Plasma and erythrocyte zinc concentrations and their relationship to dietary zinc intake and zinc supplementation during pregnancy in low-income African-American women.

What Was Tested

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

To evaluate the effects of usual dietary intake of zinc and of zinc supplementation during pregnancy on plasma and erythrocyte zinc concentrations.

Why It Was Studied

Multiple regression and repeated measures analysis of variance.

These results should help dietitians and other health professionals better understand the expected changes in plasma and erythrocyte zinc levels during pregnancy, and the relationship between dietary and supplemental zinc and zinc nutriture.

Who Took Part

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults, women only.

Low-income African-American women (n = 580) assigned randomly to groups at 19 weeks of gestation.

How the Study Was Run

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

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 participants and researchers unaware of who received Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

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

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

What Was Measured

Multiple regression and repeated measures analysis of variance.

These results should help dietitians and other health professionals better understand the expected changes in plasma and erythrocyte zinc levels during pregnancy, and the relationship between dietary and supplemental zinc and zinc nutriture.

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Black People, Diet, Dietary Supplements, Erythrocytes, Poverty, Zinc and Black or African American.

What This Means in Plain Language

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

Results are reported in around 3 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 1997 (Journal of the American Dietetic Association), a journal based in United States.

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