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06.03.2024

More muscle mass, less body fat by supplementing with garlic

According to a study from Iran, humans build muscle mass and lose a kilo of body fat when they take 4 capsules of garlic powder daily - without changing their lifestyle.

Study
In 2020, researchers from Urmia University in Iran published a study in which ninety subjects with a non-alcoholic fatty liver participated. Half of the subjects took a placebo daily for 12 weeks, while the other half took 4 tablets with garlic extract daily between meals.

Each tablet contained 400 milligrams of garlic powder containing 1.5 milligrams of allicin.

The researchers studied the test subjects just before and on the last day of the supplementation period. They determined body composition using, among other things, a bioelectrical impedance analyzer. That is not the most accurate method. This may be good to keep in mind when interpreting the results of this study.

Results
Although the test subjects did not change their lifestyle, the fat percentage in the supplementation group dropped by an average of 1 point. In the supplementation group, the waist circumference also decreased by 1.5 centimeters. These values ​​did not change in the placebo group.

At the same time, muscle mass in the supplementation group increased by half a kilo.

Click on the table for a larger version.

Mechanism
Supplementation improved insulin sensitivity to some extent. At the same time, garlic reduced signs of metabolic stress. [Table] These effects, the researchers suspect, probably explain the changes in body composition. However, we, the ignorant compilers of this free magazine, suspect that garlic components have more to offer.

We previously wrote about research in which runners lose more body fat when they use garlic, probably because the garlic molecule allicin inhibits the growth of fat cells. The same allicin appears to have an anti-catabolic effect.

Source:
Complement Ther Med. 2020 Jun:51:102428.

More:
Garlic enhances slimming effect of running 25.03.2013
The anabolic effect of garlic 16.08.2011

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