Nestlé China unveils milk powder for brain response and memory

From: FoodBev

The product was launched during the 13th China Nutrition Science Congress held by the Chinese Nutrition Society in Beijing.

Nestlé has added a new milk powder with cognitive benefits for adult consumers in China, as part of its Yiyang brand.

The ‘senior milk powder’ is specifically designed to help people over the age of 50 to maintain good brain response and memory as they age. As part of the Yiyang brand, it joins a proven line-up of protein powders and nutrition powders targeted at adult nutrition.

The product was launched during the 13th China Nutrition Science Congress held by the Chinese Nutrition Society in Beijing.

Marianne Tsanis, vice-president of Nestlé’s dairy business unit in the Greater China region, said: “Nestle Yiyang Fuel for Brain senior milk powder contains medium-chain triglycerides (MCT), which can be efficiently converted into ketone, the energy required by the brain to ‘feed’ the brain. This is why the milk powder is named Fuel for Brain.”

Compared with long-chain triglycerides, MCTs are easier for intake and metabolism, rapidly releasing energy to quickly provide the brain with fuel and nutrients. In the case of under-utilisation of glucose, MCTs can directly supply energy to the brain in place of glucose, supporting the brain’s normal energy needs without being stored as fat in the body. Additionally, MCTs have shown potential in research in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Brain health expert Guowei Huang from Tianjin Medical University in eastern China said: “Compared with healthy young people, the brain of the elderly utilises glucose at only 85-90% the rate of young people while patients with Alzheimer’s disease utilise only around 75%. Studies have shown that medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) can be converted into ketone bodies and serve as an alternative source of energy for the minds of the elderly.”

Experts believe that reasonable nutritional supplementation will help the brain to delay the effects of ageing and help ensure health and longevity in later life.

The global population, as well as the domestic Chinese population, is rapidly ageing: by 2050, the number of Chinese consumers over the age of 50 is expected to account for around half of the overall population – up from 28.3% in 2010 – as people live longer and the rate of birth outpaces that of death.

According to Wenhua Zhao, deputy director of the National Institute for Nutrition and Health for the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the ageing of the population, or extended average life expectancy, is the inevitable result of societal progress and development.

“As an old Chinese saying goes, ‘diet cures more than the doctors’,” added Marianne Tsanis. “Nestle Yiyang has always been committed to providing healthy ideas and nutrition programs for people above 50 years old. We advocate the middle-aged and the elderly to be more proactive in managing their own health, and we also call on everyone no matter what age to pay more attention to their nutrition and health.”

 

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