Effect of a vegan multinutrient supplement on the nutrient supply of vegans

Organizational Data

DRKS-ID:
DRKS00028151
Recruitment Status:
Recruiting complete, study continuing
Date of registration in DRKS:
2022-07-27
Last update in DRKS:
2023-11-10
Registration type:
Prospective

Acronym/abbreviation of the study

MultiVeg-Study

URL of the study

https://ifpe-giessen.de/multiveg-studie/

Brief summary in lay language

In a purely plant-based (vegan) diet, various nutrients are considered critical. These include in particular iron, zinc, iodine, selenium, vitamin B12, vitamin B2 and the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. But other nutrients, such as vitamin A and branched-chain amino acids, are also currently being discussed as potentially critical. Critical in this context means that the average intake of these nutrients is more often below the reference values (e.g. D-A-CH reference values). Supplementation of various critical nutrients is recommended from a scientific point of view (e.g. vitamin B12). This is especially true if the daily diet is not optimally composed, the nutrient requirement is increased in certain phases of life, or the sufficient supply of all nutrients cannot always be ensured even with an optimized diet. In the meantime, there are various nutrient supplements on the market that are intended to help cover the nutrient requirements of a vegan diet. Scientific studies on the effectiveness and bioavailability of the nutrients contained are hardly available so far. Against this background, a micronutrient supplement (ProVeg Essentials+) and an n-3 supplement (ProVeg Omega 3+) of the Watson Nutrition brand are to be investigated. In doing so, the following questions will be answered: Main Question: How does the daily use of the multinutrient supplement to be investigated over 16 weeks affect the vitamin A and selenium status (as well as vitamin B12 status) of vegans*? Further questions: What is the effect of daily use of the multinutrient supplement under investigation for 16 weeks on the vitamin D, vitamin B2, zinc, iron and choline status of vegans*? How does the administration of an n-3 preparation with EPA/DHA and vitamin E over 16 weeks affect the fatty acid and vitamin E status of vegans?

Brief summary in scientific language

A micronutrient preparation (ProVeg Essentials+) as well as a choline and n-3 preparation (soy lecithin, ProVeg Omega 3+) of the brand Watson Nutrition will be examined. The following questions will be answered: Main Question: How does the daily use of the multinutrient supplement to be investigated over 16 weeks affect the vitamin A and selenium status (as well as vitamin B12 status) of vegans*? Further questions: What is the effect of daily use of the multinutrient supplement under investigation for 16 weeks on the vitamin D, vitamin B2, zinc, iron and choline status of vegans*? How does the administration of an n-3 preparation with EPA/DHA and vitamin E over 16 weeks affect the fatty acid and vitamin E status of vegans?

Health condition or problem studied

Free text:
Nutrient supply
Free text:
Healthy vegan volunteers
Healthy volunteers:
Yes

Interventions, Observational Groups

Arm 1:
The verum group receives the multinutrient preparation (ProVeg Essential +/1 capsule per day/ for ingredients and dosage see https://watsonnutrition.de/produkt/proveg-essentials-plus/) and the choline (soy lecithin 10 g (2 enclosed measuring spoons) per day/ of which 2 g phosphatidylcholine/ of which 260 mg choline) and n-3 fatty acids preparation. (ProVeg Omega 3+/1 capsule per day/ for ingredients and dosage see https://watsonnutrition.de/produkt/proveg-omega-3-plus/) over a period of 16 weeks.
Arm 2:
The control group receives placebos (same appearance, same taste).

