Now launches dietary supplement for relaxation, focus and cognitive optimization

17 Nov 2023 — PLT Health Solutions has validated its partner Now’s launch of a new dietary supplement for cognitive support, Zembrin, a patented, clinically studied extract of the South African succulent plant Sceletium tortuosum.

Sceletium has been used as a mood enhancer and stress reliever by the Khoi-San of South Africa, sometimes called “the world’s first people,” whose culture stretches back over 20,000 years. 

The formulation — Calm & Focus with Zembrin & GABA — features the clinically demonstrated stress-reducing, mood-enhancing properties of Sceletium tortuosum for fast action that promotes alert serenity, calm focus and improved mental function.

According to Kim Perkins, vitamin brand manager for Now, people are increasingly reaching for cognitive support to confront the rigors of modern life. “The clinical science behind Zembrin shows that it can help give people power over their lives by introducing a sense of calm serenity or alert focus,” she says. 

Ancient remedy 2.0
Sceletium tortuosum is a protected species in Africa and wild harvesting is not sustainable for commercial products. Zembrin’s innovator, HG&H Pharmaceuticals, employs a seed-to-shelf ingredient management program with its specially cultivated Sceletium tortuosum raw materials. 

Calm & Focus with Zembrin & GABA features 25 mg of Zembrin and 300 mg of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), an amino acid known to reduce the stress of everyday life, relieve tension and improve sleep.

The company is committed to using only cultivated plant material to avoid depleting threatened wild plant stocks and to ensure consistent product quality. Studies have shown that a 25 mg per day dose of Zembrin can reduce anxiety-related activity within two hours.The South African San Council endorses mood and cognition enhancer Zembrin.

“Zembrin sits at the nexus of traditional ethnobotany, modern science, sustainability and social responsibility and is a model of how a traditional plant can be transformed into a modern nutraceutical ingredient to help people live happier, healthier lives,” says Steve Fink, VP, marketing at PLT Health Solutions.

The market for mood and mental health-boosting nutrition supplements continues to grow, aided by increasing consumer interest in mental and emotional well-being and an expanding product offer from nutrition companies.

Mood-enhancing protected species
Zembrin has an extensive clinical science program and has conducted a broad range of pre-clinical work, a full array of safety and toxicity evaluations and five gold standard clinical trials published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Zembrin is safe for daily use over many months.

“The clinical science behind Zembrin shows that it can help give people power over their lives by introducing a sense of calm serenity or alert focus. We also feel our customers will be intrigued by the fact that it is a highly sustainable and socially responsible ingredient,” says Kim Perkins, vitamin brand manager at Now.

HG&H Pharmaceuticals formally acknowledges the contribution of the Khoi-San people who discovered and used the South African plant Sceletium for millennia. Zembrin is endorsed by the South African San Council, with the exclusive use of their trademark for a Sceletium product. The San Council shares in the proceeds from the sale of every bottle of Zembrin. 

Meanwhile, Nutricia, the medical nutrition division of Danone, recently launched Souvenaid in the US. The supplement contains the company’s nutraceutical ingredient, Fortasyn Connect, a proprietary blend of nutrients designed to help synaptic functioning in the brain.

By Inga de Jong

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