New Finding: Garlic Not Effective for High Blood Cholesterol

How many of you take Garlic or garlic tablets/supplements for high cholesterol? In this article we discuss how a very recent study has shown Garlic to be no benefit in lowering cholesterol.

Coronary Artery Disease (blockage in heart arteries) is the most common underlying mechanism of heart attack. Hyperlipidemia (excess blood cholesterol levels and other lipids) increases your risk of having coronary artery disease (and also stroke e.t.c) and this is why it is highly recommended that people have their cholesterol checked periodically and a treatment is offered if the levels are high.

Herbal remedies have been marketed profusely as lipid (cholesterol and other) lowering agents and the top-selling herbal supplement is Garlic.

How does Garlic work?

Garlic (scientific name = Allium sativum) has a variety of sulfur containing compounds. Some of the sulfur compounds are allicin, ajoene, S-allylycysteine (SAC), diallyl disulfide (DADS), S-methylcysteine sulfoxide, and S-allylcysteine sulfoxide and they may be responsible for the various therapeutic properties of Garlic. Among the many postulated properties, a reduction in blood cholesterol levels have been inconsistently shown in various previous trials on Garlic use. Cholesterol is synthesized in liver in the body and one of the compounds Allicin has been shown to inhibit the synthesis of cholesterol in liver.

What does a recent data on Garlic use in hyperlipidemia show?

In a recent important trial published in Archives of Internal Medicine(reference 1), 192 adult patients with a LDL-cholesterol level of range 130-190 mg/dl were treated with various Garlic preparations like; raw garlic(4 gram crushed cloves/day), powdered garlicsupplement (4 Garlicin tablets/day) and aged garlic extract supplement (6 Kyolic tablets/day). These adults can be classified as a group of patients with moderate (not mild or severe) levels of hyperlipidemia (high blood cholesterol). They were followed for a period of six months with timely blood tests and as a result it was found that none of the forms of garlic,including raw garlic, when given at a dose of a4-g clove per day had clinically significant effects on LDL-Cholesterol or other plasma lipidconcentrations in these adults. Although the use Garlic was not shown to be significant enough it might have another use based on its other properties.

Conclusion: Garlic is not useful for treating high-blood cholesterol in patients with moderately high levels and thus its role as a cholesterol-lowering drug should be taken cautiously. Garlic is used most commonly as dried cloves and it is widely shown to have other effects like anti-microbial and anti-cancer effects, in various past studies. These benefits of Garlic are still important and need to be scrutinized further. But as of now, in patients with cholesterol values in the tested range, it is of no benefit in lowering lipids and we should be aware of any such false claims by drug companies.

1. Gardner CD, Lawson LD, Block E, Chatterjee LM, Kiazand A, Balise RR, Kraemer HC. Effect of raw garlic vs commercial garlic supplements on plasma lipid concentrations in adults with moderate hypercholesterolemia: a randomized clinical trial. Arch Intern Med. 2007 Feb 26;167(4):346-53.