A double-blind crossover study in moderately hypercholesterolemic men that compared the effect of aged garlic extract and placebo administration on blood lipids

Abstract

A double-blind crossover study comparing the effect of aged garlic extract with a placebo on blood lipids was performed in a group of 41 moderately hypercholesterolemic men [cholesterol concentrations 5.7-7.5 mmol/L (220-290 mg/dL)]. After a 4-wk baseline period, during which the subjects were advised to adhere to a National Cholesterol Education Program Step I diet, they were started on 7.2 g aged garlic extract per day or an equivalent amount of placebo as a dietary supplement for a period of 6 mo, then switched to the other supplement for an additional 4 mo. Blood lipids, blood counts, thyroid and liver function measures, body weight, and blood pressure were followed over the entire study period. The major findings were a maximal reduction in total serum cholesterol of 6.1% or 7.0% in comparison with the average concentration during the placebo administration or baseline evaluation period, respectively. Low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol was also decreased by aged garlic extract, 4% when compared with average baseline values and 4.6% in comparison with placebo period concentrations. In addition, there was a 5.5% decrease in systolic blood pressure and a modest reduction of diastolic blood pressure in response to aged garlic extract. We conclude that dietary supplementation with aged garlic extract has beneficial effects on the lipid profile and blood pressure of moderately hypercholesterolemic subjects.

To study the anti-hypertensive and lipid-lowering effects of garlic as add-on therapy to amlodipine in patients of hypertension with obesity

“…23 Steiner et al in a double-blind crossover study in 1996 when compared the effect of aged garlic extract with placebo on 41 men, demonstrated a 5.5% decrease in systolic blood pressure and a modest reduction of diastolic blood pressure in response to AGE. 24 This finding is similar to those in the present study that demonstrated a significant reduction of SBP whereas a modest reduction of DBP in group taking AGE along with amlodipine. Similarly, Qidwai and Ashfaq in their meta-analysis including 6 studies on 341 patients of hypertension have documented significant beneficial effects of AGE on BP of hypertensive patients.…”

Scavenging Activity of Different Garlic Extracts and Garlic Powder and their Antioxidant Effect on Heated Sunflower Oil

“…Garlic is known in history as treatment for cold, cough and asthma and is reported to strengthen immune system (Lawrence and Lawrence, 2011). It has many medicinal effects such as lowering of blood cholesterol level (Yeh and Yeh, 1994), antiplatelet aggregation (Steiner et al, 1996), anti-inflammatory activity (Baek et al, 2001) and inhibition of cholesterol synthesis (Piscitelli et al, 2002). Garlic has been long known to have antibacterial (Rees et al, 1993;Sasaki et al, 1999;Shobana et al, 2009), antifungal (Pai and Platt, 1995), anticancer (Unnikrishnan and Kuttan, 1990;Kaschula et al, 2010), antioxidant (Galano and Francisco-Marquez, 2009) and antiviral (Weber et al, 1992).…”

The effects of dietary garlic powder on performance, egg yolk and serum cholesterol concentrations in laying quails

“…In animal experiments, garlic extracts have been shown to lower plasma lipid and cholesterol in rats (Chi, 1982;Mathew et al, 1996), rabbits (Bordia and Verma, 1980) and chickens (Qureshi et al, 1983a,b). Moreover, a number of intervention studies have similarly shown that garlic and garlic preparations significantly reduced plasma lipids, especially total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in humans (Jain et al, 1993;Steiner et al, 1996). However, recent studies suggested that not all garlic preparations may be hypocholesterolaemic (Simon et al, 1995;Isaacsohn et al, 1998;McCrindle et al, 1998).…”