Thinking along these lines with plant sterols. My cholesterol is within normal range, but thinking as a precaution. I eat healthily, no red meat for 35yrs plus, very little processed, weight good (thanks to chuffing gastritis!! ) . I have started on Benecol milk and margarine, ( hardly eat butter)I did check with a pharmacist who said they'd be fine to take with apixaban.
Has anyone tried sterols and seen positive results as in lower cholesterol?
I was prescribed Statins as my cholesterol was 5.5 but was unable to take them as they affected my liver function. I have been taking those cholesterol drinks for 3 months and my cholesterol has dropped to 4.9 so,yes, I'd say they do work.
Yes they do work. I bought plant sterol tablets and over 6 months reduced my cholesterol from 5.5 to 4.3. The tablets are cheaper than benecol and more concentrated
yes mine went fro5.4 to 4 .4taking one plant sterol and I use benecol spread instead of butter plus a healthy diet
I wrote a reply to someone a couple of days ago saying I had lowered my cholesterol from 5.6 to 4.5 by stopping butter, reducing daily cheese to ‘sometimes’ cheese and eating Benecol yoghurt most days and replacing butter with Benecol spread. The reduction in cholesterol was noticed after three months, when I had a second blood test, but apparently, Benecol claim the actual effects occur much sooner than that. Now that my cholesterol is lower, I only have the yoghurt a couple of times a week - though it is delicious !
Annie
Good news doing something positive without meds.
I refused statins many years ago. When first diagnosed with high cholesterol I told my doctor I wanted to try an alternative - he agreed, and was favourably impressed with the results and noticed an immediate improvement. I take Red Rice Sterol from Higher Nature. I have no idea now what my cholesterol level is, as it is not mentioned, so must be OK. (If I don’t need to know, I don’t ask!) When first diagnosed with high blood pressure (not cholesterol) a locum was extremely rude to me and informed me that if I was her daughter she would make me take them!!!! (wish I had reported her). I keep off all medication that I can (obviously not AF). Never had any problems with sterols.
Hi. Are these tablets you take? I think if I were you, after that remark from the locum, I would have said, " if I were your daughter, I'd ask someone else to adopt me"
plant sterols have been researched ( there’s independent research out there I’ve read it in the past but don’t have the links) and are known to help lower cholesterol when taken with a healthy diet and exercise. The drinks are more effective if taken with food than just drank on there own. You haven’t said how much you need to lower your cholesterol by as the plant sterols are limited in how much they can do, also for some of us hearties ( really anyone) statins have other benefits as we age we all get a little plaque build up and statins help keep this stable and supple. And after a heart event they like to keep your total cholesterol under 4 I believe. I’m on a high dose high intensity statin and take plant sterol drinks. My total cholesterol is 3.8 and now after some time my bad cholesterol is in normal range.
Good luck with what you decide.
If your cholesterol is normal why on earth would you want to lower it? We need our cholesterol especially as we age. It helps to protect us against cancer and infections. Many years ago I read an article on the processing by which these plant sterol margarines and drinks are produced. Many nasty chemicals were used and I would never knowingly eat anything like that. I would rather eat red meat every day!
I would like to reduce non HDL (bad) by 1.5 as a prevention to arterial build up if I can as cholesterol contributes to plaque build up. Once there, statins do not remove plaque, but stop it getting worse. Although there is a new plaque busting medication (removes existing plaque)under trials, if successful I guess it might mean the end/reduction of statins, hopefully.
'margarines and drinks are produced. Many nasty chemicals were used'..... . Wonder if it was on par with chemicals used in statins.
I would not take a statin either. I believe the cholesterol/ heart disease hypothesis is a myth based on faulty science and think the explanation for atherosclerosis given by doctors like Malcolm Kendrick makes far more sense. Thank you for the info about the new drug under trial. It makes sense of two recent developments that have been reported recently. The latest thinking about cholesterol is that LDL =bad HDL = good is far too simplistic.
hi sunlovah , i have taken plant sterols since november 2018 after gp literally scared me with talk of high cholesterol and the need to take statins which were been pushed hard on me, so i went on plant sterols and with follow up blood work at the time , my cholesterol had went down, 2400mg to lower cholesterol and 800mg to maintain levels in an otherwise healthy person, 6 or so months ago i decided i was halving the dose to 1200mg per day , i havent been tested for cholesterol since then, i will add that my gp said at the start that my levels were high whereas my ep said they were reasonable,, go figure......
