Page 180 - Global Edge PR Report - January & February 2025

Another expert noted that more people in the UAE are spending a "significant" amount on
wellness, as they believe that this will pay off in the long run. "The amount of money that
they spend as a preventive measure is much smaller than what they will spend on treating
illnesses,” explained Dr Julie Chen, a naturopathic doctor who has launched three wellness
brands — Eimele, Theronomic and Science Wellness Research — at Arab Health this
year.

“The importance of maintaining your daily health and fixing you gut health is extremely
important and people are spending more and more to ensure a good quality of health," she
added.

Taking charge of their health

Precision medicine company Bioniq has seen its UAE customer base grew by over 500 per
cent in the past year. “Today’s consumers no longer want to be treated through traditional
medicine offers,” said Vadim Fedotov, CEO and founder of the company. “Instead, they are
actively self-educating and seeking comprehensive solutions that help them feel better
every day. This explains the surge in demand for personalised supplementation."

Customers are mainly focusing on four things — an appropriate multivitamin, a probiotic,
an omega-3 supplement and green superfoods. “When we say greens, it's a mixture of
alfalfa, wheatgrass, barley. These are called green superfoods,” explained
Balasubramanian.

“If you're taking these four every day, even if you are lacking adequate and timely nutrition,
you're more than compensated. Many members of my team are taking these four and have
observed how it has positively impacted them.”

Meanwhile, Marko added that people are now preferring clean sports nutrition. “They are
looking for certain personalised solutions like whey proteins that are easier to digest or that
are having better flavors,” he said. “People are very knowledgable, so when they shop for
product, they will ask for specific whey protein isolate."

"With social media, people are very informed and updated on the latest trends in health
and fitness. They often don’t ask for suggestions since they know very clearly what they
want," he noted.

Gut health as a priority

Dr Julie pointed out that improving gut health has become a priority for wellness
consumers. “You will see that there are significant metabolic disorders due to bad gut
health,” she said. “So there are a lot of people opting for probiotics, prebiotics, tribiotics,
and post biotics for a robust and strong gut lining.”

Balasubramanian said that gut is called “the second brain of the human body” and a
healthy gut meant the body worked properly. He added that anti-aging products are also
becoming trendy. “Due to the advancements in science and technology and medicine,
people are living longer. We see a lot of already products in this direction coming into the
market. Peptides are also gaining a lot of popularity.”

Marko said that collagen has also been increasing in popularity. “People are getting very
familiar with benefits of collagen,” he said. “There are different types and administrative
form of collagen like powders and liquids. So we see this becoming almost like a grocery
product. People buy it on a regular basis. It's part of their kitchen, part of their fridge.

Khaleej Times