The sleep candy that is all over the Little Red Book, young people trying, while fleeing, doctor: the effect is not clear

Source of this article: Time Weekly Author: Du Sumin

At one o'clock in the morning, lying in bed for more than half an hour, Zhang Xi (pseudonym), who had no sleep, still decided to fall asleep with the help of sleep candy, "Eat another pill today, and definitely not eat tomorrow." ”

Zhang Xi, 25 years old this year, began to try sleep sugar 3 months ago, eating 2-3 capsules half an hour before going to bed every day. Fearing that long-term consumption could bring side effects and form dependence, she began "abstaining from sugar" ten days ago.

There are not a few young people like Zhang Xi who seek help for sleep sugar because of insomnia. According to the China Sleep Index Report, 62% of post-90s consumers have purchased emerging sleep aid products such as melatonin gummies.

"Pink cat's claw shape", "bear shape", "fruit flavor", "Q popping pulp", cute appearance coupled with weakened drug properties, making sleep sugar a new generation of Internet celebrity sleep aid products. On the Xiaohongshu platform, the number of notes related to "sleep candy" exceeds 50,000, and the number of related products exceeds 70, and there are many stars and bloggers to fans Amway sleep candy.

Sleep candy is becoming a solid business. The Times Weekly reporter searched on a number of e-commerce platforms and found that the price of a single bottle/box of sleep sugar ranged from 39.9 yuan to 498 yuan, and the monthly sales of sleep sugar of Vitafusion, BUFFX, Nature Jane, Alice, OLLY and other brands exceeded 5,000. The promotional posters of many products are often accompanied by the words "Little Red Book Explosive Sleep Candy".

The Little Red Book also has more than 2600 notes related to "sleep sugar side effects". Young people are after sleep sugar and are also wary of side effects, and many people choose to flee after trying.

According to the Times Weekly reporter, at present, the sleep aids in the sleep sugar on the market are mainly three kinds, namely melatonin, GABA and the herbal components represented by sour jujube kernels. Among them, GABA (Gamma Aminobutyric Acid, γ-aminobutyric acid) is a non-protein amino acid, widely distributed in animal and plant species, is an important inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system, with blood pressure lowering, sleep and other physiological regulatory functions. In 2009, China's Ministry of Health approved GABA for food processing, stipulating that the daily intake of GABA should not exceed 500 mg.

Effects and side effects are disputed

"Thought it was a mediocre fudge, the result went directly to dawn", "IQ tax, no use at all", "after eating it will be sleepy, nightmares and wake up", "Eating for two years without any side effects"....... Regarding the effects and side effects of sleep sugar, under the evaluation and sharing of related products, consumers can often see different opinions.

Before buying sleep candy, Zhang Xi had difficulty falling asleep for a week and was prone to waking up from many dreams. "The work pressure is a bit big, and before going to bed, my brain is still spinning, and I can't sleep at all." She said.

Accidentally seeing the sharing of sleep candy on the Little Red Book, Zhang Xi was quickly planted because of the appearance of the product. She bought a brand of sleep sugar, the main ingredients are melatonin, lemon balm extract, 50 capsules / bottle, a single bottle price ranged from 119-139 yuan.

"At first, it worked, and after eating for half an hour, I was sleepy, but the effect became less and less obvious later." Zhang Xi told the Times Weekly reporter that because this sleep sugar contains melatonin, she is worried that long-term eating will form dependence and have side effects on the body, and after two months, she began to try to quit sugar.

"The first few days of quitting sugar, I couldn't sleep without eating." Zhang Xi wasn't sure if she really developed dependence, but after deciding to quit sugar, she reduced her maximum of 3 capsules a day to 1 per day, and after a week, Zhang Xi finally stopped relying on sleep sugar to fall asleep.

"It may also be psychological dependence now, because you believe that it is effective, and once you don't eat it, the psychology is not solid." She said.

Shi Fei (pseudonym), who also has difficulty falling asleep, bought a GABA sleep candy, 3 capsules a day, and after eating it for 2 months, she said that she "can't quit at all now, and can't fall asleep on her own."

Zhu Han (pseudonym), who has severe insomnia, believes that "sleep sugar is completely IQ tax." She said in the sharing post on the Little Red Book that after reading the anchor's recommendation, she bought 2 bottles of a certain brand of melatonin sleep candy in one go, but after eating a bottle, there was still no effect at all, "eating is the same as not eating."

For the effect and side effects of sleep sugar, a psychiatrist in a third-class hospital said in an interview with the Times Weekly reporter that melatonin, GABA sleep sugar as a health care drug, for the improvement of sleep does not have a particularly clear therapeutic effect, so there will be different people to say different things about its effect.

"Theoretically, these two types of sleep sugar are not easy to produce dependence, because it is not a psychotropic drug, and some patients say that they are dependent and cannot quit, mainly psychological effects." The doctor said that at this time, it is possible to directly stop or reduce the amount.

