Effect of garlic on blood lipids in patients with coronary heart disease

Am J Clin Nutr. 1981 Oct;34(10):2100-3. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/34.10.2100.

Abstract

The study was conducted on two groups of individuals. Group A consisted of 20 healthy volunteers who were fed garlic for 6 months and then followed for another 2 months without garlic. Garlic administration significantly lowered the serum cholesterol and triglycerides while raising the high-density lipoproteins. Group B consisted of 62 patients with coronary heart disease with elevated serum cholesterol. They were randomly divided into two subgroups: B1 was fed garlic for 10 months while B2 served as a control. Garlic decreased the serum cholesterol (p less than 0.05), triglycerides (p less than 0.05) and low density lipoprotein (p less than 0.05) while increasing the high-density fraction (p less than 0.001). The change reached statistically significant levels at the end of 8 months and persisted for the next 2 months of follow-up. Thus, the essential oil of garlic has shown a distinct hypolipidemic action in both healthy individuals and patients of coronary heart disease.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cholesterol / blood
  • Coronary Disease / blood*
  • Garlic*
  • Humans
  • Kinetics
  • Lipids / blood*
  • Lipoproteins, HDL / blood
  • Lipoproteins, LDL / blood
  • Oils / pharmacology*
  • Plants, Medicinal*
  • Triglycerides / blood

Substances

  • Lipids
  • Lipoproteins, HDL
  • Lipoproteins, LDL
  • Oils
  • Triglycerides
  • Cholesterol