Fenugreek Research
41 peer-reviewed studies · Evidence score: 7.5/10
Comparative effectiveness of six herbs in the management of glycemic status of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients: A systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Kumar S et al. • Diabetes & metabolic syndrome (2023)
Several herbs could be considered as a valuable adjuvant therapy regarding glycemic control of type 2 diabetes patients.
- Apple cider vinegar (ACV) (standardized mean difference (SMD) = -28.99), cinnamon (-9.73), curcumin (-13.15), and fenugreek (-19.64) significantly reduced fasting blood glucose (FBG) compared with placebo (all p < 0.05).
- Notably, only ACV (SMD = -2.10) and fenugreek seeds (0.84) were found significantly effective in reducing HbA1C.
- Several herbs could be considered as a valuable adjuvant therapy regarding glycemic control of type 2 diabetes patients.
Effect of Fenugreek on Hyperglycemia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Shabil M et al. • Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) (2023)
Given the wider availability and lower cost of fenugreek, rigorous double-blinded randomized controlled trials should be conducted with fenugreek to understand its true potential as a diabetes control herbal agent.
- The mean difference with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was calculated to represent the analysis.
- The results showed a reduction in fasting blood glucose levels (MD: 3.70, 95% CI of -27.02, 19.62; p = 0.76), postprandial blood glucose (MD: -10.61, 95% CI of -68.48, 47.26; p = 0.72), and HbA1c (MD: -0.88, 95% CI -1.49, -0.27; p = 0.00) with fenugreek consumption.
- Fourteen trials, consisting of 894 participants, were included in the meta-analysis.
Dietary supplements for dysmenorrhoea
Pattanittum P et al. • The Cochrane database of systematic reviews (2016)
There is no high quality evidence to support the effectiveness of any dietary supplement for dysmenorrhoea, and evidence of safety is lacking.
- Supplements versus other supplementsThere was no evidence of a difference in effectiveness between ginger and zinc sulphate (MD 0.02 points, 95% CI -0.58 to 0.62; one RCT, 101 women).
- Vitamin B1 may be more effective than fish oil (MD -1.59 points, 95% CI -2.25 to -0.93; one RCT, 120 women).
- There is no high quality evidence to support the effectiveness of any dietary supplement for dysmenorrhoea, and evidence of safety is lacking.
Effect of fenugreek supplementation on blood lipids and body weight: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Askarpour M et al. • Journal of ethnopharmacology (2020)
Fenugreek supplementation improved lipid parameters in adults.
- Fenugreek supplementation improved lipid parameters in adults.
- However, to confirm these results, more studies, particularly among hyperlipidemic patients, are needed.
- Further research warranted to confirm findings
Improving quercetin bioavailability: A systematic review and meta-analysis of human intervention studies
Liu L et al. • Food chemistry (2025)
All rights reserved.
- This review summarises key factors that enhance quercetin bioavailability, contributing to the development of more effective and practical quercetin supplements or functional foods for better bioactivity of quercetin in humans.Copyright © 2025 The Authors.
- Published by Elsevier Ltd..
- All rights reserved.
The Effects of Fenugreek Seed Consumption on Blood Pressure: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Amini MR et al. • High blood pressure & cardiovascular prevention : the official journal of the Italian Society of Hypertension (2023)
Supplementation with fenugreek seed, especially in dosages ≥ 15 g/day and durations ≤ 12 weeks, might play a role in reducing SBP, but not DBP.
- Fenugreek seed supplementation significantly reduced SBP (WMD: 3.46 mmHg, 95% CI - 6.33, - 0.59, P=0.018), but not DBP (WMD: 3.19 mmHg; 95% CI, - 5.82 to 12.21, P=0.488).
- Subgroup analyses showed that fenugreek seed administered in dosages ≥ 15 g/day and durations ≤ 12 weeks significantly reduced SBP and DBP.
- However, further investigations are warranted to ensure the clinical relevance of these findings.
The Anabolic Effect of Fenugreek: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis
Isenmann E et al. • International journal of sports medicine (2023)
All rights reserved.
- Seven studies with 449 participants (378 male, 71 female) met the inclusion criteria.
- The meta-analysis shows that chronic application of fenugreek has performance-enhancing and anabolic effects in male athletes, but no statements can be made for female athletes.Thieme.
