The Sterol/Stanol Crisis
Plant Sterols and Plant Stanols have been a huge part of the nutriceutical scene in lowering cholesterol. In the U.S. we have margerines, candy chews, orange juice, and you can get a variety of capsule products.
However, a shadow now clouds the plant sterol part of this story. It has been known for some time that plant stanols are nearly unabsorbable by the human body, but that plant sterols are about 10 times more absorbable.
This didn't seem to alarm anyone, or deter the scientific community from recommending plant sterols, although some scientists did indicate a preference for plant stanols.
Now that situation may be changing. A recent study has shown plant sterol build-up in arterial plaques. What does this mean? Nobody knows for sure.
One distinct possibility though is that by ingesting plant sterols, you may simply be replacing one sterol for another, and be getting the same negative effect in your blood...this time without being able to detect it.
Key questions that I would like answered are:
1. Are sterols absorbed as easily as cholesterol?
2. Are sterols when absorbed as atherosclerotic as cholesterol?
3. When plant sterols absorbed, are they showing up in cholesterol tests?
Right now plant sterols are off of my menu. The fact is, they never were on my menu. After my initial research indicated that plant stanols were equal or superior in cholesterol lowering, and virtually unabsorbable, I decided not to go in the direction of plant sterols.
I will be monitoring this issue closely. There are far more plant sterol products on the market than plant stanols. In fact, I can find none at all except for those marketed by the Benecol company.
The problem is, that here in America, because of poor sales, Benecol only sells one product: margerine. It comes in a light, and a cooking version, but that is it.
They had been marketing "smart-chews", which are a candy chew that each contains 1 serving of plant stanols. Unfortunately, they didn't sell well, and they're being discontinued.
So there you are, at a time when plant sterols are coming under fire, Benecol has chosen to narrow their product line!
I've ordered an entire years supply of chews (2 per day) so that I have time to work through the plant stanol/sterol issue, and make adjustments.
I use the margerine products, but when you're on a very low fat diet, its an incredible burden adding in more than a single serving.
I've upped my soluble fiber in an effort to partially compensate for the lower dosage of plant stanols, but soluble fiber is more difficult to take in large quantities, even though its fat free.
Am I disrecommending plant sterols? For the time being yes. With sterols showing up in plaques, its difficult to argue that sterols aren't a burden on the RCT (Reverse Cholesterol Transport) system, and that makes them theoretically no better than ingesting cholesterol, unless more cholesterol is being inhibited than sterols absorbed (everything else being equal).
On the positive side, it may prove that sterols inhibit more cholesterol than gets absorbed. It may also prove out that sterols are not as atherosclerotic in the body as cholesterol, so that they provide a net loss in cholesterol, sterol or otherwise. However, until we know for sure, the treatment now has a big question mark hanging over it.
However, a shadow now clouds the plant sterol part of this story. It has been known for some time that plant stanols are nearly unabsorbable by the human body, but that plant sterols are about 10 times more absorbable.
This didn't seem to alarm anyone, or deter the scientific community from recommending plant sterols, although some scientists did indicate a preference for plant stanols.
Now that situation may be changing. A recent study has shown plant sterol build-up in arterial plaques. What does this mean? Nobody knows for sure.
One distinct possibility though is that by ingesting plant sterols, you may simply be replacing one sterol for another, and be getting the same negative effect in your blood...this time without being able to detect it.
Key questions that I would like answered are:
1. Are sterols absorbed as easily as cholesterol?
2. Are sterols when absorbed as atherosclerotic as cholesterol?
3. When plant sterols absorbed, are they showing up in cholesterol tests?
Right now plant sterols are off of my menu. The fact is, they never were on my menu. After my initial research indicated that plant stanols were equal or superior in cholesterol lowering, and virtually unabsorbable, I decided not to go in the direction of plant sterols.
I will be monitoring this issue closely. There are far more plant sterol products on the market than plant stanols. In fact, I can find none at all except for those marketed by the Benecol company.
The problem is, that here in America, because of poor sales, Benecol only sells one product: margerine. It comes in a light, and a cooking version, but that is it.
They had been marketing "smart-chews", which are a candy chew that each contains 1 serving of plant stanols. Unfortunately, they didn't sell well, and they're being discontinued.
So there you are, at a time when plant sterols are coming under fire, Benecol has chosen to narrow their product line!
I've ordered an entire years supply of chews (2 per day) so that I have time to work through the plant stanol/sterol issue, and make adjustments.
I use the margerine products, but when you're on a very low fat diet, its an incredible burden adding in more than a single serving.
I've upped my soluble fiber in an effort to partially compensate for the lower dosage of plant stanols, but soluble fiber is more difficult to take in large quantities, even though its fat free.
Am I disrecommending plant sterols? For the time being yes. With sterols showing up in plaques, its difficult to argue that sterols aren't a burden on the RCT (Reverse Cholesterol Transport) system, and that makes them theoretically no better than ingesting cholesterol, unless more cholesterol is being inhibited than sterols absorbed (everything else being equal).
On the positive side, it may prove that sterols inhibit more cholesterol than gets absorbed. It may also prove out that sterols are not as atherosclerotic in the body as cholesterol, so that they provide a net loss in cholesterol, sterol or otherwise. However, until we know for sure, the treatment now has a big question mark hanging over it.
posted by Mark Tyler at 5:57 AM
2 Comments:
Hi Mark. Have you answered your questions yet? I know from other boards, you are very educated in Cholesterol reduction therapy using Fiber and Sterols. As you know, I am a believer in Waiora's Superior Fiber Blend for effectively lowering LDL and raising HDL levels. I would be more than happy to have our cheif biochemist that is often referred to on those boards, to get on the phone and answer any questions you may have. He is a good friend of mine and we often talk about the impact and education of effective products. If you are interested in talking with him, shoot me an email at waioradistributor@yahoo.comwith your phone number and a good time to talk. Take care and good luck in your journey.
Donna Valdes
www.waiora.info
I really appreciate this information. I've been taking plant sterols in pill form off and on for the past couple of years. I had no idea that there might be a problem with them. Going the plant stanol route really wouldn't work with my diet, as I eat less than one cube of margarine a MONTH and have no desire to increase that. So I guess I'll just forego both sterols and stanols until more is known or new products come out. Thanks for the heads up.
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