Ginger supplementation has a favorable effect on levels of triacylglycerol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, especially in doses of 2 grams or less per day.
Systematic searches were conducted on various databases including PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, ISI Web of Science and Google Scholar until May 2017. The aim was to locate clinical trials examining the effect of ginger supplementation on lipid parameters in adults. Information relating to blood lipid means and potential sources of heterogeneity was extracted. Subgroup analysis was further conducted to identify potential sources of inter-study heterogeneity. In total, the meta-analysis included data from 12 trials involving 586 participants.
The pooled analysis indicated that ginger supplementation led to reductions in triacylglycerol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Ginger, however, revealed no significant changes in total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. It was noted that a high degree of inter-study heterogeneity existed. Therefore, studies were further classified based on the dosage of ginger used. Stratification showed significant reductions in total cholesterol and triacylglycerol in those studies using doses of 2 grams or less of ginger per day. Conversely, such an effect was not observed in trials that used doses greater than 2 grams of ginger. There also wasn't any significant alteration in low-density lipoprotein or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol noted in studies irrespective of ginger dosage.
