2.3. Participants
xerostomia, gastrointestinal tract
XEROSTOMIA, DRUG ALLERGIES, DISEASE, FOOD ALLERGY, CHRONIC DISEASE
The participants were healthy adults from Tamagawa University. The inclusion criteria was being aged between 18–65 years. The exclusion criteria were as follows: (1) salivary flow rate less than 0.1 mL/min (diagnostic criteria for xerostomia); (2) disease in the teeth, mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, or respiratory system; (3) consumption of functional foods or use of oral care products that influence the oral environment during the test period; (4) mouth breather; (5) burden on the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, and respiratory system; (6) smoker; (7) heavy drinker; (8) irregular wake-up time and bedtime; (9) serious disease in the liver, kidney, heart, lung, gastrointestinal tract, blood, endocrine system, and metabolic system; chronic disease; or serious medical history of these; (10) serious food allergy, such as milk or drug allergies, or a serious medical history of these conditions; (11) pregnant, under lactation, or expected to be pregnant during the course of the study; and (12) determined as ineligible for participation in this study, judging from the principal researcher/doctor’s opinions on the findings of their background. The background information confirmed by the principal researcher/doctor included recent hospital records, medication status, subjective symptoms, and basic demographics such as sex, age, body weight, and height. In determining the sample size, guided by an estimation of α error = 0.05, β error = 0.8, δ = 14.0, and σ = 30.0, the sample size was computed as 39 using EZR (version 1.40) leading us to set the target sample size as 40, accounting for the logistical aspects of the experimental procedure.