Each month, we highlight three quick trends happening in the food and wellness space. This month, we’re talking about three rising trends you can find at your local market: natural sunscreen, food that helps you sleep, and lotus seeds.
Sunscreen Gets a Mineral Makeover
Growing up as a fair-skinned, ginger, daughter of a dermatologist, sunscreen was all about the SPF. We didn’t have anything below SPF 50 in the house, I was reapplying every few hours praying I wouldn’t get a sunburn, but often I still would, much to my father’s dismay. Soon our sunscreens got thicker, and I had to wait a little longer before going swimming, but I wasn’t getting sunburnt as often. Magic? No, better: mineral sunscreens.
Mineral sunscreens use zinc oxide and/or titanium oxide as their active ingredients. These minerals act as a protective layer on your skin and reflect harmful UV rays away from your body instead of allowing them in and then dissipating them like chemical sunscreens do. Because of this, they also offer more broad spectrum coverage (from both UVA and UVB rays) to protect your skin from sunburn and different skin cancers. Mineral sunscreens are known for being thicker and more likely to leave a film on your skin, showing the physical barrier between you and the sun, but also being less cosmetically appealing.
According to my dad, Dr. Bret Blackhart of the Skin Cancer and Dermatology Institute, “Some products combine the mineral or physical blockers as they are sometimes called with chemical blockers in what are generally more cosmetically elegant products”. These combinations are often called nanoparticles and are used to make the sunscreen easier to apply and leave behind less of a film on the skin. There have been some health concerns on the topic of these nanoparticles, but there is no significant evidence for or against them. Many “big name” sunscreen brands offer a mineral based product, like Neutrogena Sheer Zinc Dry-Touch, or you can find smaller brands that fit your needs or preferences (we love Goddess Garden). I asked my father if he had any more advice for consumers, and his response could not have been more on-brand: “Get at least SPF 50 products”.
Midnight Snacks that Could Help you Sleep
According to the American Sleep Organization, 50-70% of Americans experience some type of sleep disorder. More specifically, 30% of Americans experience insomnia. So what to do about this nation of non-sleepers? Well, we’re here to offer a sweet solution. Brands like Nightfood ice cream, Sleep Well Milk, and Good Day Chocolate are taking advantage of the rise of functional foods by helping us indulge in better sleep, in a delicious way. We tried some of Good Day Chocolate’s sleep product, which is fortified with melatonin. After eating two pieces we noticed the winding down process—which can be difficult after looking at screens all day—felt smoother and more natural than usual. Not to mention, we look for any excuse to eat chocolate before bed. We think it’s fair to say, popping a few pieces of this chocolate a day will keep the counting of sheep away.
Crunch Culture: Shaking Up the Snack Scene
Crunchy snacks are perennial favorites, but new technology is helping to revolutionize all things puffed, popped, dried, and crisped. As the market has seen manufacturers branch out into different grains, root vegetables, and seeds, one newcomer is doing its best to solidify itself as the "next popcorn." We’re not talking sorghum or seaweed fava chips, folks—we’re talking lotus seeds.
Often referred to as makhana, lotus seeds are, in fact, the nut-free seeds of an Asian water lily and a common snack on the Indian subcontinent. According to a recent Nielsen study, snacks that tout specific health claims have the fastest growing sales—and with consumers increasingly looking for fresh, natural, minimally-processed snack foods, it’s no wonder lotus seeds are poised to pop. Not only are they a good source of fiber, protein, and whole grains, but they have a whole laundry-list of supposed health benefits.
These little pearls of crunchy, sustainable goodness are especially likely to appeal to millennials—already acore snack market demographic—who tend to be interested in more unusual and exotic ingredients, as well as healthier snacking options. Pair that with the incredible resilience and sustainability of lotus seeds—as well as parents looking for better-for-you snacks for their children—and we might just be paving the way for a new generation of healthier snackers.
With brands cropping up all over (including Taali, Super Lotus, and our personal fave → Lotus Pops), the crunchy-food game very well might be entering its prime. If you’re a crunch-enthusiast, then popped lotus seeds could easily be the new, non-GMO, totally sustainable TV-binging snack you never knew you were missing.
Hot off the 'gram:
Start with these fluffy pancakes, make Samin's Focaccia, end with the day with a gelato burgers.
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