Improvement of Blood Pressure, Glucose Metabolism, and Lipid Profile by the Intake of Powdered Asparagus (蘆筍 Lú Sǔn) Bottom-stems and Cladophylls

Asparagus ( Lú Sǔn; Asparagus officinalis L.) is a common vegetable, long used as an herbal medicine. The cladophylls and bottom-stems of asparagus have various pharmacological effects, but they are generally discarded at harvesting. The present open clinical trial was performed to examine the effects of the intake of cladophylls and bottom-stems on the improvement of metabolic syndrome characterized by hypertension, hyperglycemia, and dyslipidemia. Twenty-eight healthy volunteers ingested either cladophyll or bottom-stem powder (6 g/day) daily for 10 weeks. The cladophyll intake resulted in significant reduction in the subjects' diastolic blood pressure and fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and decreased both the left cardio-ankle vascular index score and the total cholesterol level (T-CHO). The bottom-stem intake significantly reduced the subjects' systolic and diastolic blood pressure and FPG as well as T-CHO. These results suggest the possibility that asparagus cladophylls and bottom-stems differentially improve hypertension, hyperglycemia, and dyslipidemia.