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11.06.2025

Overweight yet healthy | The metabolic effects of tulsi

Tulsi supplementation may not only activate the immune system but also improve the way the body handles glucose and cholesterol, according to an older pilot study from India.

Study
Physiologists from [again] the All India Institute of Medical Sciences divided 30 healthy but heavy or obese subjects into 2 groups. The subjects were 17-30 years old.

One group took 2 capsules each containing 250 milligrams of tulsi extract in alcohol base every day for 8 weeks. This was the experimental group. The subjects took their capsule on an empty stomach at 2 different times of the day.

The control group took no supplements, nor a placebo. This study was open label.

Just before the supplementation started and on the last day of the supplementation, the researchers analyzed the blood of the subjects.

Results
In the group that did not receive tulsi, the researchers did not see any statistically significant changes. They did see them in the experimental group.

In the tulsi group, supplementation with tulsi appeared to reduce the concentration of 'bad cholesterol' LDL and VLDL and to increase that of 'good cholesterol' HDL. This means that the risk of cardiovascular disease is reduced.

Tulsi reduced markers for insulin insensitivity. This implies that the body becomes more sensitive to insulin and the risk of type 2 diabetes is reduced.

In the table above - click on it for a larger version - you can see that in the tulsi group the concentration of LDL and VLDL (practically identical to triglycerides) decreased by about 12 percent. The HDL level increased by 22 percent. That is considerable.

HOMA-IR, a measure of insulin insensitivity, decreased by a quarter.

Bioactive substance
The researchers suspect that the compound whose structural formula and official but unpronounceable chemical name you see above is a major active ingredient in tulsi. They base this on an Indian animal study from 2011. [Asian Pac J Trop Med. 2011 Apr;4(4):278-82.]

Conclusion
"With a high degree of safety margin, Ocimum sanctum can become an easily available and cost-effective way of improving insulin resistance and lipid profile in overweight and obese individuals", the researchers summarize.

Source:
Indian J Clin Biochem. 2017 Jul;32(3):357-63.

More:
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