Originally published October 13 2005
Sterols and stanols allow food companies to help customers cut bad cholesterol
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Vegetable additives like sterols and stanols are natural plant substances that food companies are using to fortify popular products and cut low-density lipoprotein (LDL "bad" cholesterol) by 10 to 15 percent.
Then came orange juice, followed by yogurt, granola bars, rice "milk," cheese and, now, chocolate bars.
A growing number of popular foods are being fortified with natural plant substances, known as sterols and stanols, which have been shown to lower "bad" cholesterol -- low-density lipoprotein (LDL) -- by 10 percent to 15 percent.
"Major sectors of the food arena are seeing these materials being added," said Peter Jones, professor of human nutrition at McGill University in Canada, who receives some food industry funding.
Add some other dietary changes -- eat less fried food and products with trans fat, more fiber and beans, some nuts, a little soy -- "and you can get a total reduction in LDL of 25 percent," said Jones, noting that these foods achieve results nearly similar to statins and other cholesterol-lowering drugs.
In 2001, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute recommended that people with elevated blood cholesterol levels add foods fortified with sterols and stanols to help cut their LDL levels.
"A little bit here and a little bit there won't do any good," said Scott Grundy, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, who also receives some industry funding.
For now, "people should have these products recommended by their physician to lower their blood cholesterol," Grundy said, because there's no evidence that they control cholesterol preventively.
Up to 20 percent of those with high cholesterol levels show no improvements with sterols or stanols for reasons still not understood.
Trouble is, it takes a lot of these foods -- for example, about 13 cups of almonds -- to reach the levels attained in the fortified products.
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