Chinese Herbal Medicine for Weight Management: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses of Randomised Controlled Trials

Abstract

Objective. This review investigated the effects and safety of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) formulas on weight management. Methods. Eighteen databases in English, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese were searched from their inceptions to September 2019. The treatment groups included CHM formulations, and the control included placebo, Western medication (WM), and lifestyle intervention (LI), with or without cointerventions (WM and/or LI). Quality of studies was assessed using Cochrane Collaboration’s risk of bias assessment tool. Body weight and body mass index (BMI) were analysed in RevMan v5.4.1 and expressed as mean differences with 95% confidence intervals (CI), while adverse events were expressed as risk ratio with 95% CI. Results. Thirty-nine RCTs were eligible for qualitative analysis, 34 of which were included in the meta-analyses. The majority of studies had a high or unclear risk of selection, performance, and detection bias. Twenty-five CHM studies involving cointerventions revealed that CHM had significant adjunct effects on body weight and BMI at the end of treatment compared to control. No serious adverse events were reported in the CHM groups. Conclusion. CHM indicates a promising adjunct to facilitate WM or lifestyle change for weight management. However, methodological barriers such as lack of allocation concealment and double-blinding may have led to challenges in data synthesis. More rigorously designed RCTs involving cointerventions are warranted.

Evaluation of Expression of Cytochrome P450 Aromatase and Inflammatory, Oxidative, and Apoptotic Markers in Testicular Tissue of Obese Rats (Pre)Treated with Garlic Powder

“…Weight management strategies based on nutritional and herbal therapies have been highly recommended in recent years [58][59][60][61]. In this regard, we investigated garlic, as a protective and therapeutic adjuvant, on body weight, food intake, lipid metabolism, reproductive function, oxidative stress, infammation, and apoptosis in rats receiving the HFD.…”

A bibliometric analysis of research on herbal medicine for obesity over the past 20 years

“…The researchers concluded that this review provided suggestive evidence of the effectiveness of mixed herbal medicines for treating obesity when compared with conventional medicines, placebos, or lifestyle control. In another systematic review in 2021 that included 39 randomized controlled trial, [35] it was reported that herbal medicine could improve body weight and BMI in overweight and obese individuals when used as an adjunct therapy to lifestyle intervention with or without Western medication. Finally, we analyzed 34 keywords mentioned more than 20 times in the order of the average publication year.…”

Assessing the Physiological Effects of Traditional Regional Diets Targeting the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials Implementing Mediterranean, New Nordic, Japanese, Atlantic, Persian and Mexican Dietary Interventions

“…Similarly, the aggregation of RCTs implementing the new Nordic diet [ 94 ] also revealed improvements in the metabolic control of patients at risk for diabetes. With regard to the adoption of the traditional Chinese diet and medicine, meta-analyses of RCTs have showed selective improvements in patients with a cancer [ 95 ] or obesity diagnoses [ 96 ]. On the other hand, results from observational studies suggest that adherence to the traditional Japanese diet reduces the risk for developing specific cancers, and in parallel lower all-cause, CVD and cancer mortality [ 97 , 98 ].…”