- All rights reserved.
Examining the Effects of Herbs on Testosterone Concentrations in Men: A Systematic Review
Smith SJ et al. • Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) (2021)
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society for Nutrition.
- Overall, 9 out of 32 studies demonstrated statistically significant increases in testosterone concentrations.
- Conclusions are moderated by the paucity of research for many herbs, the variation in dosages and extracts used, small sample sizes, and the heterogeneity of study characteristics.
- Also, further research is required before definitive conclusions on efficacy and safety can be made.
The effect of flour-based foods intake in the reduction of cardiometabolic risk: A systematic review
de Souza LVM et al. • Critical reviews in food science and nutrition (2024)
The evidence presented in the current systematic review indicates that flour-derived foods intake is related to improve cardiometabolic risk factors parameters.
- Chia flour, green banana flour, soy flour, and fenugreek powder showed improvements in blood pressure measurements.
- Brazil nut flour and chia flour reduced total cholesterol.
- Chia flour also increased HDL cholesterol levels.
Effect of saffron and fenugreek on lowering blood glucose: A systematic review with meta-analysis
Correia AGDS et al. • Phytotherapy research : PTR (2023)
Further high-quality studies should be conducted to establish the clinical efficacy of herbal medicines.© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
- The mean difference (MD) and the standardized MD (SMD) were adopted, and subgroup analyses were performed according to patient's clinical condition.
- Saffron supplementation reduced FBG (MD: -9.06 mg/dl; 95%CI: -16.25 to -1.86; I2 = 40%; p = 0.12) and HbA1c (MD: -0.19%; 95%CI: -0.23 to -0.14; I2 = 0%; p > 0.99).
- Our results show that using saffron and fenugreek can reduce FBG, PPBG, and HbA1c; however, there are some shortcomings that require attention for these results.
Effect of the herbal medicines in obesity and metabolic syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials
Payab M et al. • Phytotherapy research : PTR (2020)
High quality trials are still needed to firmly establish the clinical efficacy of the plants in obesity and metabolic syndrome.© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
- Pooled effect of herbal medicines on obesity and metabolic syndrome were presented as standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI).
- In addition, the intake of P. vulgaris and N. sativa resulted in a significant improvement in weight ([SMD]: -0.88, 95 % CI: [-1.13, -0.63]) and triglyceride ([SMD]: -1.67, 95 % CI: [-2.54, -0.79]), respectively.
- In addition, C. fimbriata, flaxseed, spinach, and fenugreek were able to reduce appetite.
Effectiveness of fenugreek as a galactagogue: A network meta-analysis
Khan TM et al. • Phytotherapy research : PTR (2018)
The NMA using pairwise comparison demonstrated the effect of C. amboinicus and palm date in the stimulation of the breast milk production was comparable and superior to all comparators.Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
- League tables were generated using treatment effect, weighted mean difference (WMD; 95% confidence interval, CI) for all pairwise comparisons, where WMD > 0 favors the column-defining treatment.
- The NMA results of 4 studies indicated that consumption of fenugreek significantly increased amount of the produced breast milk [11.11, CI 95% 6.77, 15.46] versus placebo.
- The pairwise comparison revealed that fenugreek was effective as a galactagogue compared to placebo, control, and reference groups WMD 17.79 [CI 11.71, 23.88].
The Effect of Fenugreek on the Severity of Dysmenorrhea: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Hassanzadeh R et al. • Current drug research reviews (2024)
The results showed that the effect of fenugreek on pain intensity in dysmenorrhea is highly uncertain.
- The results showed that the pain intensity caused by primary dysmenorrhea decreased with fenugreek compared to placebo (pooled result SMD: -2.21; 95% CI: -3.26 to -1.17; Z: 4.17; p <0.001).
- There was no significant difference between fenugreek with mefenamic acid (SMD: 0.05; 95% CI: -0.57 to 0.67; Z: 0.17; p = 0.86) and fenugreek with Chandrasura churna (SMD: 0.06; 95% CI: -0.56 to 0.68; Z: 0.19; p = 0.85).
- The results showed that the effect of fenugreek on pain intensity in dysmenorrhea is highly uncertain.
Effects of fenugreek supplementation on the components of metabolic syndrome: A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials
Fakhr L et al. • Pharmacological research (2023)
Published by Elsevier Ltd.
- Data were analyzed using the random-effect model, and presented as weighted mean difference (WMD) and associated 95 % confidence interval (CI).
- Administration of fenugreek can meaningfully reduce FPG, TG, WC, and SBP and increase HDL.
- The overall results support possible protective and therapeutic effects of fenugreek on MetS parameters.Copyright © 2022.
Fenugreek and blood glucose: A meta-analysis
Neelakantan N et al. • Nutrition Journal (2014)
Fenugreek significantly reduced fasting blood glucose.
- Reduced fasting glucose
- Improved HbA1c
- Benefits for diabetics
Meta-analysis of the effect of herbal supplement on glycemic control in type 2 diabetes
Suksomboon N et al. • Journal of ethnopharmacology (2011)
The current evidence suggests that supplementation with Ipomoea batatas, Silybum marianum, and Trigonella foenum-graecum may improve glycemic control in type 2 diabetes.
- Ipomoea batatas, Silybum marianum and Trigonella foenum-graecum significantly improved glycemic control, whereas Cinnamomum cassia did not.
- The pooled mean differences in HbA(1c) were -0.30% (95% CI -0.04% to -0.57%; P = 0.02), -1.92% (95% CI -0.51% to -3.32%; P = 0.008), and -1.13% (95% CI -0.11% to -2.14%; P = 0.03), respectively, for Ipomoea batatas, Silybum marianum, and Trigonella foenum-graecum.
- The corresponding values for FBG were -10.20mg/dL (95% CI -5.32 mg/dL to -15.08 mg/dL; P<0.0001) and -38.05 mg/dL (95% CI -9.54 mg/dL to -66.57 mg/dL; P = 0.009), respectively, for Ipomoea batatas and Silybum marianum.
Efficacy and Safety of Ginger regarding Human Milk Volume and Related Clinical Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials
Dilokthornsakul W et al. • Complementary medicine research (2022)
No adverse effect directly related to ginger was reported.
- Systematic review examining Fenugreek efficacy
- Published in Complementary medicine research (2022)
- Further research warranted to confirm findings
Oral galactagogues (natural therapies or drugs) for increasing breast milk production in mothers of non-hospitalised term infants
Foong SC et al. • The Cochrane database of systematic reviews (2020)
Due to extremely limited, very low certainty evidence, we do not know whether galactagogues have any effect on proportion of mothers who continued breastfeeding at 3, 4 and 6 months.
- Only one study (metoclopramide) reported on the outcome of infant weight, finding little or no difference (mean difference (MD) 23.0 grams, 95% confidence interval (CI) -47.71 to 93.71; 1 study, 20 participants; low-certainty evidence).
- Three studies (metoclopramide, domperidone, sulpiride) reported on milk volume, finding pharmacological galactagogues may increase milk volume (MD 63.82 mL, 95% CI 25.91 to 101.72; I² = 34%; 3 studies, 151 participants; low-certainty evidence).
- Three studies (fennel, fenugreek, moringa, mixed botanical tea) reported infant weight but could not be meta-analysed due to substantial clinical and statistical heterogeneity (I2 = 60%, 275 participants, very low-certainty evidence).
Effect of fenugreek extract supplement on testosterone levels in male: A meta-analysis of clinical trials
Mansoori A et al. • Phytotherapy research : PTR (2020)
Results from clinical trials suggest that fenugreek extract supplement has an effect on serum total testosterone levels in male.© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
- Data on change in serum total testosterone were pooled using random-effects models.
- A total of four trials were included.
- Fenugreek extract has a significant effect on total serum testosterone.
Effect of fenugreek consumption on serum lipid profile: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Heshmat-Ghahdarijani K et al. • Phytotherapy research : PTR (2020)
Further high-quality studies are needed to firmly establish the clinical efficacy of the plant.© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
- The pooled weighted mean difference (MD) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated and pooled using a random-effect model.
- There were no significant differences in TC, TG, and LDL between pre- and post-fenugreek studies in the noncontrolled studies however, the result of combination of four studies without control group showed a significant increase in mean HDL (0.81 [0.33,1.29]; p-value = .001).
- Fenugreek supplementation significantly improved lipid profile (LDL, TG, TC, and HDL).