Wellness Foods - August 2008 - (Page 6)

Boomers Balance for Nutrition has become baby boomers’ antidote for many of the negative effects of aging. By Kantha Shelke, Ph.D., Contributing Editor B aby boomers are regarded as an important generation for food and beverage marketers, partly because of their needs and partly because they tend to have high disposable incomes. Nutrition has a pivotal role in the health and anti-aging efforts of baby boomers. In fact, nutrition is increasingly a popular boomer antidote to growing old. Anti-aging and vitality are enduring themes among 45-62-year-olds. Boomers are using nutrition to take the sting out of age-related complaints including pain, memory loss, fatigue, indigestion and declining vision (for a discussion of the food and beverage role in eye health, see p.12). Functional foods and beverages are becoming popular solutions to heart health, diabetes, hypertension, chronic pain and joint issues – chronic ailments plaguing boomers. Processors take note: According to Metlife Mature Market Institute (www. maturemarketinstitute.com), Hartford, Conn., one out of every four Americans is a boomer. They are investing a growing proportion of their $2 trillion in expenditures (in 2007) on foods and beverages that meet their desire for youth and vitality. A healthy ticker Heart health is one of the greatest concerns for boomers, especially following the questionable American diet of the past few decades. A number of food ingredients, both naturally occurring and easily added, are addressing this concern. Mars Inc. set the world on its ear in 2006 when it started marketing chocolate as a heart-health food. Its launch of the CocoaVia brand, based on company research into cocoa avanols, created a rage that de- 6 | August 2008 http://www.maturemarketinstitute.com http://www.maturemarketinstitute.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Wellness Foods - August 2008

Wellness Foods - August 2008 Balance for Boomers Vitamins for Eye Health Nutraceutical Spirits New Views on Fiber

Wellness Foods - August 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.