In a review of vitamin C studies, researchers combined results from 13 clinical trials covering 405 participants, average age 59, who took at least 500 mg of vitamin C per day or a placebo for three to 24 weeks. Overall, vitamin C lowered LDL, the “bad” cholesterol, by 5 percent and triglyceride fats by 8.8 percent. Study authors estimated that lowering LDL and triglycerides by these amounts could reduce risk for coronary heart disease by 6.6 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.
In a green tea study, 111 healthy adults, aged 21 to 70, took two capsules of Camellia sinensis compounds (decaffeinated green tea) per day or a placebo. After three weeks, those in the green tea group had moderately lower blood pressure and men in the green tea group had a small but significant improvement in total and LDL cholesterol levels.
In a study of artichoke leaf extract (ALE), 131 adults with mild to moderately high cholesterol added 1,280 mg of ALE per day or a placebo to their usual medications, supplements and diet. After 12 weeks, total cholesterol declined by more than 4 percent in the ALE group, while increasing nearly 2 percent for placebo.
In an obesity study, 58 obese participants took 2.4 grams of Garcinia cambogia (52.4 percent hydroxycitric acid) plus 1.5 grams of Amorphophallus konjac (94.9 percent glucomannan) three times per day before each meal or a placebo. Researchers allowed participants to eat their normal diets. After 12 weeks, while no one lost weight and the placebo group did not improve, the Garcinia group had significantly lower total and LDL cholesterol levels.