Honey to Improve Sleep Quality

Honey to Improve Sleep Quality: a Randomized, Double-blind Trial

Inadequate sleep quality and duration affects quality of life, and can cause adverse health outcomes, for many Canadians. Existing sleep therapies have limitations, such as inability to adhere to a cognitive behaviour modification or the risk of dependence on pharmaceutical therapies. Raw honey has a long history of anecdotal reports supporting its use to improve sleep quality. In an effort to develop an evidence base for honey as a sleep aid, we completed a preliminary proof-of-principle study to assess feasibility and potential effectiveness of honey to improve sleep quality. Results of our preliminary study demonstrate that honey is safe and effective for improving quality of sleep with no associated adverse effects, as compared to melatonin. The current study design builds off the experiences of the preliminary trial and will add more scientific rigor to the evidence base we have started to build.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Poor Quality Sleep
• Intervention / Treatment: Dietary supplement: Raw Honey; Dietary supplement: Comparator

Detailed Description

Inadequate sleep quality and duration may result in adverse health outcomes and poorer quality of life. Research thus far identify interventions such as behavior modification and pharmaceuticals to aid sleep. According to Stats Canada (2007-2013 Canadian Health Measures Survey), despite these available interventions, roughly half of men and women (43% and 55%, respectively) aged 18-64 have difficulty falling or staying asleep; these results are similar to those reported in 2005. The lack of improvement in sleep might reflect important limitations with the current interventions; individuals with sleep disorders may find adherence to such interventions difficult to maintain (e.g. behavior modification) or the therapies may pose a risk (e.g. dependence on pharmaceuticals). There is a clear need for alternative therapeutic interventions, particularly those that are simple and cost effective.

Observational and anecdotal evidence supports honey as an alternative to promote better sleep. During sleep, the brain typically utilizes liver glycogen stores to provide continuous and adequate energy; foods that promote liver glycogen storage before sleep may ensure availability of this energy source and therefore lead to better sleep.4 Raw honey is a rapidly digestible and metabolizable dense energy source, and thus may provide this sleep time energy reserve. Additionally, honey may promote melatonin formation due to its possible tryptophan content (a precursor to melatonin) that both helps to initiate sleep as well as promote release of hormones that facilitate whole body recovery during sleep.

Based on this information, we completed a preliminary open-label proof-of-principle study to assess the feasibility and potential effectiveness of honey in improving sleep quality. In a cross-over study of poor sleepers, honey improved some areas of sleep compared to melatonin. The results of this study are the driving factor for the randomized, double-blind, cross-over study in poor sleepers proposed here.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 110
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Whitney Duff, PhD; Phone Number: 13069661852; Email: whitney.duff@usask.ca

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Saskatchewan
    • Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, S7N 5E5
      • Recruiting
      • University of Saskatchewan
      • Contact: Whitney Duff, PhD; Phone Number: 3067172217; Email: whitney.duff@usask.ca
      • Contact: Stephanie Vuong, MSc; Phone Number: 3063701983; Email: steph.vuong@usask.ca
      • Principal Investigator: Jane Alcorn, PhD
      • Sub-Investigator: Neil Specht
      • Sub-Investigator: Whitney Duff, PhD

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 55 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged 18 - 55yrs
• Male or female
• Able to comply with study protocol and give informed consent
• Healthy (no diagnosis of medical or mental illness and not suffering from vascular disease, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, obesity [body mass index over 30], dermatological disease, gynecological disease, endocrine disease)
• Discontinuation of sleep aids 4 weeks in advance of the study
• Self-report of having difficulty sleeping for 1 week or more

Exclusion Criteria:

• Age: <18 and >55
• Type I and Type II diabetes, current infectious disease (e.g. cold or flu)
• Unstable medical condition
• History of psychiatric disorder (past or present)
• Pain syndrome affecting sleep
• Obese (BMI over 30)
• Pregnant or lactating women
• Lifestyle habits that would modify the wake-sleep rhythm (e.g. night work; shift work; young children that interrupt sleep)
• Substance and/or drug dependence (alcohol, nicotine, pain killers)
• Use of the following medications during the study period: oral or injectable corticosteroid, sedating antihistamines (e.g. cold, allergy, motion sickness), psychotropic medications or hypnotics, benzodiazepine, narcotics, any illicit drugs
• Use of stimulants (>4 cups [1 cup = 250 mL] of coffee/day)
• Participation in any other clinical trial with an investigational agent within one month prior to randomization

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Honey; Raw honey (1.5 tablespoons)	Dietary supplement: Raw Honey; Canada #2 white raw honey (1.5 tablespoons) supplied by SweetHeart Pollinators (Janeil Enterprises, Eatonia, SK) administered for 7 days; Dietary supplement: Comparator; Honey comparator(1.5 tablespoons) administered for 7 days
Placebo Comparator: Comparator; Honey comparator(1.5 tablespoons)	Dietary supplement: Raw Honey; Canada #2 white raw honey (1.5 tablespoons) supplied by SweetHeart Pollinators (Janeil Enterprises, Eatonia, SK) administered for 7 days; Dietary supplement: Comparator; Honey comparator(1.5 tablespoons) administered for 7 days

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Sleep quality as measured by Leeds Sleep Evaluation Questionnaire	Assessment of the quality of sleep as measured by a standardized tool, the Leeds Sleep Evaluation Questionnaire, which assesses subjective measures of sleep quality and amount, by the end of the 7 day intervention with the treatments (honey or comparator)	14 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Sleep quality as measured by daily sleep hygiene logs	Assessment of the quality of sleep as measured by a daily sleep hygiene log, which assesses subjective measures of sleep quality and amount by the end of the 7 day intervention with the treatments (honey or comparator)	14 days
Sleep quality as measured by daily morning sleep logs	Assessment of the quality of sleep as measured by a daily morning sleep log, which assesses subjective measures of sleep quality and amount by the end of the 7 day intervention with the treatments (honey or comparator)	14 days
Sleep quality as measured by actigraphy	Assessment of the quality of sleep as measured by actigraphy, which assesses objective measures of sleep quality and amount by the end of the 7 day intervention with the treatments (honey or comparator)	14 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Saskatchewan

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): September 1, 2024
• Study Completion (Anticipated): September 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 18, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 18, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): December 20, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): May 5, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 3, 2023
• Last Verified: May 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: Bio-1666

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No