Garlic is one of the herbal supplements which are used widely to treat high cholesterol. It is believed that having raw garlic daily may help to lower the cholesterol level in your body.
In most of the researches that brought out cholesterol lowering results, about one gram or half gram of garlic was consumed daily. It is observed that the garlic lowered total cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the bloodstream by up to 20 mg/dL. That too particularly, the level of LDL cholesterol was lowered whereas the level of HDL cholesterol or good cholesterol was not affected. The ability of garlic in lowering the cholesterol appears to be dosage-dependent. That is, if you intake more garlic, your cholesterol level will drop very quickly. Some studies that conducted to learn about the long-term effects of garlic on cholesterol have proved that the cholesterol-lowering effect of garlic is only temporary.
In addition to this, there are some debates going on to find which form of garlic is effective, whether powder form or extraction or oil or tablet or raw. Few studies have proposed that garlic in powder form may have little amounts of allicin. It is one of the active ingredients in garlic which helps to lower cholesterol. |