The Effect of Garlic (Allium Sativum) Supplementation in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review

• Main Authors: Nahid Najafi, Seyed Jalil Masoumi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shiraz University of Medical Sciences 2018-03-01
• Series: International Journal of Nutrition Sciences
• Subjects: diabetic; garlic; allium sativum; type 2 diabetes; randomized clinical trial
• Online Access: https://ijns.sums.ac.ir/article_43437_710d7b2aaf712e5ca83eae388f7bfcfb.pdf

Garlic plays a very important role in diabetic patients. Therefore, this study determined the effect of garlic supplement in capsule on blood glucose and lipid profile of patients with type 2 diabetes under a systematic review. Using the keywords: Allium sativum, diabetic, garlic, metabolic syndrome and lipid profile, we performed MeSH with specified condition, then RCT, which was published up to date by November 12th and obtained in English, in electronic databases: Science Direct, Pub Med, ProQuest and Scopus was collected and studied. Finally, the screening performed by choosing a study on type 2 diabetes was used to select 3 studies as our survey. The efficacy of garlic supplement in the form of capsules, pills, and extracts or in raw form in controlling and treating type 2 diabetes symptoms and improving lipid factors were shown. Garlic supplement could reduce the level of fasting blood sugar (FBS), two-hour blood glucose (2 hpp), low density lipoprotein (LDL), total cholesterol (TC), and triglyceride (TG), increase the level of high density lipoprotein (HDL), and improved insulin resistance and Body Mass Index (BMI). Although in some studies; no significant changes were made or seen regarding these factors. So garlic supplement can be considered as complementary to control blood glucose levels and improve lipid profile in people with type 2 diabetes. However, it cannot definitely state that garlic supplement is useful in the treatment of type 2 diabetic patients and need more studies.