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Garlic Reduces Plasma Cholesterol in Hypercholesterolemic Men Maintaining Habitual Diets

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Food Factors for Cancer Prevention

Summary

The cholesterol-lowering properties of garlic were determined in this double-blind, randomized, and placebo-controlled intervention study of free-living hypercholesterolemic men. Seventeen subjects received daily supplementation of aged garlic extract, while the other 17 men took placebos. The mean baseline plasma total cholesterol levels were 246 ± 5 and 243 ± 5 mg/dl for the garlic and placebo groups, respectively. The plasma level of total cholesterol at 5 months after garlic treatment was reduced by 7% (or 18 mg/dl) from the baseline value, while the levels remained unchanged in the placebo group throughout the study. The plasma level of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol also decreased by 17 mg/dl (or 10%) after 5 months of garlic treatment, but there was no significant change of LDL cholesterol level in the placebo group. At 5 months after the treatment, the levels of total cholesterol (228 ± 5 vs. 245 ± 5 mg/dl) and LDL cholesterol (145 i 7 vs. 165 ± 6 mg/dl) were lower in the garlic than in the placebo group. Neither garlic nor placebo altered the plasma levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol and tria-cylglycerol. Garlic treatment did not affect body weight, body mass index, or blood pressure. There was no difference in daily intake of energy and nutrients between the two groups at the beginning and throughout the study. We conclude that daily supplementation of aged garlic extract for 5 months without diet modifications has a mild cholesterol-lowering effect in hypercholesterolemic men.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, The Pennsylvania State University, 129 South Henderson, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Yu-Yan Yeh, Shaw-Mei Yeh & Shelley Evans

  2. Nutrition International Co., 6 Silverfern Drive, Irvine, CA, 92715, USA

    Robert I. Lin

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  1. Yu-Yan Yeh
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  2. Robert I. Lin
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  3. Shaw-Mei Yeh
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  4. Shelley Evans
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science and Technology Faculty of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Oiwake-cho, Kitashirakawa, Kakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-01, Japan

    Hajime Ohigashi Ph.D. (Professor) (Professor)

  2. Department of Applied Biological Sciences Faculty of Agriculture, Nagoya University, Furocho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 464-01, Japan

    Toshihiko Osawa Ph.D. (Professor) (Professor)

  3. Lipid Science Laboratory, National Food Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 2-1-2 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305, Japan

    Junji Terao Ph.D. (Head) (Head)

  4. Nutrition and Epidemiology, Department of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, 1-1-1 Sakuragaoka, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 156, Japan

    Shaw Watanabe M.D. (Professor) (Professor)

  5. First Department of Internal Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kawaramachi-Hirokoji, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto 602, Japan

    Toshikazu Yoshikawa M.D. (Associate Professor) (Associate Professor)

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© 1997 Springer Japan

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Yeh, YY., Lin, R.I., Yeh, SM., Evans, S. (1997). Garlic Reduces Plasma Cholesterol in Hypercholesterolemic Men Maintaining Habitual Diets. In: Ohigashi, H., Osawa, T., Terao, J., Watanabe, S., Yoshikawa, T. (eds) Food Factors for Cancer Prevention. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-67017-9_45

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-67017-9_45

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Tokyo

  • Print ISBN: 978-4-431-67019-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-4-431-67017-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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