Relaxing in a Post-pandemic World

by Eric Munson | March 1, 2024

The pandemic caused higher stress and insufficient sleep, but consumers have become more aware of ways to improve sleep hygiene and relaxation naturally.

Stress and sleep became growing problems, especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. According to 2022 data from the American Institute of Stress (AIS), around 78 percent of adults said the pandemic was a significant source of stress in their life. Over the course of the pandemic, 67 percent of people suffered from increased stress levels.

AIS also says Americans are some of the most stressed out people in the world with the current stress level 20 percentage points higher than the global average.

Due to increased stress and overwork, many people do not get enough sleep every night.

According to the Sleep Foundation (Seattle, WA), more than one-third of adults sleep less than seven hours per night. The three states that reported the worst sleep are Hawaii, West Virginia and Kentucky.

To combat stress and sleep issues, many people turned to natural products. With an increasing demand over the last few years, manufacturers are developing innovative solutions to promote relaxation and healthier sleep patterns.

State of the Market

According to data from Yahoo! News Finance, worldwide demand for stress relief supplements is expected to rise with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2023 to 2033. By the end of 2033, the market will reach a projected valuation of $950 million.

Carlos Rodríguez, communication manager for Pharmactive Biotech Products (Madrid, Spain) said the market has experienced significant growth in recent years. He attributes the increase to the growing awareness of sleep, relaxation and the increase in occasional stress levels and sleep disorders.

“Relaxation and stress support supplements often overlap as the ‘mood’ category encompasses several different components of emotional well-being, which includes relaxation as well as stress and outlook or motivation,” said Brien Quirk, director of research and development at Draco Natural Products (San Jose, CA).

Chris Sadewasser, global product manager for Kemin Industries (Des Moines, IA), said while melatonin remains one of the most popular supplements for sleep, there is a growing demand for botanical products.

“Thus, ingredients that can meet this consumer demand will start to take off and potentially replace some of the well-known sleep ingredients,” Sadewasser said. “Botanical-based ingredients provide an excellent opportunity to fill this space.”

The Pandemic

According to the Pew Research Center, 41 percent of adults in the United States reported high levels of stress at least once since the beginning of the pandemic. Additionally, 60 percent of adults experienced bouts of stress and 46 percent said they felt low mood at least one or two days per week.

“Since the pandemic, we have seen consumers become more conscious about their overall health and wellness,” Sadewasser said. “Consumers are beginning to recognize that not only how long they sleep, but the quality of their sleep is impacting how they perform each day.”

Rodríguez agrees with Sadewasser that the pandemic intensified sleep and relaxation-related products. “Health concerns, stress related to confinement and changes in sleep patterns have led more people to seek solutions to improve both the quality of their sleep and mental health,” Rodríguez said. “Also, working from home and loneliness has increased the need for reducing stress.”

The pandemic caused a lot of stress, fear and anxiety for much of the population. Many people were unable to see their health care providers and opted for natural remedies and supplements, Quirk noted.

“Now with the fallout from the economic impact causing stress on people with higher prices and potential job layoffs, people are having new reasons to be stressed and anxious,” Quirk said. “Regarding sleep, many people when they were stuck indoors had less exercise and ate too much food, which is known to affect sleep quality due to metabolic syndrome-like effects on mood and brain chemistry.”

Leslie Lannebère, marketing manager health at France-based Nexira, said the pandemic brought about a sense of “uncertainty,” which impacted immune levels and health.

“As the world returns to some form of normality post-pandemic, a new era of uncertainty is brought in via a cost-of-living crisis,” Lannebère said. “This is something that will further impact the emotional wellness of consumer, who will look to maintain some form of normality on a day-to-day basis despite the challenges they face.”

Consumer Trends

Data from Innova Market Insights and FMCG Gurus shows 53 percent of global consumers have taken action to improve their physical well-being, 44 percent have taken action to improve their mental and emotional well-being, and 46 percent want to improve their mental well-being.

Jennifer Clancy, global marketing director at India-based Nutriventia observed an upward trend in people understanding mindfulness and self-care.

“Not only are consumers seeking mood and stress support products with natural ingredients, herbs like adaptogens (e.g. ashwagandha), but there’s a growing trend toward personalized solutions with a keen focus on novel delivery formats, such as gummies, and beverages,” Clancy said. “Consumers appreciate convenient and enjoyable ways to incorporate mood and stress support into their daily routines.”

Rodríguez agrees with Clancy that there is a growing trend toward natural products and holistic approaches, particularly for non-addictive alternatives to medications for sleep quality and occasional stress.

According to Sadewasser, there has been a shift toward combination supplements that target both sleep and other health platforms, such as immunity, women’s health and cognition.

“This tells us that consumers are seeing sleep as an essential to their overall health and wellness and are beginning to see the impact that poor sleep has on other health areas,” Sadewasser said.

Some of the most popular ingredients for sleep, stress and blood pressure support include magnesium, L-theanine and ashwagandha. However, Quirk acknowledged that focusing on the same ingredients is lessening the message and impact on consumers.

“This is why some of the more exotic ingredients like white peony root, extensively used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries in sleep and stress-related indications, and hibiscus flower popular in the Caribbean and South America, are some great ingredients that offer a fresh new look and have different side benefits,” Quirk said.

