PEA Supplements May Help People Fall Asleep and Boost Cognition Upon Waking: Study
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Daily supplementation with 350 mg of Gencor’s branded PEA ingredient, Levagen +, was associated with significant reductions in the time it takes to fall asleep compared to placebo, scientists in Sleep science and practice.
Additionally, PEA supplementation was associated with better cognition upon awakening and a shorter time to feel fully awake, reported scientists from RDC Clinical (Australia) and the Universities of Queensland and Sydney.
“This is of particular interest because sleep inertia and daytime sleepiness is a common side effect of many pharmaceutical options for the treatment of sleep disorders,” they wrote.
However, there was no difference between the placebo and PEA groups for the amount or quality of sleep.
âThe combination of the PEA group reporting falling asleep faster and waking up more alert and awake compared to the placebo group suggests that future studies on PEA and sleep should focus on populations with difficulty falling asleep and / or to wake up ” write the scientists.
Levagen +
Interest in the endocannabinoid system has increased dramatically in recent years. For companies looking for a way to impact the endocannabinoid system beyond CBD and hemp, one option is palmitoylethanolamide (PEA).
Speaking to NutraIngredients-USA at Expo West 2019, RV Venkatesh, CEO of Gencor, explained that palmitoylethanolamide was first discovered in 1957 as a component of egg yolk, when egg yolk was sought after for its anti-inflammatory properties.
PEA is produced by our bodies as the first responder to pain, stress, inflammation and is used topically in all tissues, he said.
The new study indicates that the ingredient may also be useful for sleep formulations, a category that has seen impressive growth in recent years as consumers seek natural alternatives to over-the-counter sleeping pills. The main natural ingredients used in sleep supplements are melatonin, chamomile, valerian root, L-theanine, hops, lemon balm extract, and passion flower extract.
As reported by NutraIngredients-USA last summer, US sales of stress management supplements, which include mood and sleep support products, are believed to have increased by more than 35% year over year. the other, according to data provided by SPINS.
Study details
The researchers recruited 103 Australian adults to participate in their double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. People were randomized to receive 350 mg per day of Levagen + or a placebo for eight weeks.
The data indicated that people in the PEA group fell asleep three times faster than placebo, thereby improving so-called sleep latency or the time it takes to fall asleep after lying down. Specifically, sleep latency in individuals in the PEA group was on average 19 minutes shorter at study end than at baseline, while sleep latency in placebo improved by less than 6 minutes. minutes.
Upon awakening, members of the PEA group reported significant improvements in the time it takes to feel fully awake, from around 26 minutes at the start of the study to less than 15 minutes after eight weeks. In contrast, there was no significant change in this measure in the placebo group (23.6 minutes at baseline and 22.4 minutes after eight weeks).
Statistically significant improvements between the PEA group and the placebo were also recorded for cognitive scores upon awakening, the researchers said.
“These results support PEA as a potential sleep aid capable of reducing the time it takes to fall asleep and improving cognition upon awakening”, the researchers concluded.
Source: Sleep science and practice
2021, 5, Article 12. Doi: 10.1186 / s41606-021-00065-3
âPalmitoylethanolamide for sleep disorders. A double-blind, randomized and placebo-controlled intervention study â
Authors: A. Rao, et al.
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