Nutrition industry trends in July focused on metabolic health, supplement safety, and AI-powered innovation. The American Nutrition Association backed a finger-prick test to track metabolic health, while researchers debated the health impacts of plastic food packaging. Additionally, the use of GLP-1 drugs among US adolescents has surged, and a review found mixed results on creatine’s potential to treat depression.
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Gray market peptides blur drug and supplement distinctions
Consumers are increasingly using unapproved peptides hoping to boost health, focus, and appearance, prompting experts to call for tighter regulation and research. Legal specialists warned the trend — worsened by social media influencers — is blurring lines between drugs, supplements, and wellness. The authors of a recent JAMA manuscript told us that synthetic peptides are moving quickly from research into mainstream markets. Although some peptides are clinically approved, many are not, they warned. Meanwhile, health entrepreneurs are increasingly selling these as nutrients, although regulators treat them as unapproved drugs. We spoke with Kaneka Probiotics about its latest research on KABP-051 and the future of weight management and psychobiotics.
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Experts debate plastic food packaging’s health impact, urging new scientific evidence
Amid ongoing debate over plastic food packaging’s health impact, experts discussed what current science shows. As new evidence emerges, they argued the field needs standardized testing methods, while urging that findings on rising plastics in human tissue shouldn’t be ignored. An Earth Action spokesperson said its recent report quantified how much micro- and nanoplastics migrated from packaging into food to be ingested directly, while other research found microplastics in human brain tissue. A toxicology expert from the Plastics Research Council countered that evidence does not support definitive conclusions about how plastics affect organs under real-world exposure.
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American Nutrition Association backs finger-prick GKI test to track metabolic health
The American Nutrition Association (ANA) is calling for wider use of evidence-based biomarkers in personalized nutrition care to manage chronic diseases. The organization highlighted the potential of a new real-time biomarker test that assesses the glucose ketone index (GKI) from a blood sample drawn from a finger prick. The GKI can be linked to the risk of chronic diseases and may help predict risk more accurately than a glucose reading alone. ANA’s CEO, Corinne Bush, argued that policy reform and medical nutrition training are key to equitable access to such tests.
