How did this collaboration with the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE) come about?
It all started with a conversation I had with the researcher Joël Doré following a presentation he gave in Rennes a few years ago.
He presented a concept on the health of the gut ecosystem that fascinated me.
The main idea is very simple: what happens in our intestines is connected to our overall health. We know that. Until now we’ve talked a lot about the microbiota, which can be pampered with probiotics or fiber. But it’s much more complex than that! That’s where the researchers’ concept of an ecosystem is exciting: there are multiple factors to intestinal health, and the microbiota is indeed one of them. The more factors we target, the more likely we are to improve the health of our ecosystem. For example, if I reduce my local inflammation, I improve that parameter but I also positively affect the microbiota, which in turn will improve the inflammation. It’s a virtuous circle.
Conversely, if I reduce the diversity and richness of my microbiota, I will also indirectly worsen my inflammatory state and make my microbiota’s condition worse. A vicious cycle this time.
So the idea is simple: by acting on four levels instead of just one, I multiply effectiveness tenfold. In other words, the combined effect of actions on four parameters will be greater than the sum of the individual effects added together. That is the very definition of a synergistic effect!
At Nutri&Co, we were already counting on cumulative effects: our probiotic blend contains a polyphenol with prebiotic activity and we have our fibers! Intuitively it seemed like an effective approach. When I attended Joël Doré’s presentation and learned that his lab had world-renowned expertise in this kind of project, I knew we had to work together!
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This is actually the heart of a very important question in our industry: I have data on an isolated ingredient, but is it really much better to combine it with other ingredients and can I measure that synergistic effect? We need more data and research on what we call “the finished product”, that is, combinations of ingredients, going beyond what we know about isolated ingredients.
Could you explain what this research involves and how you collaborate with INRAE? What is the timeline?
I can’t go into technical details because it’s confidential, but the objectives are simple:
- We want to verify the effects of our products on the intestinal ecosystem.
- And then find out how to improve them to move toward that synergistic effect described above.
So we will test the effects of our current products, as well as other ingredients and combinations on various intestinal parameters.
We will study the products on « human microbiotas » in bioreactors, and this is where INRAE’s expertise is also crucial: cutting-edge sequencing technology is required to measure diversity (which species?) and richness (how many?) of bacteria in the culture.
In short, we’ll test our products and future versions on the human microbiota and assess how these effects impact the full range of parameters of our gut ecosystem. All of this will allow us to optimize our products’ effects while gaining a more precise understanding of how they work.
We know very well that probiotics, fiber, and polyphenols are effective: but how exactly do they work and how can I get them to work together?
This first phase of the project will last 24 months, not even taking into account the doors this will open for us, because the results will almost certainly encourage us to go further and attempt a clinical trial!
What are the expected results?
It’s very simple:
- Understand exactly how our products work and which levers of the intestinal ecosystem they act on.
- Verify whether there is indeed a synergistic effect when they are used together.
- Optimize our formulas on an established scientific basis.
Would you like to extend this research to formulas other than those dedicated to digestive health?
It’s possible, although you have to choose the field carefully. Other health concerns among the French interest us, such as athletic performance or healthy aging (notably cognitive decline), but I can’t tell you more at the moment!
