Why HMB Should Be on Your Radar
When it comes to supporting muscle health, few ingredients offer the versatility and effectiveness of HMB (Hydroxymethylbutyrate). As a metabolite of the essential amino acid leucine, HMB is known for its ability to preserve lean muscle mass, enhance recovery, and support overall muscle function. Whether your brand is focused on sports nutrition, active lifestyles, healthy aging, or weight management, HMB offers compelling benefits that can elevate your product offerings. At Factory6, we understand the power of HMB and are proud to work with myHMB to bring innovative supplements to market. Here’s why it should be a consideration for your next product and how it can be applied across various supplement categories.
The Science Behind HMB: Why It Works
HMB is a naturally occurring compound in the body, produced during the breakdown of leucine, a branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) vital for muscle protein synthesis. While your body makes a small amount of HMB from leucine, supplementing with additional HMB can significantly boost its benefits, especially in situations where muscle preservation is key.
HMB works by slowing down muscle protein breakdown. This is particularly important for individuals who are undergoing periods of muscle stress, such as aging adults, athletes, those managing weight, and individuals recovering from medical conditions.
Incorporating HMB into your products allows you to deliver scientifically supported benefits, making it an excellent choice for brands seeking to create elevated functional supplements.
1. Healthy Aging: Protecting Muscle Mass Over Time
As we age, muscle mass naturally declines, a condition known as sarcopenia. This muscle loss can lead to decreased strength, mobility, and overall independence, which is why it’s essential for older adults to prioritize muscle health. HMB has proven effective in preserving lean muscle mass (1), making it an ideal addition to any formula targeted at healthy aging.
Supplementing with HMB helps mitigate the effects of sarcopenia, supporting muscle retention and functional strength in older adults. Not only can this enhance physical mobility, but it can also improve quality of life, reduce the risk of falls and fractures, and help maintain independence.
Suggested Products:
Muscle Support Capsules: Daily capsules formulated with HMB to help seniors maintain muscle mass and strength. These capsules can be incorporated into a daily routine to support muscle health and mobility.
Chewable Muscle Health Tablets: Convenient chewables for individuals who may have difficulty swallowing pills, offering a simple and effective way to support muscle retention and overall wellness.
Muscle Health Drink Mixes: Flavored powdered drink mixes that can be easily mixed with water, providing seniors with a convenient, enjoyable way to get their daily dose of HMB and promote muscle health.
2. Sports Nutrition: Enhancing Performance and Recovery
In sports nutrition, athletes demand supplements that can help them build muscle, enhance performance, and recover faster. Whether it’s for strength training, endurance sports, or overall fitness, HMB can play a pivotal role in these areas. Research has demonstrated that HMB helps reduce muscle damage (2), accelerates recovery (3), and promotes muscle mass retention (4), making it an essential ingredient for athletes and active individuals.
For brands in the sports nutrition sector, HMB offers a solution that can complement other performance-enhancing ingredients like protein, creatine, and BCAAs. Adding HMB to pre- or post-workout formulations can help athletes recover more quickly and prevent muscle breakdown during intense training periods.
Suggested Products:
Pre-Workout Powders: Combining HMB with other energy-boosting ingredients in pre-workout formulations can help athletes preserve muscle while maximizing workout intensity.
Post-Workout Recovery Drinks: These can feature HMB to speed up recovery, reducing muscle soreness and enhancing the repair of muscle fibers after strenuous activity.
Strength-Enhancing Capsules: Pairing HMB with creatine or other strength-boosting compounds in capsule form can create a powerful combination to support muscle growth and performance.
3. Active Nutrition: Supporting Everyday Muscle Health
Active nutrition products are designed for individuals who may not be involved in intense athletic training but are still looking to maintain their muscle health and energy levels. These products often target people with busy, active lifestyles who engage in regular exercise or physical activities, such as walking, yoga, or casual gym sessions.
For those who are moderately active but still want to support their muscle health, HMB is an excellent addition. It can help prevent muscle loss and fatigue, even during less intense physical activity.
Suggested Products:
Comprehensive Multivitamin Capsules: Incorporating HMB into a daily multivitamin formula enhances muscle health while providing essential nutrients for overall wellness. Combining HMB with vitamin D3, known for its synergistic effect on muscle function, can further support muscle strength (5).
Hydration & Muscle Support Powders: Electrolyte powders with HMB to support muscle function during light to moderate exercise are a smart product idea. Not only would they help maintain hydration levels, but they also prevent muscle fatigue and cramping, allowing users to perform at their best throughout the day.
Muscle Health & Wellness Tablets: Consider creating easy-to-chew wellness tablets formulated to support muscle health and energy levels for individuals who engage in regular, moderate physical activity.
4. Body Composition: Maintaining Muscle During Weight Management
Maintaining lean muscle mass while losing fat is crucial. This is especially true for those going through calorie restriction or using weight loss medications like GLP-1s, which can lead to muscle wasting. HMB has been shown to help mitigate muscle loss during weight loss (6), making it an invaluable ingredient in weight management supplements.
Incorporating HMB into weight management products allows your customers to focus on fat loss without sacrificing muscle mass, helping them achieve a better body composition, enhance metabolism (7), and support long-term weight management goals.
Suggested Products:
Muscle-Supporting Meal Replacement Powders: Custom-formulated powders that deliver the right balance of protein, fiber, and HMB to support muscle retention during weight loss. These meal replacements can help customers maintain muscle mass while promoting fat-burning, making weight loss more effective and sustainable.
Fat-Burning Capsules: Thermogenic supplements designed to boost metabolism and accelerate fat burning, with HMB included to protect against muscle breakdown. These capsules can help users maintain muscle mass even during calorie deficits, ensuring they lose fat, not muscle.
Protein Powders: High-quality protein powders that include HMB for added muscle protection, perfect for those managing their weight. These formulas help users stay lean by supporting muscle growth and retention while promoting fat loss, making them ideal for both workout recovery and weight management.
5. Clinical Nutrition: Supporting Recovery and Health in Medical Settings
Preserving muscle mass is vital in clinical nutrition, especially for patients recovering from surgery or managing chronic health conditions. Conditions such as cancer, chronic kidney disease, and other illnesses can cause significant muscle loss. HMB has been studied for its ability to help preserve muscle mass and improve recovery in these scenarios (8).
For brands creating products for clinical nutrition, HMB is an essential ingredient that can support muscle health and recovery in individuals who are at risk of muscle wasting due to illness, treatment, or surgery.
Suggested Products:
Recovery Support Powders: Tailored formulations that combine essential nutrients with HMB to provide targeted support for muscle preservation and overall recovery after surgery or during illness. These can also include ingredients like electrolytes and vitamins to boost hydration and immune function.
Protein-Rich Supplement Powders: High-quality, easy-to-digest protein powders enhanced with HMB, designed to deliver all the muscle-preserving benefits patients need while providing essential protein for recovery in one convenient serving.
Muscle Health Capsules: Capsules containing HMB, combined with ingredients like collagen or branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), to specifically target muscle retention and repair. These capsules offer a practical, no-mess solution for patients recovering from medical treatments or surgery.
Why Partner with Factory6?
At Factory6, we specialize in creating and manufacturing high-quality, innovative supplements for brands. Our partnership with myHMB allows us to bring you a trusted, science-backed ingredient that delivers results. From capsules to chewable tablets to powders and more, we have the expertise and capabilities to develop products that meet your specific needs and help you stand out.
Ready to bring effective, muscle-preserving products to market that resonate with today’s health-conscious consumers?
