Medium-Chain Triglycerides in Combination with Leucine and Vitamin D Increase Muscle Strength and Function in Frail Elderly Adults in a Randomized Controlled Trial.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in this randomized controlled trial publication.

A combination of nutrients was investigated to treat sarcopenia in very frail elderly adults.

Why It Was Studied

Sarcopenia, the loss of skeletal muscle mass, strength, and function, is common in elderly individuals but difficult to treat.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 11 men taking part.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were people over 80, both men and women.

The researchers enrolled 38 elderly nursing home residents (11 men and 27 women with a mean ± SD age of 86.6 ± 4.8 y) in a 3-mo randomized, controlled, single-blind, parallel group trial.

The participants were randomly allocated to 3 groups.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, single-blind and parallel-group.

Because people in this Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Only one side, usually the men, was kept unaware of whether Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc was given.

The Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc group and the comparison group ran side by side rather than switching.

The supplement and oils were taken at dinner, and changes in muscle mass, strength, and function were monitored.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Cholecalciferol, Dietary Supplements, Frail Elderly, Gait, Hand Strength, Leucine and Muscle Strength.

Author keywords: MCT, essential amino acids, frailty, muscle atrophy, sarcopenia and vitamin D.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, single-blind and parallel-group study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 11 men.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Results are reported in around 5 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2016 (The Journal of nutrition), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.