SUPPLEMENT MAKERS SEEK A SHOT IN THE ARM

The nutraceutical industry faces a trust deficit today. Some startups are trying to change that

- Radhika P. Nair

Fahad Javeed, 35, had always been sceptical about health supplements, especially when it came to losing weight. Instead, he had relied on traditional methods such as going off sugar and hitting the gym.

But he would always regain the pounds once he went back to eating sugary food.

“I changed my mind about supplements when my wife started using Metabolically Lean and lost 10kg in three months. It also sorted out her longstanding bloating issue,” said Chennai-based Javeed, who runs a business that offers the tech and hardware for digital screening of movies. He also started using Gut Cleanse this month.

Metabolically Lean, which promises a boost to metabolism, and Gut Cleanse, which are gut detox shots, are sold by The Good Bug, a supplement company.

“When you are stuck in a rut and the usual methods don't work well, you turn to something like this,” Javeed said.

But 46-year-old marketing professional Ryan Frantz, who also lives in Chennai, had a different experience. He started consuming Metabolically Lean in August but stopped in October after finding no “discernible weight change.”

For Frantz, who had also been on other health supplements such as Omega-3, the leap of faith backfired. “My doctor diagnosed me with fatty liver and said it could be linked to my supplement intake. I was already doubtful about the whole thing, so I decided to stop it all,” he said.

India's health supplements industry got a fillip after the onset of the covid-19 pandemic. Rising health awareness and a growing digital-first population willing to spend money to look and feel good have led to a surge in startups. On Instagram, users are bombarded with ads and influencer reels peddling vitamin gummies and “magic” powders from new-age direct-to-consumer (D2C) startups that promise results from a snatched (slender, hourglass-shaped) waist to baby-like sleep.