Does adding garlic [Allium sativum] with antidiabetic therapy help achieving better glycemic control in type 2 diabetic patients

ABSTRACT

With high incidence of diabetes and a wide spread belief among the general public that garlic has beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk factors., we designed a study to evaluate the blood glucose lowering effects and potential adverse effects of garlic in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The study was a 12 weeks randomized, single-blind placebo controlled study, comparing the additional blood glucose lowering effects of dried garlic powder tablet 300 mg [standardized to provide 1.3% allicin equivalent to 0.6% allicin] twice daily combined with standard anti diabetic therapy [which the patient is already taking] with that of standard antidiabetic therapy alone in type 2 diabetic patients. At the end of 12 weeks it was found that changes in blood glucose [P <0.01] and cholesterol [P <0.001] were significantly different between the garlic and placebo groups. Adding garlic to an anti diabetic regimen could be a good and safe method to achieve a good glycemic control in type 2 diabetic patients. Long term clinical trials at different doses of garlic is needed to further strengthen the current findings: