Effect of Tulsi ( Linn.) Supplementation on Metabolic Parameters and Liver Enzymes in Young Overweight and Obese Subjects.

Linn. (also known as Tulsi) is a sacred Indian plant, the beneficial role of which, in obesity and diabetes is described traditionally. This is a randomized, parallel group, open label pilot study to investigate the effect of on metabolic and biochemical parameters in thirty overweight/obese subjects, divided into two groups A and B. Group A (n = 16) received one 250 mg capsule of Tulsi () extract twice daily in empty stomach for 8 weeks and group B (n = 14) received no intervention. Statistically significant improvements in the values of serum triglycerides ( = 0.019); low density lipoprotein ( = 0.001); high density lipoprotein ( = 0.001); very low density lipoprotein ( = 0.019); Body Mass Index, BMI ( = 0.005); plasma insulin ( = 0.021) and insulin resistance ( = 0.049) were observed after 8 weeks in the intervention group. The improvement in HDL-C in the intervention group when compared to the control group was also statistically significant ( = 0.037). There was no significant alteration of the liver enzymes SGOT and SGPT in both the intervention ( = 0.141;  = 0.074) and control arms ( = 0.102;  = 0.055) respectively. These observations clearly indicate the beneficial effects of O. sanctum on various biochemical parameters in young overweight/obese subjects.