Seeing many young people with pill boxes that would be the envy of their grandmother is no longer an isolated event. They are fans of nutricosmetics, a phenomenon that never stops accumulating new developments, many of them authored and the result of personal experiences to solve a specific problem. Magnesium, collagen, hyaluronic acid, antioxidants... In pills, powder, drinkable ampoules and even gummies, a format that some criticize and others defend because it facilitates consistency, one of the requirements of nutricosmetics so that the results are appreciated (from two to three months).
Also called nutritional supplements or food supplements, their objective is to maintain a good quality of life over the years in addition to improving the appearance of the skin, hair or nails, for example, doing good by taking care of ourselves inside so that It is noticeable from the outside.
Life expectancy has increased exponentially in recent years. We live longer, but not necessarily better. In addition to genetics and the environmental factors to which we are exposed, lifestyle is one of the factors responsible for weakening our immune system. External reinforcement, along with healthy lifestyle habits, can be a good ally for the future.
“There is no one who has excess magnesium,” says, for example, Blanca Galofré, an integrative nutritionist specialized in Energy Dietetics and Nutritional Coaching. She does emphasize how important it is “that the supplementation is of natural origin.”
Collagen is another of the classics: it is the majority component of skin and bones, among other things, but after the age of 25 it begins to decrease by 1% annually. Translation: at 55 we will have lost 25% of our production capacity.
Fashion or necessity? “We are increasingly living longer lives and nutritional supplementation helps keep us as healthy as possible,” says Meritxell Martí, head of the pharmacy that bears her name (Andorra) and of the collagen powders that went viral ( has a new one about to be launched). “To those who doubt, I ask: Do you eat well every day? Do you follow a varied diet every day? "With quality products that provide you with all the nutrients and in the necessary quantity for the body to absorb them every day?" Difficult to answer yes to everything.
According to the Nutricosmetics Observatory launched by Luxmetique, a Spanish brand of advanced nutricosmetics, more than 40% of Spaniards use it.
Hair is in many cases the gateway to nutricosmetics. Seeing the great hair of Verónica Corrales (Bilbao, 1972), no one would imagine that at the age of 29 she was diagnosed with androgenic alopecia. She was used to showing her face in luxury brands before becoming a businesswoman, her first option was to try the remedies that the market and specialists made available to her. She found nothing that solved her problem in the long term: “When she saw some momentary improvement, it got worse if she stopped the treatment,” she explains.
Stubborn, she undertook her own search until she found a formula that worked for her: it is the origin of Chic.
His first proposal was Hair
“They are not sweets,” Verónica clarifies. “They are vegan vitamin complexes, lactose- and gluten-free, with a good flavor and in a very pleasant format to take that promotes consistency, the cornerstone for achieving results with nutricosmetics,” she points out. As they are good, it should be noted that you must stick to the recommended dose. “The gummies work very well here and in other countries with more consumption where they have been on the market for longer,” she assures those who question the format.
Mild fall? The founder of Chic
The pharmacist Meritxell Martí is one of the most recognized prescribers of anti-aging products and supplements.” She is always up to date and considered launching her own brand when she did not find in the market “all the requirements that I was looking for for myself as a user,” she says. Used to making master formulas in her pharmacy, she contacted a manufacturer and five years ago, when nutricosmetics was something much more minority, she triumphed with her Unique Pink collagen.
“It wasn't easy because then there were people who said that oral collagen is useless. You had to do a lot of training,” she recalls. Her collagen was pink (now it also has green, violet and yellow is about to...) with the best ingredients, good flavor and a very careful presentation.
“One of the problems with nutricosmetics is that the results are seen in the long term and I wanted mine to be noticeable from the first dose on the skin, the body and in the maintenance of the digestive system. “If we work with oral supplements, it is logical that the intestine, which is key to absorption, has to be healthy, as does the microbiota,” he explains.
The networks passed sentence and the Unique Pink Collagen Glow
Resveratrol, turmeric, vitamin C, zinc, marine collagen or niacinamide are some of the active ingredients in Longgenic, a drinkable well-aging supplement loaded with antioxidants and vitamins. A formula with 10 ingredients, among which chondroitin stands out, a derivative of the skin of the Greenland shark, the oldest animal in the world. They act in synergy to increase general well-being and quality of life and help improve concentration, sleep, the luminosity of the skin, hair and the good condition of the joints...
David García was going to be a highly competitive tennis player but, during a sports scholarship at an American university, a patella injury due to wear and tear of the patellar tendon changed his career. In the US he came into contact with sports and natural supplementation and is co-founder of Nutralie, a brand that was born digitally in 2018 and has already reached pharmacies. García considers that it is very important to focus on innovation, research and development towards natural products: “They allow us to achieve better solutions in terms of absorption and bioavailability,” he says.
“We analyze people's needs and lifestyles, which allows us to have a great source of information to develop our products,” he comments. The concerns they most detect focus on strengthening the immune system, emotional well-being and beauty. “There is a considerable increase in interest in supplements that improve mood, promote sleep and regulate stress,” she concludes.
Its formulas cover several fronts, but also take into account the specific and different needs of men and women. Women Complex, for example, helps relieve the symptoms of hormonal changes, provides energy to improve physical, mental and sexual activity, strengthens defenses and makes up for possible mineral deficiencies. The five recommended by the Nutralie manager for men: Men Complex, Hair Complex; Marine Collagen, Magnesium Complex and Glucosamine Complex.
Pharmacist Luz García Toro, communications director at Luxmetique, advises going to healthcare distribution channels, which guarantee that manufacturing follows pharmaceutical quality standards. Also look at the quality of the active ingredients, patents, endorsement of efficacy studies and bioavailability, the ability for the body to absorb them. Good analysis and the recommendation of specialists based on their results is also the best principle.
The highest concentration of hyaluronic acid with high bioavailability and different molecular weights, according to the creators of the Hyagold drinkable formula, from Luxmetique, has a daytime and nighttime version. The latter, in addition to hydrating the skin and reducing transdermal water loss, improves rest, helps muscle recovery and even reduces acne. The brand's laboratories are in La Rioja. “Our formulas have patented active ingredients that have proven their bioavailability and effectiveness,” summarizes Julia Chacón, CEO and founder of the brand.
Ilona Calparsoro, CEO and founder of Longevitas Labs, was “a textbook workoholic who smoked a lot, ate poorly and didn't exercise at all,” she confesses. She overcame cancer, reoriented her life and was clear that “living fast is a social disaster. “We are hooked on cortisol.” She immersed herself in the world of supplementation in the US and, in 2005, she imported the first antioxidant powder based on super concentrated fruit extracts.
In 2018, Longevitas Lab was launched, the first 100% Spanish laboratory specialized in the prevention of aging, which works on the formulation and manufacturing of premium nutritional supplements under the technical direction of Dr. Ángel Durántez, a reference in healthy aging medicine. His formulas are aimed “at helping the body slow down deterioration as much as possible,” he explains.
He comments that his latest metabolic analysis “says that I am 18 years younger than my ID card. I have been supplementing for 20 years and it shows,” she says. He advises starting around age 30.
A good tool to slow down the effects of the passage of time? The antioxidants. “They help us age better, improve quality of life and strengthen those areas that may be weakened over the years, the impact of the environment and lifestyle,” Longevitas Labs points out.
