The Trendiest Supplements You'll Be Seeing Everywhere in 2023
The use of supplements for health and wellness is on the rise. According to the Types of Supplements: 2022–2023 Trends, a report from NutraScience Labs, the global dietary supplement market is projected to increase to $272.4 billion by 2028. This report also speculates that some of the driving reasons behind the ongoing uptick in supplement purchases are related to increased health awareness among consumers, growing urbanization, and the fact that supplements can help people with hectic schedules easily fulfill some of their nutritional needs.
Supplements can also fill certain gaps when a person's nutrient intake is affected by things like their diet or geographical location. For example, many vegans and plant-based eaters will take B12 to make up for the lack of B12 in their food. People who live in northern regions with long, dark winter seasons may take vitamin D supplements to make up for the lack of vitamin D they'd usually get from sunlight.
You can find tons of different nutrients and vitamins in supplement form—most come in either a pill, powder, gummies, liquid drops, or even chocolate (if you're lucky). Because this is such a rapidly expanding market, we wanted to find out which specific supplements are most likely to increase in popularity in the coming year. Read on to learn more about what we anticipate will be the biggest supplement trends in 2023, based on industry research.
Cucumber extract
Earlier this year, Gene Bruno, the vice president of Scientific & Regulatory Affairs at NutraScience Labs and professor of Nutraceutical Science at Huntington University of Health Sciences, wrote an article for WholeFoods Magazine about his supplement predictions for 2023. According to this industry veteran with over 40 years of experience in the supplements space, that he hypothesizes that supplements geared toward bone and joint health are anticipated to become hot commodities in 2023.
"Trends are now suggesting a renaissance for the joint health market. In fact, the overall global bone and joint health supplements market is estimated to be $11.7 billion in 2022 and to reach $17.6 billion by 2027, with a CAGR of 8.5%," Bruno said in his WholeFoods Magazine article, basing his projections on the UnivDatos Market Insights data report, Bone and Joint Health Supplements Market: Current Analysis and Forecast (2022-2028).
One potentially trending supplement, in particular, Bruno points to for bone and joint symptom relief is cucumber extract. In his article, Bruno mentions a popular supplement combination that is often used for bone and joint health: glucosamine and chondroitin. But these supplements, he says, are declining in popularity. Because this combination of pills requires four doses daily, Bruno suspects the decline in usage stems from people's aversion to consuming multiple pills at one time. This is where the appeal of cucumber extract comes in; Bruno notes that though the dose is smaller, you still get the bone and joint healthy benefits.
There was also a small clinical trial where osteoporosis patients were given either cucumber water extract or glucosamine-chondroitin (GC). After the trial, patients who used the cucumber extract experienced a pain decrease of around 70%, compared to only about 33% for the GC users. This information may motivate people to try cucumber extract as a way to care for their bones and joints.
Medicinal mushrooms
Medicinal mushrooms are having their moment, and trend reports seem to feel confident about the fact that they're not going anywhere. Although you can eat and cook with these types of mushrooms, it's common to find them in pill form, as gummies, or as an instant coffee powder.
The Types of Supplements: 2022–2023 Trendsreport from NutraScience predicts that immune-boosting supplements will see a market increase of about 7.5% by 2028, with medicinal mushrooms being a popular ingredient. Additionally, it suggests that supplements under the category of sleep, stress, and cognitive health are going to increase by 8.5% over the next six years. Also, it suggests that we'll likely be seeing more mushroom coffee in the future, which contains less caffeine than a standard cup of coffee but can provide health benefits from various types of mushrooms like lion's man, an edible mushroom known to have cognitive health benefits, as well as reishi, chaga, and cordyceps.
Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha supplements are already well-known in some wellness communities, but the Types of Supplements: 2022–2023 Trends report suggests that because of consumers' increasing awareness of how bad stress can be for their health, we are going to continue to see more supplements that help with stress reduction, like ashwagandha, continue to penetrate the marketplace.
An herb that has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries in places like southeast Asia and parts of Africa, Ashwagandha is now also used in the U.S. as a supplement for stress management, sleep aid, and to help with memory and cognitive health. The most common form is in a powder that you can add to coffee, tea, or smoothies, or in a pill form that you can take on a regular basis.
Irish moss
According to predictions in the aforementioned NutraScience report, it's likely that Irish moss supplements will have a stronger mainstream presence in the near-future. Also known as sea moss, Irish moss is a supplement that is full of vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, and vitamin E. Medical News Today notes that Irish moss is also rich in iodine and omega-3 fatty acids, and this can help with thyroid and heart health. You can buy Irish moss in standard pill capsules, or get it in gel form and add it to your food or drinks.
Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll is already fairly well-known, especially in the form of drops that some people put in their water. A naturally-green pigment found in many green vegetables, chlorophyll has been found to help with anti-aging and acne prevention, and some animal studies have even found that chlorophyll may possibly help in cancer prevention.
According to the Pinterest Predicts 2023 Report, a report the company releases annually to highlight their predictions for the coming year based on searches from their site, interest in chlorophyll is on the rise. Specifically, this means that that search for "benefits of chlorophyll water" is up 35% on Pinterest searches. In fact, the site has seen an upward trend in many other sea-based superfoods like green algae and nori snacks.
Pinterest isn't the only social media platform that's caught wind of the chlorophyll hype. You can also find many TikTok videos of users promoting the benefits of chlorophyll, like this one with over 3.7 million likes:
It's videos like these that may also be elevating the conversation of this supplement among a widespread audience. Other industry experts are noticing an increase in chlorophyll interest, too. According to a strategic report by Report Ocean, the market of chlorophyll extract is predicted to grow by a rate of around 8% every year between 2022 and 2030.
Blue-green algae
Pinterest's report also predicts that the "hottest" foods and vitamins will be from the sea. According to their report, search for "green algae" was up by 60% this year, which means we may see an increase in people using algae as a supplement. According to the Future Market Insights Global and Consulting report, the Global Algae Market is expected to increase by 5.4% by the end of 2023 and surpass $9.5 billion in revenue.
Blue-green algae is a type of bacteria that grows in water, and as a supplement it has been used to help manage high blood pressure. It also contains protein and has been known to be used as a protein supplement. Some research has even shown a possibility of using blue-green algae to help with inflammation and cardiovascular disease prevention, as well as possibly aid in lowering cholesterol and blood lipid profiles. While this research is promising and may help explain interest in algae as a supplement, more research is needed. Regardless, don't be surprised if you begin to see more algae supplements in stores in 2023.
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