Effectiveness of eight-week zinc supplementation on vitamin D3 status and leptin levels in a population of postmenopausal women: a double-blind randomized trial.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, published as a randomized controlled trial.

The menopausal period is characterized by hormonal imbalance related to the alteration of parameters involved in lipid metabolism.

The present study investigates the influence of zinc supplementation on the status of vitamin D3 and other lipid parameters in postmenopausal women.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 25 women were involved.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, women only.

Fifty-one healthy postmenopausal women aged 44-76 years from the province of Granada (Spain) were divided into two groups (placebo and zinc) of 25 and 26 women, respectively.

Nutrient intake assessment was performed by means of a 24 -h reminder.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

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.

Neither the women nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc group a baseline to be compared against.

Zinc was determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry.

Vitamin D was analyzed by liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry.

Leptin was determined by enzyme immunoassay.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Cholecalciferol, Dietary Supplements, Leptin, Nutrition Assessment, Postmenopause, Spain and Zinc.

Author keywords: Liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry and Vitamin D(3).

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 25 women.

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.

Its findings take up roughly 4 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2021 (Journal of trace elements in medicine and biology : organ of the Society for Minerals and Trace Elements (GMS)), a journal based in Germany.

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