FOODS FORTIFIED WITH PLANT STANOLS OR STEROLS

Posted by Golden on August 18th, 2010

Foods are now available that have been fortified with sterols or stanols ? substances found in plants that help block the absorption of cholesterol.

Margarines and orange juice fortified with plant sterols can help to reduce LDL cholesterol by more than 10%. The amount of daily plant sterols needed for result is at least 2g which equals about two-8-ounce servings of the plant fortified stanol orange juices a day.

Plant stanols in fortified food don?t appear to affect levels of glycerides or of ?good? high density lipo protein (HDL) cholesterol. Nor do they interfere with the absorption of fat soluble vitamins-vitamins, D, E and K although the recommendation of plant sterols fortified foods is for people who actually have high levels of LDL cholesterol.

SOY: although no benefits were seen on HDL triglycerides or blood pressure or even and even with a large intake of soy, only a small impact on LDL was seen. Soy does contain minerals and is a good source of fiber. It is also a healthy low-fat alternative source of protein.

The first step for a healthy diet is to reduce your intake of bad fats specially saturated and Trans fats. If cutting out bad fats is not enough to reduce your cholesterol, you may want to try adding soluble fiber, nuts and fish to your diet. If you need more boosts from your foods, try adding foods fortified with plant sterols.

Eating a combination of these cholesterol lowering foods increases the benefit. Your doctor may also suggest cholesterol lowering medications.