Daily consumption of essence of chicken improves cognitive function: a systematically searched meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

ABSTRACT

Essence of chicken (EC) is a dietary supplement with potential benefits on one’s cognitive performance. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to evaluate the effects of consuming EC on cognitive function, applying extensively represented domains. Six databases were systematically searched to yield 1760 articles. These articles were independently screened to obtain 8 eligible articles with a pooled population of 794 subjects which is more than twice the population size considered in the previous meta-analyses. Largely, favorable effects on cognitive function were observed following daily EC intake, specifically in the working memory domain (standardized mean difference: 0.31, 95% CI: 0.16, 0.46), one of the core components in executive function which showed statistically significant results. Furthermore, the observed results were also robust to sensitivity analyses and subgroup analyses. This suggests that when consumed daily, EC may improve the mental processing aspect of cognitive function amongst the healthy population.

KEYWORDS:

• Essence of chicken
• anserine
• carnosine
• cognition
• executive function
• working memory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Darel Wee Kiat Toh is a Ph.D. student in the Food Science and Technology Programme at the National University of Singapore, Singapore. His research interest lies in the development and evaluation of dietary strategies for the maintenance of physical and mental well-being as well as the prevention of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease.

Chun Hong Wong obtained his Bachelor of Science (Food Science and Technology) from the National University of Singapore, Singapore in 2018 and is currently a Research Assistant in the same programme. His research focuses on food pathogens survival in urban farming environments.

Johnson Fam is an assistant professor and the director of Brain Stimulation Service, in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the National University of Singapore, Singapore. His clinical and research interests are in cognitive disorders, psychopharmacology, neuroimaging and neurostimulation.

Jung Eun Kim is an assistant professor and certified registered dietitian in the Food Science and Technology Programme at the National University of Singapore, Singapore. Her research goal is to develop and validate dietary strategies that effectively protect against age-associated morbidities, including cognitive decline; cardiovascular disease; gastro-intestinal disease; sarcopenia; and osteoporosis.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by BRAND’S Suntory Asia under grant R-143-000-A39-392.