{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]],"date-time":"2026-10-06T17:16:45Z","timestamp":1791307005128,"version":"4.3.1"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"14","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,17]],"date-time":"2024-07-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1721174400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003993","name":"Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Japan","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["JPJ009842"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JPJ009842"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003993","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>\u03b2-(1,3\/1,4)-glucan is a major component of cereal grains, such as oats and barley. In this study, we investigated the effects of cooked waxy barley, which contains \u03b2-(1,3\/1,4)-glucan, on upper respiratory tract physical symptoms and mood status by performing a randomized, parallel-group, comparative trial. The primary outcome was assessed using the Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey-21 and Profile of Mood States second edition. Twenty-seven healthy Japanese adult participants were supplemented with 100 g of cooked waxy barley (containing 1.8 g of \u03b2-glucan) or 100 g of cooked white rice daily for 8 weeks. Participants receiving cooked waxy barley reported a reduction in cumulative days of sneezing (p &lt; 0.05) and feeling tired (p &lt; 0.0001) compared with the control group. After the intervention period, there were significantly less severe nasal symptoms, such as runny nose, plugged nose, and sneezing (p &lt; 0.05), and a significantly greater reduction of the Tension-Anguish score (p &lt; 0.05) in the barley group than in the control group. This study suggests that supplementation of cooked waxy barley containing \u03b2-(1,3\/1,4)-glucan prevents or alleviates nasal upper respiratory tract symptoms and improves mood status. The findings of this study should be confirmed by double-blind trials with a larger number of participants.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu16142298","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,17]],"date-time":"2024-07-17T15:15:19Z","timestamp":1721229319000},"page":"2298","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Effects of Chronic Barley Consumption on Upper Respiratory Tract Symptoms in Japanese Healthy Adults: A Randomized, Parallel-Group, Controlled Trial"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8834-1234","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Risa","family":"Araki","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Food Function Research, Institute of Food Research, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), 2-1-12 Kannondai, Tsukuba 305-8642, Ibaraki, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-2960-6909","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chiaki","family":"Ishikawa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Food Function Research, Institute of Food Research, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), 2-1-12 Kannondai, Tsukuba 305-8642, Ibaraki, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tomomi","family":"Kawasaki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Food Function Research, Institute of Food Research, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), 2-1-12 Kannondai, Tsukuba 305-8642, Ibaraki, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Toshiro","family":"Kobori","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Food Function Research, Institute of Food Research, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), 2-1-12 Kannondai, Tsukuba 305-8642, Ibaraki, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4241-2129","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Toshihiko","family":"Shoji","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Food Function Research, Institute of Food Research, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), 2-1-12 Kannondai, Tsukuba 305-8642, Ibaraki, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4532-7114","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yoshiharu","family":"Takayama","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Food Function Research, Institute of Food Research, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), 2-1-12 Kannondai, Tsukuba 305-8642, Ibaraki, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"30","DOI":"10.1093\/ajcn\/69.1.30","article-title":"Cholesterol-lowering effects of dietary fiber: A meta-analysis","volume":"69","author":"Brown","year":"1999","journal-title":"Am. 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