Are your cholesterol levels making your doctor frown? You might consider adding plant sterols to your diet.

You probably already know that when your cholesterol profile is favorable, meaning you have the appropriate levels of bad and good cholesterol, you lower your risk of developing heart disease. Plant sterols help you get that favorable profile. They have been shown to help lower LDL cholesterol, the “bad cholesterol,” without impacting your HDL cholesterol, the “good stuff.”

Plant sterols are phytochemicals that occur naturally in plants. They work because the body recognizes them as a similar compound to the cholesterol you eat in food and it absorbs the plant sterols in place of dietary cholesterol.

Research has shown that a diet that includes 2,000 milligrams per day of plant sterols can reduce LDL cholesterol by 10 percent and help lower triglyceride levels too. The greatest improvements were seen when moderate exercise was also added on a daily basis.

Plant sterols bring another health bonus too. They have been shown to also increase the lipid-lowering effects of statin drugs.

All of this is especially good news for patients with type 2 diabetes because they are often at higher risk for developing cardiovascular disease due to high LDL (bad cholesterol) levels, high triglyceride levels and low HDL (good cholesterol) levels. And plant sterols were found to work just as well in people living with type 2 diabetes as in those who do not have diabetes.

Plant sterols are present in the foods we eat, but people typically don’t eat enough of the right foods to have an impact. Most of us only get about 300-400 milligrams per day of plant sterols. Even those on a strict vegetarian diet typically only get 500-600 milligrams per day.

So how do you add more plant sterols to your diet? It’s easier than you think. Plant sterols have been added to yogurt, salad dressings and spreads since the 1990s. Many of these even carry an FDA approved statement that foods fortified with plant sterols reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, none of these plant sterol-fortified food products contains the needed 2000 mg/day for maximum effect.

There are also plant sterol supplements being marketed today, but studies show plant sterols work best when absorbed from food.

Now, the good news! There are food products that do meet that “gold standard” of 2,000 milligrams for plant sterols. UltraMeal medical foods contain 2000 milligrams of plant sterols per serving. These same products have been found to produce other medical benefits too. That’s why we are proud to carry them in the Draelos Metabolic Center Store (in-store and online - click medical foods on the left).

Adding plant sterols to your diet is a natural way to help improve your cholesterol levels and protect your heart! Ask us how we can assist you in selecting the appropriate UltraMeal products for your lifestyle and health goals.