Research overview
Blood sugar and blood lipids
A trial with 62 people with type 2 diabetes reported that after 12 weeks of a lingzhi polysaccharide , blood sugar and fell. Another with 23 adults with somewhat high blood pressure or cholesterol found that after 12 weeks of lingzhi extract, rose and fell. If you take medicine for diabetes or blood pressure, do not stop it on your own; talk to your doctor before taking lingzhi.
This topic includes 2 studies and reports, each linked to its source.
Terms explained on this page (8)
- randomized
- Deciding who takes lingzhi and who does not by something like drawing lots, so the two groups are as similar as possible and the comparison is fair.
- extract
- A product made by drawing out and concentrating lingzhi’s components with water or alcohol. Different extraction methods yield different components.
- HbA1c
- A marker of average blood sugar over the past two to three months, commonly used to judge how well diabetes is controlled.
- double-blind
- Neither the participants nor the researchers know who is taking lingzhi and who is taking the comparison product, which makes the results more objective.
- crossover trial
- The same people take the test product and the placebo one after the other, with a break in between, so each person is compared with themselves.
- HDL cholesterol
- Often called “good cholesterol”; it helps carry excess cholesterol out of the blood vessels.
- triglycerides
- A type of fat in the blood; high levels are linked to cardiovascular risk.
- placebo
- A comparison product that looks and tastes like the real product but contains no active ingredients, used to compare against the real thing.