Guar gum and cholesterol levels in people
What it found
In people with heart and metabolic problems, guar gum lowered total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol but made no difference to triglycerides or HDL cholesterol.
What they found
Studies in people
Total cholesterol
Guar gum lowered total cholesterol compared with control groups. The authors report a decrease of 20.41 mg/dL.
LDL cholesterol
Guar gum lowered LDL cholesterol compared with control groups. The authors report a decrease of 17.37 mg/dL.
Triglycerides
Guar gum made no difference to triglyceride levels compared with control groups.
HDL cholesterol
Guar gum made no difference to HDL cholesterol levels compared with control groups.
What the authors conclude
“Guar gum supplementation significantly reduced serum LDL-C and TC levels in patients with cardiometabolic problems, but had neutral effects on TG and HDL-C levels.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that guar gum supplementation significantly reduced serum LDL-C and TC levels in patients with cardiometabolic problems.
- They report that it had neutral effects on TG and HDL-C levels.
How it was done
Guar gum is used alongside other treatments for unhealthy cholesterol levels, but studies of how well it works have given mixed results.
The authors pooled 25 randomised controlled trials of guar gum supplements. The people studied had conditions including high cholesterol, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, overweight, carotid endarterectomy, and menopause. Doses ranged from 100 mg a day to 30 g a day, taken for 1 to 24 months.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- The trials varied widely in dose and length, so the results may not apply to every dose or every group of people.
- The review only looked at cholesterol and triglyceride levels, not at whether these changes led to fewer heart problems.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- Declaration of competing interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
- Authors work at
- Zhenhai District Refining Hospital, China; QiLu Medical University, China; Federal University of Uberlandia (UFU), Brazil
The paper
- Title
- Effects of guar gum supplementation on the lipid profile: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
- Type
- Systematic review and meta-analysisThe authors follow a set, published method to find every relevant study, then combine the numbers from them into one result.
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Lin J, Sun Y, Santos HO, Găman MA, Bhat LT, Cui Y (2021). Effects of guar gum supplementation on the lipid profile: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Nutrition, metabolism, and cardiovascular diseases. doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2021.08.040PubMed 34607737DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error