Guar gum and blood fats across 25 trials in people
What it found
Guar gum lowered total cholesterol by about 20.41 mg/dL and LDL cholesterol by about 17.37 mg/dL in people with metabolic problems.
It did not change triglycerides or HDL cholesterol.
What they found
Studies in people
Total cholesterol levels
Compared with control groups, taking guar gum lowered total cholesterol by 20.41 mg/dL on average.
LDL cholesterol levels
Guar gum lowered LDL cholesterol by 17.37 mg/dL compared with those who did not take it.
Triglyceride levels
Taking guar gum made no meaningful difference to triglyceride levels compared with control groups.
HDL cholesterol levels
Guar gum did not change HDL cholesterol levels compared with control groups.
What the authors conclude
- They conclude that guar gum lowers LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol in people with cardiometabolic problems.
- They note that it has a neutral effect on triglycerides and HDL cholesterol.
How it was done
Guar gum is sometimes used alongside treatments for high blood fats, but past studies gave mixed results. The authors wanted to combine the data to see how well it works at different doses.
They combined results from 25 trials involving people with conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, or being overweight. Doses ranged from 100 mg/d to 30 g/d, taken for 1 to 24 months.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- These trials lasted up to 24 months, so longer-term effects are unknown.
- The participants already had health conditions, so results may not apply to everyone.
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 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error