A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study to Assess the Effects of a Proprietary Spearmint Extract Blend, on Sleep in Healthy Men and Women

Sleep disturbance is common in adults and when it persists may result in chronic disease, excess health care utilization, mental disorders, health-risk behaviors, limitations of daily functioning, lost productivity, injury, and mortality (IOM 2006). An estimated 50-70 million adults in the United States have chronic sleep and wakefulness disorders (IOM 2006; Ram 2010) and many more adults report insufficient or deprived sleep. Data from 2014 indicates that approximately 35% of the US population is receiving insufficient sleep (Liu et al., 2016). This is alarming, since insufficient sleep is associated with cardiometabolic disease risk factors including weight gain, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and inflammation (Grandner et al., 2016), as well as poor daytime functioning and many other outcomes (Grandner, 2017). Cognitive deficits are routinely seen in the laboratory, especially on the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) (Lim and Dinges, 2010). The National Institutes of Health suggests that adults aim for 7-8 h of sleep per night; however, approximately 28% of adults in the United States reported sleeping 6 h or less based on data from 2008 to 2010 (Schoenborn 2010).

A number of strategies are recommended to promote sleep quality and quantity, including a series of behavioral recommendations, such as keeping to a routine sleeping schedule, the timing of eating and physical activity in relation to bedtime, avoidance of stimulants, and maintaining a bedroom environment conducive to sleep (National Sleep Foundation 2015). Although, pharmacologic options are available to treat sleep disturbances, there is consumer interest in natural sleep remedies due to concerns with side effects, dependency, and the safety of prescription medications. The current study seeks observe the effects of a new proprietary blend containing spearmint and green tea extract. It will be the first randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial observing the effects of 30 days of 500 mg of a blend containing Spearmint extract and green tea on sleep when administered 30 minutes before bed. This study will utilize Fit-bit (San Francisco, California) (a tool whose use for evaluation of sleep is growing) for daily evaluation of sleep throughout the study in addition to polysomnography, considered by many researchers to be the gold standard for evaluation of sleep outcomes, at chosen timepoints.