Do Cholesterol-Lowering Foods Really Work
Oct. 16 -- As you cruise the supermarket aisles, or flip through TV channels, you'll find a barrage of food items — and even a new orange juice — that claim to be able to lower your cholesterol.
But are they good medicine — or just good marketing?
A little bit of both, said ABCNEWS' Medical Editor Dr. Tim Johnson. Some of the new foods contain substances called plant sterols, which studies have shown can reduce cholesterol levels by about 10 percent.
"We have known about plant sterols since the 1950s, but it is an only in the last 10 years that we have learned how to put them in the foods without changing taste or texture," Johnson said. "Since they are a chemical cousin of cholesterol they block the absorption of real cholesterol in our intestines, and therefore modestly lower the levels of bad cholesterol in all blood."
Plant sterols are present naturally, but in small quantities, in many fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, cereals, legumes, vegetable oils, and other plant sources.
The new products contain plant sterols as additives. While doctors say the cholesterol-busting foods can certainly help those with moderately high cholesterol levels, those with high-risk cholesterol levels, above 240, should turn to prescription drugs — namely, statins.
"Plant sterols are not anywhere close to the cholesterol-lowering potency of the statin medications," said Dr. Peter Schulman, an associate professor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in Farmington, Conn. "The newest drugs lower the bad cholesterol by close to 50 at the starting dose. Sterols lower cholesterol by approximately 10 percent."
Nonetheless, anything that lowers cholesterol safely is a good thing, he said.
The products that boast cholesterol-lowering abilities include spreads and margarines, such as Benecol, Take Control and Smart Balance, and soy snacks such as GeniSoy Crisps. Minute Maid Premium Heart Wise orange juice, to be released in November, is the first orange juice to contain plant sterols.
Manufacturers have a sizable audience to target.
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