It would be a good idea to request a total cholesterol test from the GP now to see how much the sterols have lowered your cholesterol and that they are working for you.It's actually quite common to have a condition called Familial HyperCholesteroleimia or secondary HyperCholesteroleimia, genetically high bad cholesterol which doesn't come down from diet and lifestyle changes alone. This is one of those conditions which are widespread but seldom talked about even if your GP thinks you could have it
I have this and no amount of diet changes , activity or sterols changed my results so I did require statins and Ezetimibe to reduce my cholesterol and future cardiac plaque risk.
Absolutely important to mention this. FH is more common than many people realise and it’s important to know if you’re affected. By all accounts it can be very difficult/impossible to manage by diet alone. My husband works with someone who says her cholesterol is 8.2 (presumably the total cholesterol number). She tried the dietary approach and it actually went up! She doesn’t have an unhealthy lifestyle. She certainly looks well, but her cholesterol levels are worrying
My understanding is that there’s no advantage in taking plant sterols unless you need to reduce your cholesterol. The food products like the Benecols etc have been tested for efficacy but the plant sterol tablets available as supplements haven’t. They might be effective or they might not. You’d need blood tests to find out if they do anything for you. Red yeast rice (not the same thing as plant sterol supplements) contains the same active ingredient as one of the statins and can produce the same side effects in some people. The other thing is that you can’t be sure of how much or how little of the active ingredient is in the product you buy, especially if you are buying imported products online. Supplements aren’t regulated and tested like pharmaceutical products and won’t be batch tested. You need to know all of these things in order to make an informed decision. A lot of people believe supplements are like over the counter pharmacy equivalents, but they are actually regulated as foods, not medicines. I take a food first approach. You might want to look into the portfolio diet or the cholesterol lowering diet Heart UK website. A lot of people don’t want to change their diet and just want to take a pill, but they don’t want to take medication either, so pin their hopes on a supplement. 🤷🏻♀️
If you are in normal range for cholesterol and have a good diet and lifestyle many people still choose to use plant sterols or plant stanols each day , not just to get the cholesterol lower but to help maintain the healthy range they are at.You don't necessarily need to choose supplements or special foods like Benecol you can just use foods in your diet that are high naturally in stanols and sterols, but these supplements can make it easier to get a convenient daily amount.
If you are a person whom does not require a statin for cholesterol reduction or cardiac and plaque risk prevention a plant sterol can be a good addition to help keep your cholesterol low if you are over 40. As others have said the plant sterol supplements are cheaper than things like Benecol and can be more effective , although its better to take them with a meal or snack ( which makes it like drinking a benecol ).
The general consensus is that if you have normal cholesterol to begin with plant sterols aren’t going to make much difference. The plant sterol supplements haven’t been tested in clinical trials — but the drinks etc have been— so if you buy the supplements then you need to compare your before and after with blood tests. Knowing what has and hasn’t tested is what I mean by making an informed decision. The supplements might make a difference or they might not so I wouldn’t be inclined to leave it for a year without testing whilst living with a sense of false security. Three months is a better idea. This is not the same thing as being all in favour of the drinks etc. I am more in favour of the dietary approaches that have some evidence behind them, but it takes a lot more work and effort compared to looking for the magic pill that isn’t a drug. The amount of plant sterols in foods like nuts and so on isn’t a lot, so it may not shift the needle to a significant degree for some people. The dietary approaches can be a lot of work, but there is evidence that they can reduce cholesterol somewhat, and the more elements people include, the bigger the reductions.
76 years old with A F
apixaban and hematuria 
shortness of breath
3% Afib burden and proposed medication
breathlessness 
