The sleep economy is massive and steadily growing. According to data from iResearch, from 2016 to 2020, the overall market size of China's sleep economy has grown from 261.63 billion yuan to 377.86 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of about 9.6%. reached 570.7 billion yuan.
To sum up, medicine and health care products in the sleep economy belong to the blue ocean market with relatively certain growth prospects, and are expected to benefit more from the growing sleep demand of Chinese people.
According to the survey data of iiMedia Research, in 2021, 45.3% of netizens in China have purchased vitamin-based sleep aids, 29.5% of netizens have purchased melatonin sleep aids, in addition to herbal extracts, niacinamide mononuclear Glycine and glycine as sleep aids accounted for 22.2%, 19.3% and 15.9% of consumers respectively.
More and more consumers are looking for dietary supplements to help them with sleep disorders, while consumers are opting for more natural and healthier products and avoiding drugs.
Amino acid sleep aid raw materials include glycine, serine, L-tryptophan, arginine, ornithine, and 5-hydroxytryptophan.
Studies have found that milk hydrolysate "casein hydrolyzed peptides" is a unique, natural and quick and effective solution to help people relieve various symptoms caused by stress. It has been authorized by the French Agency for Safety Control and Supervision (DGCCRE*) for health certification and is also approved as a food ingredient by the French Food Safety Agency (AFSSA*).
Among the plant raw materials of Chinese herbal medicines, saffron extract, jujube seed extract, apocynum extract, ganoderma extract, lily extract, tuckahoe extract, longan extract, Bupleurum, dried ginger extract, Scutellaria baicalensis extract help To soothe the nerves and help sleep.
Jujube seed contains various pharmacological components such as alkaloids, saponins and flavonoids. It has sedative, hypnotic, analgesic, anticonvulsant and other effects, among which spinosin and jujube seed saponin A are the main components of sedative and hypnotic activity of jujube seed. Compared with chemical sedative-hypnotics, the active ingredients of Suanzaoren have the characteristics of multiple targets, multiple effector organs, and mild effects.
Hypericin and isoquercitrin in Apocynum extract can improve sleep. At the same time, apocynum extract combined with GABA also helps relieve stress.
Theanine is a unique amino acid present in tea, one of the main components of tea, accounting for 50%-60% of the total amino acids in tea. According to research, taking theanine is effective for people with mild to moderate sleep disturbances. It helps to get into deeper sleep, which can better repair the fatigue of the body.
GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) is a naturally occurring non-protein amino acid and an important neurotransmitter. It can soothe the mind and body and promote sleep through neuromodulation. Studies have shown that it has the effects of stability, anticonvulsant, lowering blood pressure, enhancing brain vitality nerve cells, promoting growth hormone, protecting liver and kidney, etc. In 2009, it was recognized as a new resource food by the Chinese Ministry of Health.
Among natural plants, valerian extract, passionflower extract, lemon balm leaves, chamomile extract, chamomile extract, lemon balm extract, asparagus extract, tart cherry extract, old garlic extract ( Indicator ingredients: S-allyl cysteine, arginine), spearmint extract, etc. have the effect of helping sleep.
Protein-based sleep-improving ingredients include whey protein (containing lactalbumin) and lactoferrin.
Alpha-whey protein can provide the best combination of amino acids and improve the bioavailability of protein. It is rich in tryptophan, which is the precursor of the neurotransmitters serotonin and melatonin, which are alternately secreted by the pineal cells: Serotonin is secreted during the day, which is a neurotransmitter that regulates mood, appetite and behavior; melatonin is secreted at night, which is an endogenous sleep inducer and an important regulator of the internal biological clock, which helps infants sleep.
Lactoferrin is a rich natural component in breast milk, accounting for about 20% of the total protein in human milk. A study published in Japanese Pharmacology and Therapeutics showed that 4 weeks of lactoferrin supplementation improved subjective sleepiness and fatigue upon awakening, nighttime sleep quality, daily depressive mood, and gut environment.
Chemical ingredients to improve sleep include 5-aminolevulinic acid phosphate and melatonin.
5-aminolevulinic acid phosphate may improve sleep, a double-blind, randomized parallel group study published in the International Journal of Clinical Medicine, 40 subjects with sleep disorders were divided into two groups, received placebo and 50mg of 5-ALA, the results showed that the sleep of the group taking 5-ALA was significantly improved.
Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland in the brain that regulates other hormones in the body and the body's biological clock. When the human body enters a dark environment, the brain begins to produce more melatonin; after entering a bright environment, the body begins to break down melatonin again. Melatonin is available as a dietary supplement, and studies have shown that it can help with normal sleep.
Activation of adenosine A2a receptors in brain neurons induces sleep in various mammals. A previous study found that Sake yeast activates the A2a receptor in HEK cells and induces sleep in mice with an EC50 of 40 μg·mL(-1) in a dose-dependent manner.
Through data sorting and statistics, it is concluded that the raw materials with higher frequency of use of sleep-improving health food are Suanzao Ren (276 times), melatonin (167 times), Schisandra chinensis (105 times), Poria (99 times), Ganoderma lucidum (81 times) times), Acanthopanax (74), Tianma (68), Pearl (54), Ginseng (52), Polygalaceae (51), Lily (50 times), Goji berry (39 times), Baiziren (34 times), Angelica (32 times), Astragalus (30 times), Honey (29 times), Jujube (28 times), Shouwu Teng (26 times), Ganoderma lucidum spore powder (23 times), Paeonia lactiflora (21 times). Among the top 20 raw materials in terms of frequency of use, all except melatonin are Chinese medicines or their extracts, indicating that Chinese medicinal materials are still the most important components of sleep-improving health food in my country.
