Herbal medicines for suppressing appetite: A systematic review of randomized clinical trials.
Level 1 - systematic review of randomized trials
Systematic review of randomized clinical trials
PubMed 31126562 · doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2019.04.019
What was done
A systematic review searching PubMed, Cochrane CENTRAL, Web of Science, SID, and IranMedex from January 2013 to April 2018 for English and Persian randomized clinical trials. The review evaluated herbal medicines for appetite suppression in healthy, overweight, or obese individuals. Risk of bias was assessed using Cochrane methodology.
What was found
From 591 screened articles, 22 trials totaling 973 participants were included. One study showed longer-term appetite suppression for the Meratrim formulation (Sphaeranthus indicus flower heads and Garcinia mangostana fruit). Six studies showed short-term appetite-suppressing evidence for Ilex paraguariensis, Spinacia oleracea, Phaseolus vulgaris, Secale cereale, Sorghum bicolor, and Plantago. No serious adverse events were reported. The abstract provides no specific quantitative effect sizes or numerical outcome measurements.
Why it matters
This review catalogs recently tested herbal candidates for appetite suppression, identifying several plants with preliminary supportive data.
Limits
The abstract reports no numerical effect sizes or meta-analytic estimates. The overall sample size across 22 trials is small (averaging roughly 44 participants per study). The authors note methodological concerns among the included studies, and long-term efficacy, optimal dosing, and safety remain unconfirmed.
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