The Latest on Sleep, Relaxation, and Mood Ingredients for Dietary Supplements

One in three Americans does not get enough sleep, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in 2016. And routinely sleeping fewer than seven hours per day, according to The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society, is associated with an increased risk of developing chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and frequent mental distress. What’s more, results of The American Psychological Association’s 2015 “Stress in America” survey found that American stress levels are increasing with each generation, and that the percentage of Americans experiencing “extreme” levels of stress increased from the previous year. The survey also revealed that nearly one-quarter of Americans, 23%, rate their overall health as merely “fair” or “poor.”

With all this bad news for our physical health, mental health, and overall sense of well-being-combined more recently with a nationwide uncertainty regarding federal healthcare regulation and policy under a new administration-it’s no surprise that Americans are increasingly turning to over-the-counter supplements to improve their sleep, mood, stress response, and general cognition. Year-on-year sales growth of condition-specific supplements for general brain health, insomnia, and mood increased 2.2%, 4.5%, and 3%, respectively, from 2015 to 2016, according to Nutrition Business Journal figures presented at the Natural Products Expo West trade show in March of this year.

Fortunately, supplement brands wishing to capitalize on the public’s demand for these types of supplements have an ever-growing selection of ingredients from which to choose for formulating their sleep and relaxation products. What follows is a round-up of some of the more noteworthy, interesting, and recently researched of these ingredients, some of which have been around awhile but whose effects on sleep and mood are just now being discovered, as well as some relative newcomers.


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