NBC News Reports: Plant Sterols-A Natural, Safe & Easy Way to Lower Cholesterol

Wednesday, April 8, 2008
Reported by: Joe Vignolo, Denise Nakano, NBC News

A natural, safe and easy way to lower cholesterol. It's been around forever, but chances are, it's one alternative medicine you have never heard of.

"Nowadays, it is no longer good enough to know your total cholesterol level. You really need to know your breakdown - the breakdown between the good and the bad," said cardiologist Dr. Daniel Rader. This is the bad stuff: too much LDL, or bad cholesterol, circulating in the blood. It builds up in the arteries, slowly narrowing them or forming clots. And that can lead to heart attack or stroke.

Medicine can help, "but, there are an awful lot of people who have cholesterol levels that are higher than they should be, but not so high that they really need medication," said Dr. Rader.

Diet and exercise work. And, Dr. Rader says, so can eating phyto or plant sterols, naturally found in fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, added to other foods like spreads and snack bars, or taken as a supplement.

"There's no question that phytosterols, or plant sterols, are one of the best proven - if you will - 'alternative' methods of lowering cholesterol, short of drug therapy," said Dr. Rader.

Dr. Rader is a specialist in preventive cardiac medicine. He is a strong believer in plant sterols for people with high cholesterol who don't yet show signs of heart disease. He says they have almost no side effects and are safe for children and teens.

Research finds they can reduce bad cholesterol by 10 to 15 percent. And you can use them in combination with cholesterol-lowering prescription drugs. "I've never had really serious cholesterol trouble, but each time I went to the doctor, she was warning me that it was inching up," said David Hollenberg, who tried plant sterols. Hollenberg says he has never been shy about alternative medicine and decided to give a plant sterols supplement a try. He doesn't know yet what impact they have had on his cholesterol, but he thinks it is worth a try.

"Plant sterols are one of the rare things in the alternative medicine world that actually have been studied, have been proven to work, and are actually endorsed by people like me: card-carrying, regular doctors who actually think that this really makes sense to do," said Dr. Rader.
If you decide to try plant sterols to lower your cholesterol, dose really matters. To be effective, you must take it every day and be sure you're getting enough. For example, one or two tablespoons of sterol-containing spread a day has what you need.

Kardea Nutrition foods with plant sterols.