Tons of research has already shown that garlic effectively controls blood sugar and cholesterol. A new meta-analysis puts all that research together and presents a convincing case.
The new study includes 1,567 people from 29 different studies. Some of them were healthy, and some of them had high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart condition or were obese. The studies included several different forms of garlic supplement, including raw garlic, garlic powder, garlic oil and aged garlic extract.
The meta-analysis demonstrated that garlic significantly reduces fasting blood glucose and, importantly, HbA1c, which is the most important marker of long term diabetes and blood sugar control.
Garlic also significantly lowered total cholesterol and the heart harmful LDL cholesterol while significantly raising the heart healthy HDL cholesterol. It did not affect triglycerides, though several other studies have shown that it does.
The meta-analysis suggests that garlic worked best in studies that were longer than 8 weeks and that it is especially effective in people with type 2 diabetes.
This is the second important meta-analysis to include data on garlic and cholesterol. A recent meta-analysis of 21 studies of garlic’s effect on cholesterol found that it significantly reduced total cholesterol, the bad LDL cholesterol, and, this time, triglycerides, while significantly increasing the good HDL cholesterol. This meta-analysis suggested that garlic has its greatest effect in people over 50 (J Health Popul Nutr. 2024 Aug 7;43(1):113).
Nutrients. May 29, 2024;16(11):1692.