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LATE LAST YEAR a PR company pitched me a wellness product that, quoting from their press release, \u201coffer[ed] a rich, velvety on-the-go energy boost, crafted from 100% Hawaiian-grown Kona coffee beans, velvety cacao, and Guarana.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, candy. With guarana<\/a>.<\/p>\n Melatonin<\/a>-laced gummy bears, collagen<\/a>-loaded chewables, reishi-mushroom<\/a>-infused chocolates\u2014there\u2019s a slew of this stuff on the market. So much so that industry types are calling this booming sweets-meet-supplements category \u201ccandyceuticals<\/a>.\u201d Entire companies, like Funtrition<\/a> (!) are developing product lines around the concept that gummies taste as amazing as they make you feel and pills are for boring old grandparents.<\/p>\n As you\u2019re probably guessing, there\u2019s a ton of money to be made in this space. A recent ADM summary<\/a> titled (no lie) \u201cScience-backed gummy goodness\u201d rounded up data on what it called the \u201cburgeoning gummy supplement market.\u201d By 2028, this market is projected to reach $48.5 billion, outpacing capsules and tablets.<\/p>\n If you wanted to credit (or blame) anyone, you could pin this rise on certain generations. \u201cMillennials and Gen Z are at the forefront of this gummy revolution, with 30% and 38%, respectively, favoring gummies over traditional formats,\u201d the ADM summary stated. (By \u201ctraditional formats\u201d they mean pills for Centrum Silver crowd.)<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s the really interesting part: \u201cMillennials and Gen Z not only display the strongest affinity for gummy supplements but also exhibit the most polarizing aversion to tablet formats.\u201d<\/p>\n A polarizing aversion to tablet formats!<\/p>\n Millennials and Gen Z, technically, are adults. So why are they eating their multivitamins\u2014not to mention their creatine<\/a>, B-12, beetroot<\/a>, and even their greens<\/a>\u2014like they were kids?<\/p>\n We know that COVID launched a modern supplement boom that we\u2019re still in the middle of. And we also know that supplement companies are all fighting for their share of the cash pile with splashy Wonkaesque marketing (guarana-infused, chocolate-covered coffee beans). But, still, there are other larger cultural factors at work.<\/p>\n The real kicker to this whole candyceuticals phenomenon is that some dietitians<\/a> believe these products might actually be more candy than true supplement.<\/p>\n So, Why Is Every Supplement Now a Gummy?<\/p>\n There are plenty of underlying factors, says Emily Contois, PhD<\/a>, who studies popular culture and nutrition at The University of Tulsa.<\/p>\n The first is that in terms of the candy category, gummies are gaining ground on traditional chocolate. Gen Z is eating up gummy candies (ahem, Nerds Gummy Clusters) because they\u2019re seen<\/a> as cheaper than chocolate, lower in guilt, and tailor-made for social media in all their bright-hued squishiness.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s also a nostalgic factor for Millennials, Contois says. \u201cWith (at least elder) millennials, gummies (more broadly) run a bit deeper because most of the big fruit gummy snacks\/treats (fruit snacks, Gushers, fruit roll ups, Fruit by the Foot, etc.) were developed for our childhoods, coming to market in the 1980s and 1990s.\u201d Why swallow a forgettable capsule when you can recreate the joy of your youth via gummy form?<\/p>\n There\u2019s also a track record of success for gummies outside the candy world. After California kickstarted the legalization of weed roughly 20 years ago, THC\/CBD gummies provided an alternative to smoking or vaping weed. Plus, \u201cas concerns about sleep have become quite commonplace, too, I feel like everyone is talking about taking their melatonin gummy before bed,\u201d Contois says.<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s a health halo around gummies that feels almost counter-intuitive. \u201cGummies might feel to some consumers like food and a \u2018healthy\u2019 treat, while pills\/tablets feel more straightforwardly like medicine,\u201d says Contois. \u201cDepending upon the consumer, they might feel inclined to avoid a medical view of supplements, but be open to one that’s about wellness or recreation or performance.\u201d<\/p>\n That perception may also extend to less mainstream supplements, such as creatine<\/a>, which long held the reputation of being a hush-hush, steroid-adjacent bodybuilding substance. Now, you don\u2019t even need to visit a supplement store to pick up a tub of creatine. You can buy pack of creatine-infused gummies online and have them shipped directly to your door. It\u2019s better health, delivered with less hassle, and packaged as a \u201ctreat.\u201d Or at least that\u2019s how gummy supplements are being marketed.<\/p>\n But the big question is whether these supplements actually deliver on that \u201cbetter health\u201d claim.<\/p>\n Are Gummy Supplements Healthier Than Other Supplements?<\/p>\n Well, right now, probably not.<\/p>\n \u201cGummy supplements are often made with sugar, which pills most often aren’t,\u201d says Abby Langer, RD, a Men\u2019s Health Nutrition Advisor and author Good Food, Bad Diet<\/a>. Now, it\u2019s not a ton of added sugar<\/a>, but consider some creatine gummies, which contain 1 gram of sugar per chew\u2014but you need to take five chews to reach the minimum effective dosage. That\u2019s 5 grams of added sugar daily\u201435 grams of added sugar per week\u2014that wasn\u2019t there before. Again, not a huge deal. But sort of a medium deal.<\/p>\n