effects of ginger supplementation on lipid profile: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials

Background and aim: scientific experiments and clinical studies have revealed the lipid lowering properties of ginger and its efficacy as an adjuvant in hypercholesterolemic conditions. the aim of this meta-analysis is to evaluate the effect of ginger supplementation on human serum lipids. materials and methods: a systematic search of randomized controlled trials (rcts) written in english was conducted up to april 2016 by searching online databases including pubmed, embase, scopus, and google scholar. a total of seven rcts met the inclusion criteria. the pooled weighted mean difference (md) and its 95% confidence interval (ci) were calculated and pooled using a random-effects model. results: compared to the controls, ginger intake significantly reduced the concentrations of total cholesterol (-13.31 mg/dl, 95% ci, -20.29 to -6.33 mg/dl, p=0.000), low-density lipoprotein (ldl) cholesterol (-11.22 mg/dl; 95% ci, -18.37 to -4.06 mg/dl, p = 0.002) and triglycerides (-14.96 mg/dl; 95% ci, -22.13 to -7.79 mg/dl, p=0.000). but the rise in high-density lipoprotein (hdl) cholesterol level was not statistically significant (wmd = 0.12 mg/dl; 95% ci, -1.01 to 1.24 mg/dl, p =0.839). conclusion: ginger supplementation (tablet, capsules, powder or rhizomes) significantly reduces ldl, tg, and tc, but not hdl. this property enables ginger to manage lipid profile. however, high-quality rcts are required to identify the effects of ginger supplementations on hdl levels.