Plant sterols and stanols effect on cholesterol

I recently read an article in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association regarding plant sterols and plant stanols. The article isn't relevant to the public but I thought I would add a piece about the topic.

Plant sterols and stanols are like cholesterol but are found in plants. Research has shown that 2 g of sterols/stanols per day can help lower your LDL (bad) cholesterol.

So where do you get this magical plant cholesterol you ask? Well that's kind of the problem. There are margarines that are fortified with them. But in order to get 2 grams, you need to eat 2 tablespoons of this margarine /day. There about 150 calories in 2 tablespoons of margarine.

IF you are willing to replace calories elsewhere in your diet with calories from 2 tablespoons of margarine, then this might be a good option for you. Especially if you are at a healthy weight or underweight.

Another problem is that these products are pretty expensive and there are other ways to reduce your cholesterol. Of course, medications are probably more expensive, and needless to say, having a heart attack due to high cholesterol is even MORE expensive. So again, if you would like to be really proactive about reducing your cholesterol without medications you could give it a try.

Benecol and Take Control are the two brands that I know about. There may be other fat-based products (mayonnaise, salad dressings) that also use plant sterols/stanols. Let me know if it works for you!