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Filed in Heart Healthy on February 24, 2014 with no comments
How do plant sterols help your heart?
What Are Plant Sterols?
Plant sterols are similar to animal sterols, which we know as cholesterol. However, plant sterols differ from cholesterol in two primary ways:
You can only get plant sterols through diet while our bodies make cholesterol in the liver. This makes sense as cholesterol is animal sterol and we are animals, not plants!
Too much cholesterol leads to fatty build up in our arteries. This fatty build up, or plaque, leads to heart disease. Plant sterols are perfectly benign, and do not result in fatty build up.
However, those cholesterol taxis aren’t all that particular. They are just as…
View Full Recipe at Wine Barrel Gourmet's Blog
%20by%2050%25.%20Eating%20plant%20sterols%20also%20reduces%20LDL,%20or%20the%20%E2%80%9Cbad%E2%80%9D%20cholesterol%20by%20an%20average%20of%2010%25,%20and%20in%20conjunction%20with%20statins,%20will%20lower%20LDL%20levels%20by%20up%20to%2015%25.%20Other%20studies%20have%20shown%20that%20plant%20sterols%20cut%20inflammation,%20which%20exacerbates%20all%20kinds%20of%20illness%20from%20arthritis,%20to%20migraines,%20to%20heart%20disease,%20and%20have%20an%20anti-cancer%20effect.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EMy%20personal%20experience%20is%20that%20plant%20sterols%20work%20to%20reduce%20my%20cholesterol%20level%20even%20better%20than%20any%20statin%20(and%20I%20have%20tried%20them%20all)%20has%20ever%20worked%20for%20me.%20Although%20I%20would%20never%20advise%20giving%20up%20medication%20without%20your%20doctor%E2%80%99s%20approval,%20adding%20sterols%20might%20boost%20your%20statin%E2%80%99s%20effect.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EWhat%20Foods%20Are%20Good%20Sources%20Of%20Plant%20Sterols?%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EThe%20good%20news%20%E2%80%93%20plant%20sterols%20are%20present%20in%20almost%20all%20fruits,%20vegetables,%20nuts,%20seeds,%20beans%20and%20other%20plants.%20The%20bad%20news%20is%20that%20for%20any%20positive%20effect,%20we%20need%20about%202%20grams%20of%20plant%20sterols%20each%20day.%20Foods%20have%20so%20little%20plant%20sterols%20available,%20that%20there%20is%20no%20possible%20way%20to%20get%202%20grams%20each%20day%20from%20food%20alone.%20For%20that%20amount,%20we%20need%20to%20either%20take%20supplements%20or%20eat%20plant%20sterol%20enriched%20foods.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EInterestingly,%20some%20scientists%20theorize%20that%20our%20foods%20used%20to%20include%20many%20more%20plant%20sterols,%20in%20the%20days%20before%20large%20scale%20agriculture.%20This%20theory%20makes%20sense%20as%20we%20know%20that%20even%20today,%20the%20wild%20dandelion%20greens%20that%20grow%20in%20our%20backyards%20are%20much%20more%20nutritious%20than%20even%20the%20superfood%20spinach%20we%20purchase%20at%20the%20grocery%20store.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EAnother%20theory%20is%20that%20older%20diets%20were%20more%20protective%20because%20we%20ate%20many%20more%20plants%20and%20fewer%20inflammation%20causing%20foods%20like%20potato%20chips,%20processed%20sauces,%20frozen%20convenience%20foods%20and%20sugars.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EEither%20way,%20one%20easy%20way%20to%20stay%20heart%20healthy%20is%20to%20increase%20the%20amount%20of%20plant%20sterols%20we%20ingest%20each%20day.%20Watch%20for%20my%20next%20post%20where%20I%20list%20the%20best%20sources%20of%20plant%20sterols%20and%20where%20to%20get%20them.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3ELike%20Loading...%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3ERelated%3C/p%3E){kind=link}