An Industry Study Of Consumer Needs For The Natural Laxatives
January 25, 2011 by Morris Townsend
Filed under Supplements
Most people are no strangers to natural laxatives. Natural laxatives are ingestible agents that come from natural sources that help patients of chronic constipation. The sources are quite diverse, ranging from nutritional grain-derived material like bran to herbs like aloe or senna. However, they can be roughly grouped into two kinds: high fiber nutrients and herb supplements. For people interested in entering the industry, it would be useful to know the size and current state of the market.
The starting point for knowing this market is knowing the prevalence of constipation, the underlying condition that necessitates use of laxatives. Constipation is estimated by academic researchers to afflict somewhere from 5 to 40 million people in the U.S. A large number don’t seek treatment, but those who do will spend over $600 million on laxatives. Therefore one expects that the potential market is a little bit over half a billion dollars and potentially more.
The first kind of natural laxative considered here is fiber-based, often suggested as a first line therapy for idiopathic constipation. Fiber is a polymeric sugar-like molecule that is indigestible to humans. It also soaks up moisture easily, thus retaining fluid in the gut which makes the stool bulkier, softer and more mobile. Most people know of high fiber products like bran grains and psyllium seeds.
In a regular diet, highly concentrated fiber can be found in certain fruits like flax seeds, and psyllium husks. Flax seed is most often made into flax seed laxative. The downside to sticking to seeds for fiber is that one needs to eat a far larger volume than feasible. High fiber supplements is by far a more convenient option.
The second class of natural laxatives encompasses all the herbal supplements. At present it’s dominated by three specific natural products: senna, aloe and cascara. Each comes from a plant that has been used by people living near or in the plant’s geographic habitat. In more recent years, federal regulations have put a stop to medications that specifically advertise aloe and cascara as stimulant laxatives due to safety fears.
Senna alone is sold specifically as a laxative at various outlets. It can be purchased in a number of different forms depending on the consumers’ preferences. The tea form is popular as it just needs to be brewed. After brewing the liquid will contain enough of the active sennoside compound to have an effect on bowel movements.
In all, the market for natural laxatives is large and lucrative. Moreover, the fact that the majority of sufferers of constipation don’t seek treatments mean that a large segment of the market remains untapped and potentially highly lucrative.
The articles provided for constipation remedies will be informative to many. Readers wanting to know more can head over to learn about psyllium seed husks.