The various health benefits of vinegar ingestion have been studied extensively in the<br/>literature. Moreover, emerging research suggests vinegar may also have an effect on mental<br/>health. Beneficial effects of certain diets on mood have been reported, however, the mechanisms<br/>are unknown. The current study aimed to determine if vinegar ingestion positively affects mood<br/>state in healthy young adults. This was a randomized, single blinded controlled trial consisting of<br/>25 subjects. Participants were randomly assigned to either the vinegar group (consumed 2<br/>tablespoons of liquid vinegar diluted in one cup water twice daily with meals) or the control<br/>group (consumed one vinegar pill daily with a meal), and the intervention lasted 4 weeks.<br/>Subjects completed mood questionnaires pre- and post-intervention. Results showed a significant<br/>improvement in CES-D and POMS-Depression scores for the vinegar group compared to the<br/>control. This study suggests that vinegar ingestion may improve depressive symptoms in healthy<br/>young adults.
Methods: This was an exploratory qualitative research study. Participants were African American, Hispanic, Asian, and American Indian women, between the ages of 26 and 38, who have experienced stillbirth within the past 3 years. Participants completed a 20-30 minute phone interview.
Results: Fourteen women participated in the study (M age = 31.02 ± 5.97 years; M time since stillbirth = 1.47 ± 0.94 years). Women’s perceptions about physical activity and mindfulness to cope with grief were coded into the following major themes: perception of health care after stillbirth (satisfaction with the level of care provided), recommendations about inter-conception health care from physician (relating to mental, emotional, and physical health), grief (comfort with communicating with the physician), coping mechanisms, perception of the relationship between physical activity and mood, barriers to participating in physical activity (social and behavioral), pre-pregnancy physical activity, and perception of mindful approach (e.g., yoga) as a coping mechanism.
Conclusion: This was the first study to explore perceptions of health care and the use of physical activity and/or mindful approaches (e.g., yoga) to cope with grief after stillbirth in women of racial/ethnic minority. Findings from this study may help inform health care professionals alter their care practices and introduce physical activity and mindfulness based approaches as coping mechanisms to mothers of stillborn babies.