Effects of zinc supplementation on obesity: study protocol for a randomized controlled clinical trial.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

The present study is designed to evaluate the effects of zinc supplementation on obese adults in Sri Lanka.

Furthermore, the researchers aim to evaluate the effects of zinc supplementation on metabolic parameters in this population.

Why It Was Studied

The prevalence of obesity is escalating alarmingly worldwide, and it is now becoming a rapidly growing epidemic in developing countries.

Recent studies have reported that zinc has been implicated in altered lipid markers, insulin resistance and some obesity markers.

Who Took Part

The study group was 80 subjects.

PubMed indexes the participants as teenagers, young adults, adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

There will be a total of 80 subjects, aged between 18-60 years, of both genders, who are obese (body mass index (BMI) ≥25).

Subjects will be stratified according to age, gender and BMI and randomly assigned into the test and placebo groups in a 1:1 ratio.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Blinding on both sides kept the subjects and researchers unaware of who received Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

Some subjects received a placebo instead of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, giving a reference point.

The placebo capsule will contain lactose monohydrate.

The study treatments will be double blinded to both investigator and subject.

The visits and the evaluations will be as follows: screening (visit 0), baseline (visit 1) and 3 month (visit 2).

Secondary outcome measures include glycaemic status (fasting blood glucose), lipid parameters (total cholesterol, triglyceride levels, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol) and blood pressure.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Blood Glucose, Blood Pressure, Clinical Protocols, Dietary Supplements, Lipids, Obesity and Zinc.

Author keywords: Adults, Randomized clinical trial and Zinc supplementation.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 80 subjects.

Its findings take up roughly 1 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2016 (Trials), a journal based in England.

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