From menopause to meal replacements: Life stages, dosage formats fuelling sleep support innovation

This is according to Kemin Industries Inc which has seen the rise of various innovative products across Asia-Pacific.

The company itself is also a player in the sleep aid supplement space with its ingredient trademarked DailyZz. This is a proprietary blend of spearmint and green tea extracts.

Speaking to NutraIngredients-Asia ​at Vitafoods Asia Bangkok, the company pointed out examples of innovative products that contain DailyZz.

Of note is the industry’s growing attention on insomnia and menopause, said Annie Binotto, APAC & LATAM marketing manager, Human Nutrition and Health.

An example is Haleon’s Centrum Restful Sleep tablets which claim to “support quality of sleep and helps reduce hot flashes at night.”

It is formulated with both DailyZz and geniVida, with the former clinically studied “to help minimise the frequency and duration of hot flashes”. ​

The latter, said to be an identical form of the phytoestrogen genistein, has been clinically studied “to support quality of sleep and next-day cognitive function.” ​

“W​e have big companies that launched products using DailyZz for menopause, not just because consumers are facing problems going to sleep, but also because these consumers are losing muscle mass, and sleep is necessary to keep the muscles,” ​said Binotto.

She said that the company has observed the need for nutritional support for women undergoing menopause, especially since the age for menopause was getting younger.

“W​e saw a global trend with sleep problems during the pandemic. But, after the pandemic, with inflation and uncertainties, there could be many reasons why many consumers are trying to find products for sleep support.​

“We then analysed and saw a trend for [sleep support products for] among menopausal women, because many women are starting menopause earlier in life than before. ​

“Before, it was just after 55, 60 years old but now, we are seeing it happen from 45 or 46 years old. You can find a lot of women starting to have symptoms like sleep problems, and if we do a market analysis for the Asia-Pacific, one of the biggest trends is also the rise of sleep problems.”  ​

Aside from menopause, the company has also designed concepts targeting work stress-related insomnia, beauty and sleep, sleep for improving next day function, and even for fertility.

A study published in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health​ ​in 2021 found that the blend could improve sleep quality and reduce insomnia severity as compared to the placebo.

Format, formulations, and regulations… ​

On top of needs states, the company has also seen innovations around dosage formats, such as adding DailyZz into meal replacement powders that are meant to be consumed before going to sleep.

An example is Taiwan’s Seeder Health which has launched the meal replacement product Moonlight.

There are also innovations around product formulations, such as combining DailyZz with GABA, as seen in the product Happy Dream by Pillbox Japan.

Such combinations are especially relevant in markets where there are regulatory restrictions on the amount of GABA or melatonin that could be used in nutraceuticals, said Binotto.

Taiwan, for example, announced in August that it planned to limit GABA’s use as a food additive to 100mg.