Eating Away Your Cholesterol!

Nearly 76 million Americans are living with high or elevated cholesterol a risk factor for coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S. A feature article in the September issue of Prevention Magazine sheds light on the latest weapon in the war on cholesterol sterols and stanols. Sterols and stanols are- plant compounds that are found naturally in fruits, vegetables, nuts and oils. A and, according to the FDA, adding two grams (2g) of either to your diet can lower your cholesterol by as much as 210 % – in some cases in as little as two weeks. To put this in perspective a 10% reduction in cholesterol can cut a 40-year old man’s incidence of heart disease by about 50 %. So what are these amazing compounds and how do they work? Natural plant sterols are very similar in composition to the bad cholesterol that blocks up our arteries. Because they are so similar sterols actively help block the absorption of LDL cholesterol from the foods we eat by taking its place in the bloodstream. As sterols travel through the digestive tract, they compete with cholesterol and they are absorbed instead of artery-clogging cholesterol. Studies also show that sterols and stanols don’t affect artery-protecting HDL or good cholesterol. For more than five decades, scientists have long been aware of this cholesterol lowering mechanism but the problem has been that they occur in natural foods in such low levels it would take about 100 pounds of fruit, vegetables and nuts to get the recommended 2g a day. But now new technologies allows food researchers to extract these compounds to be extracted from various plants and added to use them to fortify ccertain foods like beverages, cheese and breads even cookietortilla chipss, making it easier to consume the recommended amount necessary for the beneficial effect. Cynthia Sass, RD, nutrition director for Prevention Magazine talks about sterols and stanols. She provides examples of the top natural sources of sterols and stanols and also lets us know about the latest foods that we can easily incorporate into our diets. More about Cynthia Sass: Cynthia Sass, RD is Prevention Magazine’s nutrition director. Cynthia has a great deal of television, print, and radio experience. She is The Food Coach on Tampa Bay’s 10 Morning Around the Bay and previously served on Fitness magazine’s advisory board. In addition to being the nutrition director for Prevention, her work has also been published in Fitness, Shape, Self, Cooking Light, Eating Well, Woman’s Day, and Ladies’ Home Journal, among other publications. Cynthia’s first book with co-author Denise Maher, more magazine health editor, is called Your Diet is Driving Me Crazy: When Food Conflicts Get in the Way of Your Love Life. https://videos.whiteblox.com/gnb/secure/player.aspx?sid=34968