Yasir and Maya Qureshi were living hectic lives working in banking and finance, building a house and welcoming a new baby into the world, when Yasir suddenly became tormented by chronic pain.
"It happened almost overnight," he said. "I was living with chronic pain in my muscles and joints—as if I was waking up to having run a marathon the previous day, every single day. I had to give up running and Brazlian Jiu Jitsu, which had a massive impact on my physical and mental well-being."
After years of doctor visits and blood tests, with no clue as to the cause of the condition, the couple started looking at lifestyle changes.
"We realized he was over-stressed and his body was inflamed," Maya told NutraIngredients. "He cut out gluten, which really helped him feel better, and we started to introduce anti-inflammatory ingredients from Ayurvedic medicine—something I know a lot about having grown up in India."
She said Yasir’s symptoms further improved after taking turmeric and ginger smoothies daily.
"Once he was feeling better, he was able to start moving again and this was the real turning point in his health improving," she added. "It made us realize the importance of remaining active for physical and mental health, and we wanted to help others to get access to a product that we felt could help so many people struggling with inflammatory conditions."
A three-pronged approach
After being made redundant during her maternity leave, Maya decided to stay out of banking and finance and devote her time and redundancy pay out to a new venture.
Rhythm Nutrition launched in 2020 with its flagship product Deflame, providing a liquid liposomal blend of 500 mg curcumin, 150 mg ginger root, 200 mg omega-3 from algae, 100 mg Indian Frankincense and organic black pepper.
Each 15 ml sachet pack can be taken on its own as hot ginger punch or added to a drink for a more mellow flavor.
The liposomal technology is used to increase the bioavailability of the ingredients within the liquid by protecting the ingredients as they travel along the gastrointestinal tract and increasing the cellular contact, thereby protecting the cargo from early metabolism and increasing the diffusion across the body.
Around 18 months later, the start-up launched Complete Repair—a personalized blend of vegan or bovine collagen and added botanicals.
"There are so many collagen product on the market, we knew we needed to make ours special in order to stand out from the crowd," Maya said. "Our customers can choose vegan or bovine collagen, and if choosing animal collagen, they can choose their blend of type one, two and three."
She explained that type one, which is particularly prominent on the market, is the most abundant collagen in the body, found in hair, skin, nails and bones, and this suits many customers’ needs.
Type three collagen is the second most abundant collagen of soft tissues and dominates early phases of wound healing and granulation tissue formation.
Type two collagen, far less commonly found within supplements, is the key collagen found within cartilage and is used for osteoarthritis and other types of muscle or joint pain.
"Some customers may not need the addition of type 2 collagen as they may just be looking for general preventative joint support and beauty benefits," Maya said.
Additional ingredients available to combine with the collagen blends include MCT oil—known for its weight management, gut and heart health benefits—and a range of mushrooms including lion’s Mane and chaga, for those looking to support brain health or add anti-aging benefits to their blend.
"Customers expect to be able to personalize products, and they want additional benefits which allow them to service their holistic needs without taking several different pills and potions," Maya added.
The final product in the range, Forcefield, is another liposomal liquid formulation and includes a range of ingredients shown to improve bone density and natural collagen synthesis.
The product provides 4000 IU vitamin D, 100 mcg K2, 1000 mg vitamin C, 15 mg zinc and 3 mg resveratroincluded as a powerful antioxidant with anti-aging and immune health benefits.
Maya said that Rhythm Nutrition's customer data reveals the majority of consumers are over the age of 40 and trying to remain active through health challenges, such as menopause. Considering other aspects of health that this audience may want to support, the brand is looking to launch products which support brain and gut health.
"People are more aware than ever that their physical and mind health are linked, and clearly gut health is a crucial part of longevity and has an impact on the mid via the gut-brain axis," she said.