ADM recently completed a consumer study to gather insights on attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors surrounding sleep, mood, and stress. Increasingly, consumers recognize that a good night’s sleep helps to mitigate stress, and likewise, daily stressors can prevent people from getting the sleep they need.

Tried-and-true remedies like melatonin, chamomile, and lavender still resonate with consumers, but today’s top emerging ingredients are growing more diverse.

For mental well-being, consumers were most likely to use:

• B vitamins
• Omega-3 Fatty Acids
• Protein
• Probiotics/Postbiotics
• Prebiotics/Fiber

For sleep and stress, the top ingredients consumers chose were:

• Chamomile
• Magnesium
• Melatonin
• B, C, and D Vitamins
• Lavender

Formats consumers are most interested in for supporting sleep, stress, and mood include:

• Ready to drink tea
• Baked goods/cookies
• Gummies
• Smoothies/shakes
• Snack bars
• Pills, capsules, and tablets

There is a huge opportunity for consumer education surrounding biotics, ADM reported. While 90% of consumers in the U.S. are aware of probiotics, just 58% are aware of format-friendly postbiotics.

Struggling to Sleep

Global consumers agreed that sleep quality directly effects how they feel throughout the day, and their overall quality of life (76% and 74% respectively). Less than half (48%) say they usually feel refreshed when they wake up, and feel sluggish or tired throughout the day.

In North America, people struggled the most with stress-related sleep disruptions (47%), while in South Korea, pre-bed screen time (42%) was the biggest disruptor, highlighting regional differences.

The top five challenges in achieving a good night’s sleep globally were feelings of stress or anxiety; difficulty falling or staying asleep; screen time before bed; physical pain or discomfort; and inconsistent sleep schedules.

Mapping Out Stress

Across the globe, 30% of consumers feel extremely or very stressed on a daily basis, wihle 51% feel slightly stressed daily. Health, financial, and family concerns outweighed stressors caused by work or school pressure.

The most stressed countries included in the survey were the U.S. (36%), Italy (33%), Germany (30%), and South Korea (29%), while the U.K. (28%), France (28%), China (28%), and Spain (25%) were the least stressed.

Nearly 60% of global consumers said improving their sleep would significantly reduce their current levels of stress. But just 29% reported working to improve their sleep habits or routines to manage their stress. Accordingly, 61% of consumers agree that their stress levels directly affect sleep; this recognition peaks in South Korea, where 72% of adults agreed that stress impacts their sleep quality.

Mental Well-Being

Over 70% of global consumers said their mental well-being impacts their daily functioning, with particularly notable agreement in South Korea (85%) and Spain (74%).

Only about two-thirds of global respondents said they were satisfied with their mental wellness. The most common approach to address mental wellness is physical exercise or movement, followed by improving sleep habits/routines.

Just over 20% of consumers are adjusting their routines through dietary changes or by using supplements, indicating an opportunity for functional food brands to fill a critical white space with products that address restfulness and influence day-to-day mood management.

To read ADM’s full report, click here.