Explain Supplement Science Simply: The Fourth Grade Test

How Jenelle Benson of Nuritas took PeptiSleep from PhD level to fourth grade level with a car, a parking spot, and a garden hose, and how you can do the same for your product's hero ingredient.

On a recent episode of Beyond the Blend, we went deep on how PeptiSleep works in the body. Receptors, adrenal glands, cortisol. Fascinating stuff.

Then I asked my guests this: "We talked about it at what I'm going to call a PhD level. Now I want to simplify it down to a fourth grade level. Can you use an analogy on how the ingredient works in the body?"

The answer was a car, a parking spot, and a garden hose.

In this article, I'll show you both versions and how to write your own.

TL;DR

If you only read one section, read this.

• Great science doesn't sell itself. Your customer has to understand it.
• Nuritas explained PeptiSleep as a car parking on a spot that releases cortisol, or a hand on a garden hose.
• The analogy worked because it used everyday objects and one clear action.
• An analogy explains how something works. Your benefit claims still need research behind them.
• Try it on your own product: write the PhD version, then the fourth grade version.

Why You Need to Explain Supplement Science Simply

You can have amazing science. You can have the best mousetrap in the world, the best ingredient technology. But if you can't find a way to tell the story so it resonates with a consumer, nothing happens. Science tells, but stories sell.

Jenelle Benson, Director of Business Development for supplements in North America at Nuritas, described the chain this way. Nuritas educates the brands and the contract manufacturers it works with. But in the end, the brands have to educate their own customers.

Until the consumer really understands the story behind it, you're facing an uphill battle. With peptides, there's been a real tailwind this past year.

The PhD Version of PeptiSleep

Here's how the PhD version went.

PeptiSleep is a network of peptides found in brown rice. (If peptides are new to you, start with our post on injectable peptides and oral alternatives.) Your adrenal glands sit on top of your kidneys. There are 2 pathways there, with receptors called orexin type 1 and orexin type 2. They're part of your stress system, the fight-or-flight side, and they can release cortisol. The peptides in PeptiSleep dock on those receptors and inhibit the release of cortisol.

Why that matters for sleep: we need cortisol to wake up. What you don't want is a big spike of it in the middle of the night. Jenelle called it the witching hour. You're awake at 3:00 a.m. replaying the stupid thing you said yesterday. Nuritas wanted to flatten that curve. That's a lot for a shopper standing in an aisle.

Nuritas's own PeptiSleep product page boils it down to one line: "PeptiSleep reduces cortisol, a hormone that keeps you alert." Accurate, but it still doesn't give the shopper a picture.

The Fourth Grade Version: A Car and a Garden Hose

When I asked for the analogy, Jenelle said, "All right, I got it."

"PeptiSleep is a car, and what we want to do is park that car on a parking spot. And that parking spot is producing cortisol, right? So we're parking our car there. So it's inhibiting that release. Or you can even think of it as like maybe putting your hand on a garden hose, right? And stopping that water from coming out."

Jenelle Benson, Nuritas

Marc Burkhalter, her colleague and Head of Product Formulation at Nuritas, said he wouldn't override what he called a perfect analogy. "That was brilliant. I'm going to use it."

I told them on the spot it would make a perfect short.

Why I Think It Worked

Everyday objects. Nobody needs to know what a receptor is to picture a parked car or a hand on a hose.

The verb did the work. In the PhD version, the peptides dock. I told Jenelle on the show that "dock" was a great word choice. Parking a car is the same action.

Then Marc added the so what. Once that happens, he said, PeptiSleep basically "chills you to sleep."

It's a habit. Earlier in the episode, the active peptides in a Nuritas ingredient were the main characters and the rest the supporting cast.

Dual-purpose ingredients help too. Chamomile in a sleep tea is an active, but it's also a flavor people already know. Honey is the same.

I said the same on the show. Put a new ingredient next to one people already know, like chamomile tea, and you're adding to a story they already have. That makes it approachable.

Where the Analogy Stops

An analogy explains a mechanism. It doesn't prove anything. Just because something should work doesn't mean it does. You have to prove it works in the body the way it's designed to.

The car and the hose tell a customer how PeptiSleep is meant to work. What you're allowed to say it does still has to come from research. Nuritas designs its clinical studies so they can lead to the claims consumers want to see.

So keep the two separate. Use the analogy to make the mechanism click. Use structure-function language for the benefit, and only when the research behind your ingredient supports that exact claim.

My Take

Simple wins. I said it about the tart cherry and PeptiSleep capsule concept we put together for the episode: really basic formulation, but sometimes simplest wins. Easy story to understand. Jenelle said it right back to me. It's the same idea behind our post on not kitchen-sinking your supplement formula.

I give the long version too. We had family stay with us after a 10-hour drive. I keep samples all over the house, and of course I ended up late at night explaining what PeptiSleep is and why it's so amazing. People in this industry know the love-hate part of that. You're telling family super interesting things, and they're thinking, why are you telling me all this?

I said something else on the show that ties in. The time it takes a brand to launch a new concept is usually a lot longer than any of us in this industry would like to admit. If brands could reach consumers faster with new technology, that helps the consumer, and it helps our entire industry.

Your Next Move

Before you launch, ask yourself the question I asked Jenelle. Write the PhD version of your product's hero ingredient. Then simplify it down to a fourth grade level.

There's a lot of lift between a new ingredient and a brand seeing how it fits their lineup. That's why we worked up concepts with Nuritas for the episode: to fast-track the path from good idea to commercialization. If you want help turning an ingredient into a product concept, here's how our process works.

When the time is right, book a discovery call. We'll talk through your product and your story, and give you a no-pressure roadmap from a team that's been there.

Ben Steuart, CEO & Owner, Steuart Nutrition

Ben Steuart is the co-founder and CEO of Steuart Nutrition, a contract manufacturing and supplement innovation partner for powder, liquid, and stick‑pack supplements. He launched the company in 2019 alongside his wife, Sarah, building on his lifelong roots in the food production industry, where he grew up working in his father's food-manufacturing business in Mabel, Minnesota.

Throughout his career, Ben has developed deep expertise in supplement manufacturing and business operations. At Steuart, he leads with a commitment to lean operations, fostering long-term partnerships, and delivering flexible, transparent service, prioritizing the client's vision as much as his own. His leadership guided the business's rapid expansion from a single facility to multiple locations, enabling agile responses to market needs, from producing hand sanitizer during the COVID‑19 pandemic to scaling CBD and nutrition supplement lines.

Ben's approach is rooted in strong values. His faith as a born‑again Christian deeply informs the company's mission of "glorifying God and establishing a transformational workplace". This culture of integrity and continuous improvement fosters a trusting, mission-driven environment, distinguishing Steuart as both a capable and conscientious industry leader.