According to the survey, which involved 1,000 people aged 18-34 with demographics representative of the national US population, 57% of respondents consumed between two and five caffeinated beverages or products a day, while 70% of Americans are either concerned about the potential health risks of using highly caffeinated products or have already stopped using these products altogether.
The results highlight the potential of the company’s PurEnergy caffeine alternative, a patented co-crystal ingredient comprised of caffeine and its pTeroPure pterostilbene, said Frank Jaksch, ChromaDex’s co-founder and CEO.
The company launched the caffeine alternative in April of this year, with animal models indicating a 6-8 times longer half-life as compared to caffeine alone. This suggested that it may provide longer sustained energy and alertness with a more gradual finish, preventing the "crash" typically experienced when ingesting caffeinated products.
The company has now added to this with data from a recently finished clinical trial performed by Miami Research Associates in Miami, FL, and led by principal investigator Dr Diane Krieger, indicating that PurEnergy delivers almost 30% more caffeine into the blood than caffeine alone.
The study also reportedly found that the rate of caffeine absorption is significantly slower with PurEnergy, by about 30% as compared to ordinary caffeine, and that the ingredient’s half-life in human subjects is extended by about 25% over that of ordinary caffeine.
“The results of our clinical study of PurEnergy validate its suitability as an alternative to ordinary caffeine in energy drinks and other energy products,” said Jaksch.
“PurEnergy balances the consumer’s desire to feel the effects of caffeine with the pressure consumer product companies are under to reduce caffeine levels in finished products.”
Study details
The data will be presented at the American College of Toxicology annual meeting in San Antonio (Nov. 3-6), said Chromadex. NutraIngredients-USA has not seen the data from the study.
According to the company, the study lasted approximately 4 weeks with subjects attending 4 test visits. At one test visit, subjects received pTeroPure, at one test visit caffeine, at one test visit Purenergy, and at one test visit placebo. The study was not randomized so study products were not provided to the subjects in random order.
Based on this data, the PurEnergy ingredient could allow formulators of energy products the ability to reduce the total amount of caffeine in their products by as much as 50% without sacrificing consumers’ expectations from such products, said the company.
PurEnergy and pTeroPure are manufactured exclusively for ChromaDex by Laurus Labs.
The company provided the following infographic to illustrate the Ipsos survey findings.
