Pomegranate Supplementation and Well-Being Among Medical Students and Residents

This is a pilot study to investigate the feasibility of conducting a randomized trial of pomegranate supplementation in medical students and residents, and to see whether there is evidence of an effect on reported emotional and physical well-being.

Phase 1 will be a pilot with 10 participants in which all will receive the pomegranate supplement for 28 days. In phase 2, we will randomize 40 participants (1:1) to receive either the pomegranate supplement or a placebo.

For both phases, we will measure self reported emotional and physical well-being using several questionnaires, and we will conduct laboratory testing for measures of oxidative stress and inflammatory biomarkers in blood, and for a metabolite of pomegranate in urine.

Inclusion criteria

• First or second year medical student or first or second year resident listed at the University of Mississippi Medical Center

Exclusion criteria

• Pregnant or planning to become pregnant during the study period.
• Breast feeding.
• Unable to speak, understand, and read English.
• Taking chronic medications other than contraception
• Taking supplements (including over-the-counter multivitamins)
• Allergy to pomegranate or gelatin (gel-caps)
• Baseline scores on the DASS-21 that indicate a level of depressive or anxiety symptoms that is "severe" or "extremely severe." This would be a depression score greater than 10, or an anxiety score greater than 7.