Actors and spouses Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder have launched The Absorption Company — a line of powdered supplements designed to enhance the bioavailability of nutrients.
“I have spent the last 15 years diving deep into my passion for health and wellness, but my passion turned into advocacy when I became a mom,” actor Nikki Reed says on The Absorption Company’s about page. The Absorption Company is the newest member of the family for Reed and husband Ian Somerhalder, who share a daughter, six, and a six-month-old son. The couple has partnered with Zeke Bronfman and Nate Medow of the zero-sugar cocktail label Xed, which was acquired by Next Century Spirits in 2022. Now, they’re out to disrupt the nearly $150 billion supplement category by tackling one of the biggest market gaps: low absorption rates. The new line is currently available at the upscale Los Angeles supermarket chain, Erewhon.
Reed says she began investing “endless hours” into researching supplements and other products, which in turn, she says, taught her about what we don’t need, and what she says is “the story we are being ‘sold’ by the supplement industry.” Her husband shares that viewpoint; Somerhalder says his life “has revolved around health, wellness, and natural remedies,” largely influenced by his Native American heritage.
“The Vampire Diaries” star says his mother, an advocate of Eastern medicine, played a key role in his healthy lifestyle choices, which were tough to adhere to while navigating the hectic pace of a working actor. Still, he says, he sought out natural products “to stay at my best.” But despite best efforts, Somerhalder said bloodwork before becoming a parent showed high levels of toxins that he says came from “supposedly beneficial” supplements. “This revelation ignited a mission to change the narrative, recognizing the billions [of dollars]spent on ineffective and unsafe supplements.”
The duo says The Absorption Company symbolizes their response to a shared need – “a company rooted in the belief that everyone deserves effective well-being.” The founders say the nutrient intake of The Absorption Company’s products — powdered vitamins and supplement blends — increases nutrient absorption five-fold compared to conventional vitamins and supplements.
Reed and Somerhalder say that not only are consumers spending billions of dollars on supplements that aren’t regulated and can also often be unsafe, but most of the nutrients promised on the product labels don’t get absorbed by the body; they say 84 percent of the nutrients we take in the form of conventional supplements are urinated out. “We wanted to change that so we spent years working with the best scientists, nutritionists, and pharmacists to develop the most absorbable solutions for when you need them most,” Somerhalder says.
Utilizing Capsoil technology developed at Hebrew University, The Absorption Company’s supplements transform oil-based active ingredients into nanoparticles, enhancing absorption and efficacy through a unique water-soluble delivery system. The Absorption Company claims to be pioneering a new era of liposomal nutrient delivery, ensuring each product is free from contaminants through rigorous third-party testing. “Our goal is to make products that consumers need and deserve,” Somerhalder says.
The supplement line launch builds on the couple’s wellness ethos that extends to the health of the planet as well. Both serve on the Board of Directors for the Environmental Media Association, and Reed received the organization’s 2022 Innovator Award. Somerhalder served as executive producer for “Common Ground,” the award-winning 2023 documentary film about regenerative farming. Somerhalder also narrates the film alongside Laura Dern, Woody Harrelson, Rosario Dawson, Jason Momoa, and Donald Glover. “People say … what is this regenerative agriculture, and why should I care? And it’s so simple,” Somerhalder said in a recent interview. “Regenerative is the use of planned grazing methods and using living, growing plants at scale to sequester enormous amounts of carbon dioxide, to stick it back in the ground where it belongs.”
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