Table 1. Baseline variables of the treatment groups.

BMI: body mass index, FBG: fasting blood glucose, PPBG: postprandial blood glucose, HbA1c: glycated hemoglobin, LDL: low-density lipoprotein, PRE: pre-intervention.

Variable	Group 1 (Placebo)	Group 2 (Zinc)	p-value
Age (years)	48.55±8.67	47.62±7.49	0.611
BMI (kg/m²) - PRE	27.99±3.22	27.60±4.06	0.636
Sex (female/male)	23/17	21/19	0.653
FBG (mg/dL) - PRE	159.60±21.57	152.12±22.23	0.132
PPBG (mg/dL) - PRE	254.35±44.14	257.80±65.27	0.783
HbA1c (%) - PRE	7.57±0.69	7.68±0.65	0.488
LDL (mg/dL) - PRE	95.67±17.18	80.62±12.58	0.001
Serum zinc (µg/dL) - PRE	70.17±14.25	67.32±8.11	0.275