Table 1.

Characteristics of included studies.

Study ID	Intervention & Comparator	Duration of Intervention	Description of Participants	Trial Period	Country, Place	Setting	Ethnic Groups (%)
Prakash 2016 [38]	I: T. arjuna	12 weeks	Age < 20 years, total cholesterol ≥ 200 mg/dL, LDL-C ≥ 130 mg/dL	-	India	Outpatient clinic of university hospital	-
	C: Rosuvastatin						-
Farzaneh 2014 [39]	I: N. sativa	8 weeks	Adult overweight females with sedentary lifestyle and total cholesterol > 200 mg/dL	-	Iran	University clinic	-
	C: Placebo						-
Rathi 2013 [40]	I: Rasonadi leha + Hridroghar churna + Usual care	3 months	Patients of post MI attending private hospital of Betul, Madhya Pradesh, India	-	India	Hospital	-
	C: Usual care						-
Devra 2012 [41]	I: Tulsi extract	3 months	Patients of metabolic syndrome	-	India	Hospital
	C: Placebo
Huseini 2012 [42]	I: Aloe	2 months	Patients with type 2 diabetes and hyperlipidemia	-	Iran	Outpatient clinic	-
	C: Placebo						-
Joseph 2012 [43]	I: Amla + Fenugreek	12 weeks	Patients of hypercholesterolemia with total cholesterol > 220 mg/dL	-	-	Outpatient department of tertiary teaching hospital	-
	C: Atorvastatin						-
Sabzghabaee 2012 [44]	I. N. sativa	4 weeks	Patients with toral cholesterol > 200 mg/dL	July 2010–June 2011	Iran	Outpatient clinics of University hospital	-
	C: Placebp						-
Sharma 2012 [45]	I: Lashunadi guggulu	45 days	Clinically diagnosed and confirmed patients of stable angina from out and in-patient departments of two hospitals of Jaipur, India	2002–2004	India	University hospital	-
	C: Placebo						-
Sobenin 2010 [46]	I: Allicor	12 months	Patients with documented CHD, 40–65 years age and s. cholesterol level > 200 mg/dL	-	Russia	Probably research center	-
	C: Placebo						-
Nohr 2009 [47]	I: Guggulu formula	12 (weeks)	Patients from Norwegian general practice who are not taking any prescriptions for hypercholesterolemia, CHD, DM	Feb–May 2003	Oppland and Hedemark counties of Norway	General practice	Native Norwegians
	C: Placebo						Native Norwegians
Qidwai 2009 [48]	I: N. sativa	6 weeks	Patients with total cholesterol level > 180 to 250 mg/dL	Feb 2006–Jan 2007	Pakistan	Outpatient clinics at university hospital	Pakistani
	C: Placebo						Pakistani
Alizadeh-Navaei 2008 [49]	I: Ginger	45 days	Patients of hyperlipidemia with cholesterol > 200 mg/dL or Triglyceride > 200 mg/dL	April 2004–May 2005	Babol, Iran	Cardiac clinic	-
	C: Placebo						-
Sobenin 2008 [50]	I: Allicor	12 weeks	Men with mild hypercholesterolemia	-	Moscow, Russia	Research center	-
	C: Placebo						-
Gardner 2007 a [51]	I: Raw Garlic	6 months	Adults with LDL-C 130–190 mg/dL	Nov 2002–June 2005	USA	University hospital clinic	White (73) Black (4) Asian (18) Hispanic (2)
	C: Placebo						White (64) Asian (14) Hispanic (4)
Gardner 2007 b [51]	I: Garlic in tablets	6 months	Adults with LDL-C 130–190 mg/dL	Nov 2002–June 2005	USA	University hospital clinic	White (66) Black (4) Asian (21) Hispanic (6)
	C: Placebo						White (64) Asian (14) Hispanic (4)
Ashraf 2005 [52]	I: Garlic	12 weeks	Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with newly diagnosed hyperlipidaemia	-	Karachi, Pakistan	University hospital	-
	C: Placebo						-
Tanamai 2004 [53]	I: Garlic	9 months	Hypercholesterolemia	-	Bangkok, Thailand	Hospital	Thai
	C: Placebo						Thai
Satitvipawee 2003 [54]	I: Garlic	12 weeks	Hypercholesterolemia	-	Thailand	Study center	-
	C: Placebo						-
Szapary 2003 [21]	I: Guggulipid	8 (weeks)	Ambulatory, community-dwelling, healthy adults with hypercholesterolaemia	March 2000–August 2001	Philadelphia, Pa, metropolitan area	University hospital	White (85)
	C: Placebo						White (75)
Venkataramaiah 2002 [55]	I: Abana	8 weeks	Patients with total cholesterol > 200 mg/dL or triglycerides > 200 mg/dL	-	-	-	-
	C: Simvastatin						-
Kannar 2001 [56]	I: Garlic	12 weeks	Volunteers who failed to comply with previous lipid-lowering therapies	-	Victoria, Australia	University clinic	-
	C: Placebo						-
Gardner 2001 [57]	I: Garlic	12 weeks	General public and employees of Stanford University	June–October, 1997	Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA	University hospital	-
	C: Placebo						-
							-
Adler 1997 [58]	I: Garlic	12 weeks	Men with elevated T. cholesterol level > 5.2 mmol/L (200 mg/dL)	-	Guelph, Ontario, Canada	University hospital/clinic	-
	C: Placebo						-
Awasthi 1997 [59]	I: Lashunadi guggulu	2 months	Patients of chronic stbale angina from two hospitals in Jaipur	-	Jaipur, India	University hospital	-
	C: Placebo						-
Gaur 1997 [60]	I: Gugulipid and usual care	4/4 (weeks)	Patients of ischaemic stroke	-	India	-	-
	C: Usual care						-
Singh 1994 [61]	I: Gugguluipid	24 weeks	Patients with hypercholesterolaemia with s. cholesterol level > 200 mg/dL	-	India	-	White (70) Black (30)
	C: Placebo						White (68) Black (32)
Jain 1993 [62]	I: Garlic	12 weeks	Patients with s. total cholesterol level > 220 mg/dL	-	USA	Outptient clinic	-
	C: Placebo						-
Tiwari 1991 [63]	I: Abana	6 months	Diagnosed cases of hypertension and Angina pectoris	-	India	University hospital	-
	C: Propanlol						-
Mader 1990 [64]	I: Garlic	4 months	Patients of hyperlipidaemia from 30 different practices in Germany	-	Germany	General practice	-
	C: Placebo
Nityanand 1989 [65]	I: Gugguluipid	12 weeks	Patients with s. cholesterol levels > 220 mg/dL	-	India		-
	C: Clofibrate						-
Verma 1988 [66]	I: Guggulu	16 weeks	Patients of hyperlipidaemia between age 40–60 years Type IIa or IIb of Frederichsons classification of hyperlipidemia	-	India	University hospital	-
	C: Placebo						-
Kotiyal 1984 [67]	I: Guggulu	12 weeks	Patients with features of obesity, 10% overweight for one’s height, age, and sex	-	India	Medical OPD of a hospital	-
	C: Placebo						-
Kuppurajan 1978 [68]	I: Guggulu	3 weeks	Patients with s. cholesterol > 300 mg/dL or total lipids > 750 mg/dL	-	India	-	-
	C: Placebo						-