Dietary supplements for insomnia: relationships between individual preconditions, sleep problems, and customization of supplementation
Insomnia is one of the most widespread problems of concern in modern society, with a worldwide prevalence of 20%, and is known to cause lifestyle-related diseases such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and depression.
Insomnia is classified according to the sleep problems that cause it, such as difficulty falling asleep and interrupted sleep. Many solutions have been proposed to alleviate various sleep problems, including pharmacotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, etc. Pharmacotherapy is currently the most popular solution because of its good clinical efficacy, but it often causes negative effects such as addiction, memory loss and behavioral problems.
In parallel with classical pharmacotherapy, many sleep-supportive dietary supplements have been introduced that have been shown to be effective in reducing sleep problems.
For example, l-theanine has been reported to be effective in refreshing postmenopausal women in the morning, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) shortens sleep latency, Apocynum venetum leaf extract (AVLE) shortens sleep latency and induces deep sleep, and l-serine decreases the frequency of awakenings.
Some of these supplements are superior to pharmacotherapy in terms of side effects and accessibility. However, it can be difficult for users to select an effective dietary supplement because of the wide range of choices and differing effects among users. Therefore, to select an effective dietary supplement for each user, practical criteria are needed to estimate the effect of dietary supplements on each individual.
For this reason, the present study focused on the lifestyle habits and sleep conditions of individual subjects before supplementation (preconditions: PC); e.g., frequency of vegetable consumption per week, frequency of interrupted sleep the day before supplementation, etc. Some previous reports have also shown that specific dietary supplements were effective for subjects with specific preconditions.
However, only some preconditions and dietary supplements have been evaluated, and no comprehensive report on the relationship between dietary supplements, sleep problems and preconditions has been published.
Therefore, the present study aimed to clarify the wide-ranging relationships between dietary supplements, sleep problems and preconditions. To examine them, the preconditions of the improved group were compared with those of the unimproved group for all 25 combinations of 5 sleep problems and 5 supplements (l-theanine, GABA, AVLE, l-serine and placebo).
An open-label, randomized, cross-over intervention study enrolling 160 subjects was conducted to test the efficacy of each dietary supplement (Analysis 1) and the relationships between dietary supplements, preconditions, and sleep problems (Analysis 2).
For this purpose, subjects were administered l-theanine (200 mg/day), γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) (111.1 mg/day), Apocynum venetum leaf extract (AVLE) (50 mg/day) and l-serine (300 mg/day).
Before the first intervention period, lifestyle habits and sleep conditions were analyzed to identify each subject’s preconditions. For each combination of supplements and sleep problems, preconditions were compared between subjects whose sleep problems improved and those whose sleep problems did not improve with supplementation.
All supplements tested were found to significantly improve sleep problems (Analysis 1). In Analysis 2, the specific PCs of the improved subjects were found to be different depending on dietary supplements and sleep problems.
In addition, subjects who consumed dairy products often showed improvement in sleep problems with all supplements tested. This study suggests the possibility of tailoring sleep support supplementation to personal lifestyle habits, sleep conditions, and sleep problems, in addition to the known efficacy of dietary supplements.
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Source: mafuku, F.; Yamamoto, K.; Tanaka, E.; Aoki, R.; Nishino, S. Analysis of the Effects of Known Sleep-Support Supplements in Relation to Life Habits, Sleep Conditions, and Sleep Problems. Nutrients 2023, 15, 2377.
