Corn Leaf Extract May Provide Sleep Quality Benefits

Zea mays, more commonly referred to as maize or corn, is used for human consumption as corn meal, cooking oil, thickener in sauces and puddings, and sweetener in processed foods and beverage products. A new study suggests that zea mays corn leaf extract may provide sleep quality benefits.

For their study, researchers from GLH Nutrition LLC recruited 45 healthy adults with an average age of 46. They were given 250 mg of corn leaf extract, 500 mg of corn leaf extract, or a placebo daily 60 minutes before bedtime for 4 weeks. Sleep quality was evaluated nightly using a fitness activity tracker. Subjective sleep quality was evaluated at baseline and at the end of the study using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and general wellbeing was evaluated using the Profile of Mood States. Salivary cortisol levels were also measured.

 Particiap0nts in the corn leaf extract group experienced an increase of up to 30 minutes in deep sleep time compared to an increase of 4 minutes in the placebo group. They also saw a 10% increase in total sleep time and up to a 40% improvement in sleep quality and a 36-58% improvement in general wellbeing.

In addition, participants in the corn leaf extract group saw up to a 36% reduction in salivary cortisol levels.

The study was published online ahead of print on September 30, 2022 in the Journal of Medical Food.

Saffron extract was found to provide sleep quality benefits in a previous study.