Summary of activities and parameters involved according to study period data collection
| Activities and parameters screening | Screening | Week 0 (baseline) | Week 6 | Week 12 | |
| Enrolment | Eligibility screening | ✓ | |||
| Moderate stress Perceived Stress Scale 10, Patient Health Questionnaire 9, Influenza and cold symptoms Jackson Cold Scale | ✓ | ||||
| Informed consent | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Sociodemographic information | ✓ | ||||
| Medical history | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Concomitant medication history | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Allocation and randomization | ✓ | ||||
| Study product dispensing | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Study | Yeast beta-glucan (120 mg) sachets | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Yeast beta-glucan (204 mg) sachets | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Placebo sachets | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Daily dose diary checking | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Compliance checking and unused product return | ✓ | ||||
| Compliance and assessment | Safety and tolerability assessment vital signs adverse events | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Primary outcomes | |||||
| Respiratory Infection (Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Scale 21), Fatigue (Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory), Mood (Profile of Mood State), Quality of life (The Short Form 36) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Immune markers cytokines—interleukin: (IL) IL-6, IL 8, IL-10, TNF-α, interferon (IFN)-γ, inflammation -hsCRPOxidative stress (malondialdehyde, lipid peroxidation) and inflammatory biomarkers (iNOS, Cox2) | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Secondary outcomes | |||||
| Gut microbiota analysis | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Other assessments | |||||
| Anthropometric measurement | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Blood plasma/serum analysis complete blood count, renal function test, liver function test, fasting blood sugar, lipid profile | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| 3-day food record | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||