"The causes of sleep disorders are generally more complex, and it is necessary to determine whether it is a simple sleep problem or a psychological problem through corresponding monitoring and evaluation, and then carry out targeted treatment." He stressed that some patients may not have the problem of meeting the diagnostic criteria for sleep disorders, and in fact do not need to try drug treatment; and patients with sleep disorders, relying on a certain type of product alone can not completely solve the problem, and may even delay treatment.

Insomnia Chinese support the 400 billion sleep market

During the Beijing Winter Olympics, ski champion Gu Ailing's sentence "The secret weapon of my success is to sleep enough for 10 hours a day" has aroused widespread discussion among the public, and netizens have sighed: This sleep duration and quality are too enviable!

Behind the envy of netizens, hundreds of millions of Chinese have sleep disorders. According to the "2021 White Paper on Exercise and Sleep" released by the Chinese Sleep Research Association and other institutions, the incidence of insomnia in adults is as high as 38.2%, and the sleep problems of post-90s, post-95s and post-00s are prominent.

The newly released "China Sleep Research Report 2022" also pointed out that the overall sleep development of Chinese residents is not optimistic, the average daily sleep time is shortening year by year, and the quality of sleep is declining. The data shows that in 2021, 64.75% of the respondents actually slept less than 8 hours a day, and the proportion of more than 8 hours was only 7.97%.

In order to save sleep, insomnia Chinese supported the sleep market of more than 400 billion. Ai Media Consulting data shows that between 2016 and 2020, the overall market size of China's sleep economy has increased from 261.63 billion yuan to 377.86 billion yuan, an increase of 44.42%, and it is expected that the size of China's sleep economy market will exceed 400 billion yuan in 2021.

The huge market space attracts many participants. According to the data of Tianyancha, in the past 5 years, the annual registration volume of sleep economy-related enterprises has shown an overall upward trend, and more than 400 enterprises have been registered and established every year. At present, there are more than 2,700 sleep economy-related enterprises in the mainland. Among them, about 18% of the enterprises are established within 1 year, and 52% of the enterprises are established between 1-5 years.

In addition, there are many other companies aiming at the sleep economy and laying out sleep products across fields. Among them, dairy giant Mengniu (2319.HK) has launched sleep milk containing GABA ingredients; home appliance company Beiding Shares (300824.SZ) has launched sleep-assisting tea bags while selling insulated cups; hyaluronic acid giant Bloomage Bio (688363.SH) has cooperated with other companies to launch a variety of sleep products, including sleep masks, bedtime drinks, sleep gummies, etc.

Some traditional industries have also gained new opportunities because of the sleep troubles of contemporary people. Taking the Traditional Chinese medicine foot soaking bag as an example, searching for "foot soaking medicine bag to help sleep" on the e-commerce platform, a number of products have exceeded 10,000 monthly sales, and 3 foot soaking bags have been marked as "100,000 +" for repeat customers, and the popularity even exceeds sleep candy.

The Times Weekly reporter noted that some foot soaking medicine bags are more suitable for young people's preferences in positioning and packaging, the brand name no longer highlights the old brand of traditional Chinese medicine, and the packaging has also become a minimalist comic style.

The sleep economy has also spawned new services, and "sleepers" are one of them. Many Taobao stores operate sleep business, times weekly reporter learned from a store, the store's goodnight sleep service from ordinary, high-quality to top divided into 3 levels, consumers can freely choose different price points of service, the minimum is 50 yuan / 30 minutes, the highest is 1880 yuan / week, the package week is 4 to 5 hours a day service time.

Another store divides the service into two categories: text voice bar and voice microphone, including blind box, gold medal, town store, male and female gods and chief 5 levels, of which the blind box is randomly arranged. The minimum charge for text voice strips is 20 yuan / 30 minutes, up to 4600 yuan / week; the minimum charge for voice microphone is 30 yuan / 30 minutes, the maximum is 660 yuan / week, and the service time of one day is also 4-5 hours.

The news that the sleeper earns more than 10,000 yuan a month is in the news from time to time, but providing special services and playing the edge of the game also makes the industry wander on the gray edge.

According to media reports, social software such as Bixin, Yami, and Soul have also opened up sleep-coaxing services to users, and the price of Lianmai ranges from tens of yuan to hundreds of yuan per hour. Among them, Yami has also launched a group of "exclusive sleeping officers" to disclose the "sound identification cards" of voice actor anchors to facilitate customer selection.

However, the Times Weekly query found that Bixin and Yami have been removed from the Apple App Store, and Yami has also been renamed Yumi in the Android App Store. Searching on soul with "sleeper" as the keyword, there is a service of 6Soul coins / time, and users need to spend as little as 12 yuan to buy 60Soul coins if they want to open the service.