Vinegar ingestion may help lift mood in patients of depression, finds study

Apple cider vinegar has a well known history as a home remedy popularly, used to treat things like sore throat and varicose veins. There isn't much data to support the claims. But in recent years, some researchers have been taking interest in apple cider vinegar and its possible benefits. Vinegar ingestion on daily basis is said to improve glycemic control, but recent data suggest a unknown role of vinegar in mental health.

A placebo controlled study by Carol S. Johnston and team revealed that metabolite alterations was associated with vinegar ingestion that consistently improved mood, including enzymatic dysfunction in the hexosamine pathway as well as significant increase in glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism. However, further investigation of vinegar as a possible agent to improve mood state is needed.

The findings of the study are published in Nutrients journal.

The objective of the study was to explore the role of vinegar in mental health.

The study was a placebo-controlled, parallel arm study design, a 4-week trial examined the impact of daily vinegar ingestion on mood states and urinary metabolites in healthy college students. Participants were randomized to the vinegar group (VIN: n = 14; 1.5 g acetic acid/day as liquid vinegar) or the control group (CON: n = 11; 0.015 g acetic acid/day as a pill) with no change to customary diet or physical activity.

The results of the study were

• At week four, participants completed the Profile of Mood States (POMS) and the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) questionnaires and provided a first-morning urine sample for targeted metabolomics analyses.

• The change in both POMS depression scores and CES-D scores differed significantly between groups favoring improved affect in the VIN versus CON participants after four weeks.

Johnston and team concluded that "Metabolomics analyses pre and post-intervention suggested metabolite alterations associated with vinegar ingestion that are consistent for improved mood, including enzymatic dysfunction in the hexosamine pathway as well as significant increases in glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism. These data warrant continued investigation of vinegar as a possible agent to improve mood state."

Reference: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13114020