Do plant sterols work as a supplement or only within fortified foods?

[AndrewP]

I'd rather not eat fortified spreads or take yoghurt drinks. I'm unsure whether sterol supplements are effective or are there certain characteristics of the fortified foods that help absorption?

[stopgo]

Both are very effective IF you can afford them,but dont forget its for life. !!

[AndrewP]

Thanks for the replies. I have FH, so underlying causes are genetic. Naturally high cholesterol despite good diet and very regular exercise all my life. Since finding out 2 years ago, I've been even more careful with diet and take sterol drink each day. Would be cheaper to take supplement, but wasn't sure whether they are effective. I'm trying to do my best to ensure that I can keep my Statin dose as low as possible. I'd rather not take statin, but my overall score is still 5.6 on 5mg rosuvastatin. Just increased to 10mg by lipid clinic. Good news is that my HDL is high - 3.1

[Hidden]

Here's a great article on plant sterols

patient.co.uk/doctor/choles...

[spats in reply to Hidden]

Interesting! Not too sure on the cancer saving - i had breast cancer that was probably being suppressed by a diabetic prescription medication, but had been taking plant Sterols for a decade.

All medication, prescribed or bought over the counter(or mail order!!) needs to be carefully matched to the user. IF you are not comfortable with one type of prescribed drug seek a change to another - it is a lifetime of using and you have to live with the consequences!! Not too sure about mixing effective doses of self selected plant Sterols with serious prescribed medication,

Self purchased Plant Sterols do cost, are for as long as you can afford, take at least 6 months to show any appreciable affect,, but are very very quickly eliminated

[sandybrown]

Hi, Maintaining blood pressure, blood sugar level and cholesterol are very important.

Eating fresh food, exercise and maintening a good life style can help you.

Good luck.

[sandybrown]

Take a look at the following two sites.

zoeharcombe.com/ and

zoeharcombediet.com/.

Good luck.

[foxyrobyn]

Hi, the 2nd link doesnt work , but i found this an interesting read, especially myth No8 Cholesterol

zoeharcombe.com/the-knowled...

[Hidden in reply to foxyrobyn]

To say HDL and LDL are not even cholesterol is every bit as accurate as saying men and women are not even human

[Penel]

I found this article from the BMJ about Benecol. It says that although the plant stanols may lower cholesterol, the other constituents include transfats which are known to be bad for your health. I think I would give Benecol a miss, and check the side effects of plant stanols too.

bmj.com/rapid-response/2011...

[Penel in reply to Penel]

Or even 'plant sterols'!