The Effect of Short-term Treatment with Fennel on Lipid Profile in Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

OBJECTIVES: The present trial aimed to assess the effects of Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) on lipid profiles. METHODS: In this double blind, randomized and placebo-controlled trial, sixty eligible postmenopausal women were randomly assigned into the fennel and placebo groups. Total blood cholesterol, cholesterol fractions, and triglycerides were tested at the baseline, and after three-month follow-up. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in triglyceride (P = 0.679), total cholesterol (P = 0.103), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C; P = 0.146) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C; P = 0.266) levels between the two groups. In addition, in both groups, a paired t.test showed no significant difference in all mentioned parameters, except for HDL-C, indicating significant borderline improvement (P = 0.052) in the fennel group. CONCLUSIONS: The fennel group revealed a very slight positive change in LDL-C, triglyceride and HDL-C. Further studies with longer durations, higher doses, and larger sample sizes are recommended to validate the results.

The Effect of Short-term Treatment with Fennel on Bone Density in Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study is to assess the effect of fennel on bone density. METHODS: This was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, which studied sixty eligible postmenopausal women, who were randomly assigned to fennel and placebo groups. Then, the dual energy X-ray absorptiometry was utilized to measure bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) of the spine, femoral neck, intertrochanter, and trochanter at the baseline and after three-month follow-up. RESULTS: The mean BMD and BMC at lumbar spine (P = 0.14, P = 0.504), total hip femoral (P = 0.427, P = 0.471), trochanter (P = 0.075, P = 0.07), intertrochanter, (P = 0.864, P = 0.932) and femoral neck (P = 0.439, P = 0.641) was not significantly different between the fennel and placebo groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study did not approve the effect of fennel on bone density in post-menopausal women. However, to gain deeper insights, further studies with longer durations and larger sample sizes are recommended.