Endpoints

Primary outcome:
How does the daily use of the multinutrient supplement to be investigated over 16 weeks affect the vitamin A and selenium status (as well as vitamin B12 status) of vegans*? The following parameters are determined at the beginning and at the end of the intervention after 16 weeks. The sample size was calculated based on the main target variable vitamin A using G*Power 3.1.9.2. For this purpose, a study with 206 subjects from Switzerland was used, which investigated the serum retinol levels (analysis: HPLC) of vegans and mixed-foods people, since, to our knowledge, there is no study that has compared vitamin A-supplemented vegans and non-vitamin A-supplemented vegans. For the calculation, a difference in serum retinol levels between omnivorous (1,869 ± 436 nmol/l) and vegan (1,562 ± 408 nmol/l) fed participants* was found to be 307 nmol/l (Schüpbach et al. 2017). On this basis, a strong effect size (Cohen's d) of approximately 0.7 was anticipated. This results in a required case number of n = 25 per study group with a power of β = 0.8 and a one-sided α = 0.05 (a priori one-sided t-test). For the second main outcome selenium, there are also no comparative studies between supplementing vegans* and non-supplementing vegans*. Therefore, a study with mixed-foods and (non-supplementing) vegans (Kadrabova et al. 1994) is used as a basis. Here, the less selective enzyme GPx (glutathione peroxidase) in plasma (compared to selenoprotein P) was used as a biomarker (analysis: mass spectrometry). With a difference between vegans* (223.9 ± 11.9µg/l) and omnivores (333.5 ± 10.6µg/l) of 109.6 µg/l and a power of β = 0.8, α = 0.05 (a priori one-sided t-test), a required case number of n = 2 per group is obtained. For vitamin B12, an expected intervention effect on MMA concentration (analysis: gas chromatographic separation using unpo-lar capillary separation column and detection with SIM (in-house method) of at least 30% between verum and placebo group is assumed. This difference is based on previous studies with vitamin B12-supplemented vegetarians* compared to non-supplemented vegetarians* (Siebert et al. 2017). With a β = 0.8 and α = 0.05 (a priori one-sided t-test), the number of cases is n = 35. Overall, a dropout of about 15% (experience from own study, by Siebert et al. 2017) is expected and thus a total case number of 40 per group is aimed for.
Secondary outcome:
What is the effect of daily use of the multinutrient supplement under investigation for 16 weeks on the vitamin D, vitamin B2, zinc, iron and choline status of vegans*? How does the administration of an n-3 preparation with EPA/DHA and vitamin E over 16 weeks affect the fatty acid and vitamin E status of vegans?

Study Design

Purpose:
Prevention
Allocation:
Randomized controlled study
Control:
  • Placebo
Phase:
N/A
Study type:
Interventional
Mechanism of allocation concealment:
No Entry
Blinding:
Yes
Assignment:
Parallel
Sequence generation:
No Entry
Who is blinded:
  • Assessor
  • Data analyst
  • Investigator/therapist
  • Patient/subject

Recruitment

Recruitment Status:
Recruiting complete, study continuing
Reason if recruiting stopped or withdrawn:
No Entry

Recruitment Locations

Recruitment countries:
  • Germany
Number of study centers:
Monocenter study
Recruitment location(s):
  • Doctor's practice Bad Homburg

Recruitment period and number of participants

Planned study start date:
2022-10-08
Actual study start date:
2022-10-08
Planned study completion date:
No Entry
Actual Study Completion Date:
No Entry
Target Sample Size:
80
Final Sample Size:
88

Inclusion Criteria

Sex:
All
Minimum Age:
18 Years
Maximum Age:
no maximum age
Additional Inclusion Criteria:
• vegan diet for at least one year • age ≥ 18 years

Exclusion Criteria

- smoking - pregnant or breastfeeding - diagnosed vitamin or mineral deficiency - diagnosed diseases affecting the metabolism (e.g. chronic gastritis, chronic intestinal dis-eases, thyroid diseases, other absorption disorders) - chronic medication use (exception: contraceptives are required and, if necessary, ex-cluded or adjusted) - supplementation of vitamin A/β-carotene or selenium as well as (higher) consumption of Brazil nuts (e.g., max. 2 Brazil nuts per week are allowed) in the last three months before study entry - high dosage of vitamin B12 supplements (allowed e.g. max. 1 x per month ≤ 1,000 µg or max. 1 x per week ≤ 200 µg, max. 1 x per day < 10-50 µg or ≤ 1 x daily vitamin B12 tooth-paste use) will be asked in the recruitment questionnaire, subjects with lowest possible supplementation will be selected preferentially - (regular) supplementation of vitamin B2, vitamin D, zinc, iron, choline, and/or n-3 fatty ac-ids in the last three months before study entry. - (regular) supplementation of iodine or regular consumption of iodine-containing seaweed in the last three months prior to study entry (exception: nori seaweed ≤ 1 tsp/sheet per day); iodized salt consumption is permitted.

Addresses

Primary Sponsor

Address:
Watson Nutrition
Benjamin Ploberger
Kulmer Straße 1
10783 Berlin
Germany
Telephone:
No Entry
Fax:
No Entry
Contact per E-Mail:
Contact per E-Mail
URL:
https://watsonnutrition.de
Investigator Sponsored/Initiated Trial (IST/IIT):
No

Contact for Scientific Queries

Address:
Forschungsinstitut für pflanzenbasierte Ernährung gGmbH (IFPE)
M. Sc. Tim Ritzheim
Am Lohacker 2
35444 Biebertal/Gießen
Germany
Telephone:
06409 – 3374 777
Fax:
No Entry
Contact per E-Mail:
Contact per E-Mail
URL:
https://www.ifpe-giessen.de

Contact for Public Queries

Address:
Forschungsinstitut für pflanzenbasierte Ernährung gGmbH (IFPE)
M. Sc. Tim Ritzheim
Am Lohacker 2
35444 Biebertal/Gießen
Germany
Telephone:
06409 – 3374 777
Fax:
No Entry
Contact per E-Mail:
Contact per E-Mail
URL:
https://www.ifpe-giessen.de

Principal Investigator

Address:
Forschungsinstitut für pflanzenbasierte Ernährung gGmbH (IFPE)
M. Sc. Tim Ritzheim
Am Lohacker 2
35444 Biebertal/Gießen
Germany
Telephone:
06409 – 3374 777
Fax:
No Entry
Contact per E-Mail:
Contact per E-Mail
URL:
https://www.ifpe-giessen.de

Sources of Monetary or Material Support

Commercial (pharmaceutical industry, medical engineering industry, etc.)

Address:
Watson Nutrition
Kulmer Straße 1
10783 Berlin
Germany
Telephone:
No Entry
Fax:
No Entry
Contact per E-Mail:
Contact per E-Mail
URL:
https://watsonnutrition.de

Ethics Committee

Address Ethics Committee

Address:
Ethik-Kommission des Fachbereichs Medizin der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Frankfurter Straße 51-53
35392 Gießen
Germany
Telephone:
+49-641-9942470
Fax:
+49-641-9942479
Contact per E-Mail:
Contact per E-Mail
URL:
No Entry

Vote of leading Ethics Committee

Vote of leading Ethics Committee
Date of ethics committee application:
2022-02-28
Ethics committee number:
AZ 57/22
Vote of the Ethics Committee:
Approved
Date of the vote:
2022-06-28

Further identification numbers

Other primary registry ID:
No Entry
EudraCT Number:
No Entry
UTN (Universal Trial Number):
No Entry
EUDAMED Number:
No Entry

IPD - Individual Participant Data

Do you plan to make participant-related data (IPD) available to other researchers in an anonymized form?:
No
IPD Sharing Plan:
No Entry

Study protocol and other study documents

Study protocols:
Studienprotokoll
Study abstract:
No Entry
Other study documents:
No Entry
Background literature:
No Entry
Related DRKS studies:
No Entry

Publication of study results

Planned publication:
Q2 2024
Publikationen/Studienergebnisse:
No Entry
Date of first publication of study results:
No Entry
DRKS entry published for the first time with results:
No Entry

Basic reporting

Basic Reporting / Results tables:
No Entry
Brief summary of results:
No Entry