science from concept to claim at Nutritional Outlook's upcoming conference, The Outlook on Active Nutrition. In this interview, Hewlings discusses her professional background, and what attendees can expect from her presentation.

To learn more and register for the conference, click here.

Sebastian Krawiec: So obviously your presentation focuses on substantiation. I wonder if you can kind of talk about what lessons you want attendees to take away from your presentation, and you know about substantiation and its value?

Susan Hewlings: Well, I think there's a there's somewhat of a misperception that there's no research being done in the industry that everybody's just like, you know, saying stuff, throwing it out there, and whatever. And I want to point out that there are a lot of companies and a lot of people in our space that are very devoted and committed to the research, and that the science and the research actually do drive their decisions and their products and their formulations. And so I don't feel like those people get enough attention and enough credit. And so that's part of what I want to talk about by giving examples of people who have used really solid science to drive what they're doing. So that's part of it, and to talk a little bit about the different kinds of studies that can be done to do that, there's more than one way to do it. There's also more than one way one application, or one way to apply research. And I think that's important, and that's often misunderstood too, because everybody thinks that, no, you got to have RCT. If you don't have an RCT, you've got no substantiation.

And then there's a focus on, okay, well, then we're just going to do a study. But if you remember, you know from your science classes back in the day, science is an evolution of information, and that's an important part of science that often gets overlooked. No one study will ever give us everything we need for anything. I mean, that's true of anything, right? And science should always generate more questions than answers. And I think when we use science for business applications, that part of it sometimes gets forgotten, because again, I mean, it's a big investment in our real science is an investment. And science also, it's an investment in and of itself, and the results of said science can often drive investment. So we're going to talk a little bit about that too. Like, what are the uses of science? Because substantiation is a use of science, but it's not the only use of science. Sometimes you need it to show safety. Sometimes you need it for investors to see that you're, you know, using it to drive next steps, that you're science driven. So there's a lot of different applications beyond just substantiation. We're going to talk a little bit about that, and then also talk about like, well, when do you need an RCT? When do you use an RCT at what point?

And I also will focus on the totality of the evidence. So what I was getting at when I said, Well, you know, one one study isn't always enough. Well, no, because the study should be designed by and then integrated into the totality of the evidence. And that's an important part of substantiation, again, that often doesn't get discussed enough. So we have this totality of the evidence. What is that and what does that mean? And I want to talk about that, and I want to talk about, you know, the existing science and the important role that that plays. Because, like, I think we got talking when the revised guidance came out a few years ago. You know, everybody started talking about borrowed science in a negative way, and I want to change that perception. So those are just some of the goals and things that I want to highlight in my presentation.

Sebastian Krawiec: Fantastic. Is there anything on the session on the agenda that you're looking forward to at The Outlook on Active Nutrition? What do you hope to learn at the conference?

Susan Hewlings: Well, first of all, you have, like, a stellar cast, and so I'm looking forward to seeing everybody who you know are my friends, colleagues, like minded people, and also here in the science. And you brought a team together that knows the science. So I want to hear, you know, what's out there and how they're using it, even if it's something that I may think I already know. What I always find at these types of meetings and conferences is that hearing the. Interpretation by my colleagues, the experts, sometimes can take something I think I already know and put a spin on it that I would have never thought. And I always look forward to that part of this, and you have the right team for that. So I'm definitely looking forward to that, and to hearing like what's out there, and sports nutrition is like a really interesting space, right? Because everybody's trying to figure out what exactly is sports nutrition right now, like we for a long time, we were saying, Okay, well, Sports Nutrition has now, you know, sort of like migrated out of, like, elite athletes. We now have the active consumer. So now that we've all identified that, we all agree that now what? And I think that I'm curious to hear what my colleagues that are like in the trenches of it. Because, yes, sports nutrition is a great interest of mine. I do a lot in this space, but not the only space I work in, but for the people who that's their main focus. I yeah, I'm anxious to hear what what they're saying and what they've got going on,

Sebastian Krawiec: Looking at the sports nutrition space overall, what excites you about what's happening in the industry right now?

Susan Hewlings: Yeah, that's really good question. Sports Nutrition always excites me because I'm a runner myself, and I'm all so I'm always looking to, like, keep it going, like, I'm at that stage in my life where the the focus is to be able to keep doing what I'm doing. And I think that what's interesting to me is this migration into the active nutrition space. That's what's exciting to me in the fact that the everyday athlete has a voice, has a recognition. That's like, that's the thing I that excites me the most. And I think social media has, has played a huge role in that. I mean, the everyday athletes been out there forever. It's just that nobody knew they were there. That's like, sort of the beauty of the everyday athlete, you know, and so now sports nutrition is recognizing them and bringing products that are easy to use, that have the idea that, okay, the thing about the everyday athlete that makes them so inspirational is these are people that have one job, two jobs, you know, they're working, they're raising kids, getting the kids to their activities that they need to, and fitting in some really, you know, intense workouts around all that. So the idea is making the optimal, the nutrition optimal and easy, and making it like, you know, like the stick packs are a big part of that. Like, what can we do, ready to mix drinks, to make it easy for people to meet their nutritional needs and their performance needs, because obviously you don't meet your performance needs if you don't meet your nutritional needs.

So I'm always excited to see also what delivery in thinking of that and making it easy and making it accessible to the everyday athlete, what delivery formats are out there that people are doing, that they either are being are brand new, or maybe are being brought back to light. Like that have kind of been out of favor lately, that are being brought back. And I think from delivery formats, the part that's really cool is when you look at more like the chemists side of it, where they're trying to find, like delayed delivery, right? Or the idea of, well, if you need a large dose of something, how can we deliver that, so that we don't have to take like, nine capsules to to get somebody to be able to ingest that? So I think the the chemistry and the science is always really cool too, when it comes to this space. Oh, and one more thing, wearables. I almost left it out. It's always really cool too, to see what's out there, what people are tracking, right? And what they're tracking. Their workouts, their you know, if they're performing or they're competing, what they're doing they're tracking, you know. And so I'm looking at, always looking at the Digital tracking and apps is always really cool too.