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							| Functional Foods in Health and Disease - Online ISSN: 2160-3855; Print ISSN: 2378-7007



	

				
						
 
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																Functional Foods in Health and Disease - Online ISSN: 2160-3855; Print ISSN: 2378-7007
										

				


				
				
					
					
						
																					
				
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					Vol. 15 No. 12 (2025): December 2025
				
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									Research Articles
							
		



	
		  	 

		
	
		Effects of Leu-Asp-Gln-Trp-enriched whey protein hydrolysate on mood and fatigue in healthy adults: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
	


	
	
		

							
					Authors

						
							
								Mayu  Nakatsuka
							
																																		
	
							
								Kazumi Nabeshima
							
																																		
	
							
								Ryo Sakiyama
							
																																		
	
							
								Soichiro Sato
							
																																		
	
							
								Manabu Nakano
							
																																		
	
							
								Miyuki Tanaka
							
																																		
	
							
								Masahiko Nakamura
							
																																		


				
			
																	
					
												DOI:
					

					
						
							https://doi.org/10.31989/ffhd.v15i12.1843
						
					
				
			

						
										
					Abstract

					Background: Mental health concerns and fatigue are increasingly prevalent among healthy adults. This study evaluated the effects of whey protein hydrolysate (WPH) enriched with the functional tetrapeptide Leu-Asp-Gln-Trp (LDQW) on mood state and fatigue.

Methods: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group comparative study was conducted on 112 healthy adults aged 18 to 64 years. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either an active food containing 1.0 g of MWPH (WPH with 0.1% of LDQW) or a placebo food daily for 12 weeks. The primary outcome was mood state using the Profile of Mood States-Short Form 2nd Edition (POMS2-SF), and the secondary outcome was fatigue, evaluated using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS).

Results: The active group showed significant improvements in several POMS2-SF scores (Total Mood Disturbance, Depression-Dejection, Fatigue-Inertia, and Friendliness) compared with the placebo group at 12 weeks. Notably, the active group showed significant improvements in the Vigor-Activity score of POMS2-SF compared to the placebo group, at as early as 4 weeks, which persisted throughout the study. The VAS score for shoulder discomfort also significantly improved in the active group compared with the placebo group at 4 weeks and beyond. No adverse events related to the test foods were observed.

Conclusions: Daily intake of the WPH enriched with LDQW improved mood state, reduced fatigue, and relieved shoulder discomfort, providing benefits for both mental and physical health.

Trial registration: The study protocol was registered with UMIN-CTR (ID: UMIN000054349).

Keywords: whey protein hydrolysate; mood; fatigue; shoulder discomfort; LDQW; functional peptides

				
			
			

						
																																																													
						
		


		

						
										
					
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																			2025-12-12
																	

				
							

			
						
										

											
							
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									Vol. 15 No. 12 (2025): December 2025
								
							

						
					
											
							
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																										Copyright (c) 2025 Mayu  Nakatsuka, Kazumi Nabeshima, Ryo Sakiyama, Soichiro Sato, Manabu Nakano, Miyuki Tanaka, Masahiko Nakamura

														This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, including commercial use, provided the original author(s) and source are properly credited. Authors may post and share their published work freely, provided that the original publication in this journal is acknowledged.

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