Content area
Full Text
Abstract [Objective] This study was to evaluate the efficacy of instant asparagus powder, a functional food made of asparagus, for improving sleep quality. [Method] A total of 60 volunteers were selected, and each of them consumed two bags of instant asparagus powder (24 g) once a day for 60 consecutive days. Then, the sleep quality of the volunteers was evaluated. At the same time, the safety indices and insomnia-related endocrine indices were determined. [Result] Instant asparagus powder significantly increased the sleep time of sleep disorders from 5.1 to 6.1 h, shortened the time to fall asleep from 50.4 to 25.3 min, and reduced the time to fall asleep after being awake from 46.5 h to 19.5 h. The differences before and after the consumption of instant asparagus powder were significant (P<0.05). The satisfaction of sleep quality was high. Instant asparagus powder had good safety without liver and kidney function influence. Instant asparagus powder could reduce the levels of cortisol and norepinepthrine and increase the levels of serotonin and dopamine. [Conclusion] Instant asparagus powder could improve the quality of sleep, characterized by safety and effectiveness. The sleep quality-improving effect of instant asparagus powder might be related to the regulation of HPA axis or the regulation of serotonin secretion.
Key words Instant asparagus powder; Non-drug intervention; Sleep quality improvement; Safety
(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)
Asparagus (Asparagaceae: Asparagus), is a medicinal and edible vegetable, and has been listed as first of the top ten most nutritious vegetables by the World Health Organization. In the international market, asparagus enjoys the reputation of "King of Vegetables"[1]. Asparagus contains rich nutrients with high contents. In addition, it also contains a variety of active ingredients, such as asparagus polysaccharides, saponins[243], amino acids[4] and flavonoids[5]. Asparagus has anti-tumor1й, anti-agingи, hypolipidemic[8!, liv er-protecting0 and immune-regulating[10! effects. The active ingredients in asparagus have aroused much attention from scientific workers111-151.
Sleep is a very complex rhythmic physiological process. Sleep disorder is a modern common disease, and its incidence is closely related to the incidence of spirit and physical diseases, seriously damaging people's health and affecting the normal work and life. According to the "China Sleep Index Report 2015", 31.21% of the Chinese people have insomnia problem, and about 80% of them have no adequate...