![In the Aisle: Beverages on the front line of mental wellness In the Aisle: Beverages on the front line of mental wellness](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt09e5e63517a16184/blt59a95b3c983d899b/64ff17872d672a04d339cfc8/ita_20mental_20wellness_20beverages.png?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Mshrm Oat Focus Kefir king Lifeway has debuted an innovative line of USDA Organic adaptogenic cultured oat milks. The Focus: Lion’s Mane Golden Milk variety pairs nutritious oats with brain-calming lion’s mane, relaxing L-theanine, fermented turmeric and 10 active probiotic cultures—all in a convenient 3.5-ounce bottle. SRP: N/A
Brainchild Ground Coffee Sourced directly from small farmers in Guatemala and Colombia, this premium arabica coffee is “smartened up” with 500 mg of lion’s mane and cordyceps per 12-ounce cup. The adaptogenic mushrooms, coupled with clean caffeine, promote mental clarity, energy and memory while simmering stress. SRP: $22.00
Zero Sugar Organic Energy Drink, Ginger Peach Machu Picchu’s USDA Organic zero-sugar beverage features Peruvian maca, an adaptogen that helps manage stress, as well as B vitamins and 120 mg of natural caffeine from green coffee beans. The mission-based brand has numerous impact initiatives, including its BevLaunch program, which teaches underserved schoolkids about socially conscious entrepreneurship. SRP: $2.99
Blood Orange Grapefruit Sweetened with organic clover honey, this unique caffeine-free, plant-based sports drink offers electrolytes and immune support from potassium, zinc and vitamin C. But we think its base—organic, regeneratively grown whole-grain oats—is especially innovative. SRP: $2.99
Mood Boost Cacao Maca Latte Ready to mix with steamed milk for a choco-licious latte, this antioxidant-rich USDA Organic powder helps combat stress, elevate mood, boost energy and more, thanks to potent multitaskers cacao, maca, ashwagandha, cinnamon cassia, cardamom and ginger. SRP: $22.99
Mood Magic Superfood Blend This USDA Organic, Non-GMO Project Verified, smoothie-ready powder is packed with mood-boosting superfoods baobab, maca, hibiscus and Ceylon cinnamon, and has zero added sugars. A Certified B Corporation, Kuli Kuli sources ingredients from women-led farming cooperatives across Africa, Southeast Asia and South America. SRP: $19.99
Nightcap The Certified B Corporation specializes in nonalcoholic functional elixirs made with nootropics, adaptogens and other active botanicals. Award-winning Nightcap is perfect for the evening wind-down, thanks to its mellowing mix of valerian, lemon balm, Hüll Melon hops and ashwagandha. Shake and serve on the rocks or with a mixer. SRP: $39.00
Champignon Dreams This lightly carbonated, nonalcoholic aperitif contains soothing reishi mushroom and passionflower extract, along with extracts of jasmine tea, green tea, gentian root, burdock root, juniper berry and tulsi. Sweetened with birch syrup and flavored with apricot, strawberry, black currant and grapefruit juices, this vegan mocktail is ideal for easing into evening. SRP: $25.00
Loosen Up Sparkling Chai Tea Made with Fair Trade Certified chai tea, a mélange of spices, organic fruit juices and relaxing ashwagandha, this crisp canned beverage has zero added sugars. It’s also USDA Organic, Certified Vegan and Whole30 Approved, while 8th Wonder is 1% For the Planet Certified. SRP: $2.49
Sparkling Hemp Beverage The functional wellness brand’s effervescent cucumber-and-honeydew-flavored drink is tranquility in a can. With no added sugars, this 5-calorie beverage provides 25 mg of broad-spectrum hemp extract plus 100 mg of L-theanine to help bust stress. SRP: $4.99
Calming Powder, Mixed Berry Meant to mix into cold water, this stevia-sweetened powder is formulated to reduce stress and relax the mind. It delivers 1,150 mg of Ü Relax blend, combining L-theanine with ashwagandha, kava, chamomile and lemon balm extracts. SRP: $59.85/15-stick packs
Calming Powder, Mixed Berry Meant to mix into cold water, this stevia-sweetened powder is formulated to reduce stress and relax the mind. It delivers 1,150 mg of Ü Relax blend, combining L-theanine with ashwagandha, kava, chamomile and lemon balm extracts. SRP: $59.85/15-stick packs
Today, we are in the midst of a mental wellness revolution, one that is arguably long overdue.
Once a taboo topic, mental health has been slowly shedding its stigma and becoming more talked-about in recent years. But the COVID-19 pandemic has opened the floodgates.
Now more than ever, people are sharing their experiences with mental illness—the highs, the lows and everything in between. They are also talking more freely about everyday stress, anxiety, sadness, mood fluctuations and sleep struggles, as well as the impact these states have on their physical health and overall quality of life. More consumers are investing the time and energy to learn about the myriad influencers of mental wellness, and they are making healthy choices to support it.
Yes, it may have taken a global pandemic to turbocharge this movement. But the fact that so many more people are now discussing mental health—openly, candidly, shamelessly—can only help to improve our collective well-being.
The saying might be “food is medicine,” but in today’s landscape of functional products, beverages are leading the way with a vast array of convenient options to support consumers on their road to mental and physical well-being.
RTD beverages have long been a showcase for industry innovation, with evocative new flavor profiles, tantalizing ingredients and condition-specific functions. But now many are also formulated to boost mood, support brain health, enhance focus, ease stress and anxiety, and soothe consumers into a relaxing sleep. But it’s not just RTD products boasting these attributes. Traditional coffee and tea categories are brewing up a range of options that offer added functional benefits (mushroom coffee, anyone?) and/or support mood and sleep by reducing or eliminating caffeine. Drink powders are becoming the new functional beverage powerhouses, offering consumers versatility in terms of both preparation and application—hot or cold, in smoothies, on cereal or in baked goods—through blends formulated to address an array of modern-day maladies.
Collectively, these products continue to blur the line between supplement and beverage, thanks to brands’ growing commitments to transparency around efficacious amounts of functional ingredients. Click through the gallery to see a selection of functional beverages.
Visit the Natural Products Expo West agenda for information about other supplements-related sessions that day. Conference Experience upgrade required.
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