Ingredients and Products

The market for relaxation and sleep products features a range of ingredients and products to cater to different needs and preferences.

Draco offers both peony and hibiscus, but some of the other popular ingredients include honokiol (magnolia bark), wild jujube seed, lemon balm, chamomile and skullcap, according to Quirk.

Pharmactive offers Affron, a premium saffron ingredient designed to maintain positive mood, improve occasional stress and sleeplessness. It is backed by six clinical studies on its safety and efficacy, Rodríguez said.

Nexira offers a large array of high-quality botanical extracts, such as lemon balm and valerian. It also offers Serenzo, an all-natural organic plant-based ingredient made from sweet orange essential oil in acacia gum, Lannebère said.

Nutriventia offers Prolanza, a root-only ashwagandha ingredient that contains a high concentration (4 to 5 percent) or 10 USP withanolides and 10 additionally identified withanolides.

According to Nutriventia Co-founder Rajat Shah, research has shown Prolanza, taken at 300 mg daily for 90 days, significantly improved attention, memory and sleep quality while also reducing stress levels.

Nutriventia also offers Melotime, which is designed as a sustained-release profile, where 50 percent of the dose is taken in the first hour followed by the rest at every hour for seven hours, Shah said.

“When addressing the improvement of sustained healthy mood and reduced stress, sleep is an imperative component,” Shah said. “And melatonin still rules the sleep supplement kingdom. However, consumers are more likely to reduce stress and elevate mood when they obtain about eight hours of sleep.”

Kemin offers Daily Zz, a proprietary blend of spearmint and green tea extracts that has been shown to improve sleep quality as well as focus, concentration, decision-making, reaction time and working memory, according to Sadewasser.

Kemin also has FloraGLO Lutein (Macu-LZ), which is a lutein ingredient traditionally used for eye health. Lutein can protect from digital eye strain caused by blue light. Evidence suggests increased exposure to blue light can impact circadian rhythms, Sadewasser said.

“DailyZz from Kemin is an example of an ingredient that can help bridge the gap between sleep and other categories such as cognition,” Sadewasser said. “To our knowledge, this is the first of such ingredients to show measured improvements in next day cognitive functioning, pointing to impactful and genuine improvements in sleep health.”

Science and Research

Consumers want products that are safe, effective and backed by science.

“Consumers are looking for products with strong backing to validate that the advertised properties are tested on people with similar symptoms on one hand, and that they are safe for health and have no side effects on the other hand,” Rodríguez said. “Clinical trials testing the efficacy and safety of natural sleeping or relaxation products provide valuable information.”

For example, Serenzo has demonstrated significant improvements on stress and mood enhancement including a 50 percent reduction in subjective feeling of stress and a 53 percent reduction of global stress, according to Lannebère.

“Our new 2022 observational study on 134 people confirmed these results,” Lannebère said. “Consumers have also reported a perceived boost of mood and emotional well-being after four weeks of consumption. All these great results position Serenzo as one of the most substantiated natural solutions for mood and mental well-being.”

According to Sadewasser, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial showed the effects of DailyZz supplementation over 30 days in 100 participants aged 22 to 50 years old. Participants were asked to keep a diary to track their sleep habits, wear an activity tracker and use a computerized daytime function test.

“What they found was those who took DailyZz compared to the placebo had two times better sleep quality, five times improve concentration, 20 [millisecond] faster reaction time in a concentration task, 2.5 times better judgement in risk tasking scenarios and 60 percent improved visual recall and processing,” Sadewasser said.

Formulations

With such a large array of ingredients, it is important for manufacturers to understand the best formulation practices to make sure every product is administered safely, effectively.

“Our Prolanza and Melotime are both extended-release, therefore, those brands seeking to make combination formulas with ingredients that are not extended-release, we suggest contacting our formulators for details about ingredient blending for maintaining our proven efficacy,” Shah said.

Sadewasser said DailyZz is well-suited for a variety of applications including capsules, gummies, sachets and tablets. It can also be used with melatonin to offer a more well-rounded sleep product.

“From a sensorial standpoint, Serenzo offers a very aromatic profile being based on orange extract,” Lannebère said. “From classic tablets to stick packs or trendy gummies format, Serenzo is easy-to-use in a wide array of supplement formats.”

According to Rodríguez, an increasing number of manufacturers are incorporating natural and organic ingredients into their products. The use of sustainable ingredients can also enhance a company’s image and attract more environmentally conscious consumers.

“This has led to the launch of better-for-you dietary products and functional beverages that promote relaxation and sleep quality,” Rodríguez said. “In addition, advances are being made in dosage forms, as well as new formats such as gummies are entering the sleep market or oral strips that can be used for 100 percent soluble ingredients with a low RDD.”

Inviting Consumer Interest

It is imperative to find ways to relax and sleep better especially as the post-pandemic world grows increasingly more stressed.

“It might be a daring innovation for formulators to use some of the more exotic ingredients such as white peony root or albizzia bark to see if they make their formulas work better,” Quirk said. “This might invite more consumer interest and enthusiasm since they have some back stories of traditional herbal use that go back centuries in the Far East, as well as backed by scientific research.” NIE