This is a parallel, double blinded, placebo controlled, randomised trial. It will be conducted over an 8 week intervention phase, plus a pre-intervention registration and preparation period. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the pomegranate extract or placebo groups. One capsule of Pomegranate or placebo will be taken after the same time daily meal with water for 8 weeks.
Participants will be asked to visit the clinical lab three times. The first visit will be for baseline measurements and a 24 hour urine sample before the intervention begins; the second in week 4 for measurements only and the final visit in week 8 for measurements and the last urine collection. Blood pressure and anthropometric measurements will be taken at each visit. Urine will only be collected pre and post intervention.
The health related Quality of Life Questionnaire (Rand 36) will be administered at both the initial and final visits. This series of questions covers eight spheres of health and has been proven to be scientifically robust having been used in over 200 health related scientific trials.
Three day diet diaries will be used for recording energy intake and to determine any fluctuations in dietary intake over the study period. These will be completed by participants in the pre-intervention week and then at week 4 of the intervention. Participants complete 2 diet diaries in total.
