title: Effects of chicken essence on recovery from mental fatigue in healthy males.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fatigue is a common symptom in modern society. There has been a recent resurgence of interest in traditional remedies for fatigue. Chicken essence, which is rich in anserine and carnosine, has been widely taken in Asian countries as a traditional remedy with various aims, including attenuation of physical and mental fatigue. However, the evidence for its efficacy specifically for mental fatigue remains unclear. We examined the effect of essence of chicken on mental fatigue in humans, using our established fatigue-inducing task and evaluation methods.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this placebo-controlled crossover study, 20 healthy male volunteers were randomized to receive daily oral administration of essence of chicken or placebo drink provided by Cerebos Pacific Ltd. via Suntory holdings Ltd. for 4 weeks. The participants performed 2-back test trials as a fatigue-inducing mental task and then had a rest session. Just before and after each session, they completed cognitive task trials focusing on selective attention to evaluate the level of mental fatigue.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After essence of chicken intake for 1 and 4 weeks, the reaction times on the cognitive task trials after the rest session were significantly shorter than those at baseline, and significant changes were not observed with placebo intake. The reaction times before and after the fatigue-inducing session were not altered by either essence of chicken or placebo intake.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We showed that daily intake of essence of chicken could be effective for the recovery from mental fatigue and is a promising candidate for use as an anti-fatigue food.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan. emiyamano@med.osaka-cu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Emi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yamano
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: Nobuo
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tsuruoka
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: Yasuyoshi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat; D005222:Mental Fatigue / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012146:Rest / Q000502:physiology; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis