Effects of Zinc Supplementation on Inflammatory and Cognitive Parameters in Middle-Aged Women with Overweight or Obesity.

What Was Tested

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

Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the effects of 12 weeks of Zn supplementation on the inflammatory profile, cognitive function, and mood of overweight or obese women through a double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Saliva samples were collected to evaluate IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, insulin, nitrite, and Zn levels.

Why It Was Studied

Obesity has been linked to cognitive decline and adverse effects on brain health.

Zinc (Zn) is a mineral with important metabolic functions that can modulate obesity-related neurological impairment.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 42 women taking part.

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

Of the 42 participants (mean age 49.58 ± 6.46 years), 32 were included in the study analyses.

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.

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

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc could be set against what happens without it.

Anxiety and depression symptoms were assessed using the Beck anxiety inventory and the BDI-II, respectively.

What Was Measured

Mini-mental state examination (MMSE), verbal fluency test, clock drawing test, and Stroop test were performed.

The subject headings attached to it are Overweight, Zinc, Dietary Supplements, Obesity and Cognition.

The authors tagged it with the keywords cognitive impairment 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 42 women.

The publication is from 2023 (Nutrients), a journal based in Switzerland.

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