Women's health, antioxidants, and healthy aging: interview with Kyowa Hakko

Live from SupplySide Global 2025, Nutritional Outlook Associate Editor Erin McEvoy interviews Maria Stanieich, senior marketing manager, and Katie Emerson, senior manager, scientific affairs at Kyowa Hakko, the sponsor of the women's health category at the event. Stanieich and Emerson highlight changes in women's health discussions, healthy aging, and benefits of the ingredient Cognizin Citicoline and the antioxidant Setria Glutathione.

Transcript

Erin McEvoy: What innovations in the women's health category are you hoping to bring attention to?

Maria Stanieich: Women's health is a great and growing category. 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. We have Cognizin also, a brain health ingredient that lends itself into the longevity conversation, where we're having a lot of conversation from the aging population that's looking for a lot of different kind of need states, so a lot of benefit conversations for the women's health category.

McEvoy: What has research shown are the benefits of Cognizin Citicoline, and what are its mechanisms of action?

Katie Emerson: Cognizin Citicoline really does have some unique mechanisms, where we look at phospholipids, and so that is going to lend to the integrity and structural component of your neuronal cells that are going to lead to long term brain health and brain function. And then it also has a mental aspect, where it works on the mitochondria. So we're seeing increased in bioenergetics in the brain. And then the one that I think resonates with most people, is neurotransmitter activation. So we're seeing acetylcholine levels, which translates to better focus and attention.

McEvoy: What are the benefits of the antioxidant Setria Glutathione?

Emerson: So Setria Glutathione is the master antioxidant, and it works on every cell of the body, activates the mitochondria as well. 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. And we are seeing a lot of different benefits in various areas that are new, like gut health as well as detox. So it's more of a healthy aging longevity ingredient, because it does almost everything.

McEvoy: How do current trends in healthy aging drive interest in antioxidant ingredients?

Stanieich: Certainly, and as Katie mentioned, it is an endogenous substance. We're seeing that really resonate with a lot of people, because it's something our body produces naturally. It makes sense to supplement with it. Certainly, as we age, it declines. So it makes sense to have that for healthy aging, longevity, for that mitochondrial health, health at the cellular wellness level. So it's definitely something that really fits into a lot of products and resonates with a lot of consumers.