Plant Stanols and Sterols - High Cholesterol Message Board

mg_health · 05-11-2005, 10:46 AM

I've read a few posts on this board where some claim that plant stanols and sterols *only* affect dietary cholesterol and *not* liver-produced cholesterol. This is *not* true. Whether the cholesterol in your blood is produced by your liver or comes from a dietary source, plant stanols and sterols don't know the difference as they affect blood cholesterol levels regardless of the source. Plant stanols and sterols do not just focus on the cholesterol produced by the liver, but on any cholesterol in your blood.

Therefore, it's safe to conclude, in my opinion, that, even though you are limiting your dierary cholesterol intake, it's still safe to supplement your diet with plant sterols and stanols for the purpose of reducing your blood cholesterol levels.

I've based my opinion on an article by the American Heart Association Science Advisory. It can be located by going to the circ.ahajournals.org website and looking for an article titled "Stanol/Sterol Ester–Containing Foods and Blood Cholesterol Levels" (Circulation. 2001;103:1177.)

So, don't stop taking plant stanols and strerols just because you think it won't help due to your limited cholesterol intake diet - it still helps!

mg_health · 05-11-2005, 12:06 PM

I thought I'd explain how I came to this realization:

A two-phase system:

1) Plant sterols and stanols help to reduce LDL cholesterol by competing with cholesterol in the gastrointestinal tract. The body tend to absorb more of the stanols and sterols and, therefore, limit the amount of dietary cholesterol absorbed.

2) Now, that takes care of the dietary cholesterol intake, but what about cholesterol already in your blood? What about the cholesterol produced by your liver? Your liver needs cholesterol in order to produce bile acids. If you have very limited cholesterol intake through diet then you're forcing the liver to produce it on its own. The less cholesterol you eat, the more your liver will produce. If your liver thinks that less cholesterol is being absorbed, it will produce more of it for you. That's the problem. However, taking plant stanols and streols fills this void. Plant stanols and streols are similar enough to cholesterol that the body is "tricked" into thinking it's getting cholesterol and the liver therefore produces less of it itself. This is how plant sterols and stanols can have an effect on your cholesterol levels even if you are consuming a lot less dietary cholesterol - by making the liver "believe" there's enough dietary cholesterol coming in!

HubbleRules · 05-11-2005, 06:11 PM

mg_health,

Thanks for the posting - I found it very informative.

Can you tell us what you are taking to increase your intake of plant sterols and stanols? I think I'd like to give it a try.

HubbleRules

mg_health · 05-12-2005, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HubbleRules

mg_health,

Thanks for the posting - I found it very informative.

Can you tell us what you are taking to increase your intake of plant sterols and stanols? I think I'd like to give it a try.

HubbleRules

I just started taking Cholestatin. We'll see how well it works come my next blood test.

janeslk · 06-15-2005, 04:32 PM

Has anyone had a reaction to Benecol, the margarine with plant stanols? I thought it would be a good alternative for my husband who can't take statins, but he started itching. The itchy feeling was on the area of his leg that is still sore. Is that possible or do I need to be on the Paranoia Board?

jane