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High cholesterol can be influenced by several factors including activity levels, weight, smoking and drinking habits, and diet. It’s also hereditary, often affecting men, individuals over 50 years old, and certain ethnic groups such as South Asians.
Thankfully, lifestyle changes can greatly impact cholesterol numbers, with certain foods actively working to reduce levels. Remarkably, two compounds found in food—sterols and stanols—are particularly adept at this task.
While we get them in small amounts from vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, and fruits and vegetables, it’s not sufficient to lower cholesterol, according to Heart UK.
The cholesterol education organisation Heart UK notes that the food industry has begun enriching various products with sterols or stanols, like mini yoghurt drinks, fat spreads, milk, and yogurts, reports Surrey Live.
Heart UK reports: “These fortified foods lower your cholesterol gradually, over a few weeks, and how much depends on the amount you eat. Some experts believe they are the most effective single food for lowering cholesterol.”
Sterols and stanols might not be everyone’s cup of tea, particularly if you’re a pregnant or breastfeeding woman, or a child without an inherited condition—you should steer clear. For kids dealing with inherited high cholesterol and those on statins, though, they’re given the green light as their mechanism is distinct.
The Association of British Dietitians has weighed in, noting the cholesterol-busting impact of sterols and stanols can vary greatly among individuals. There’s chatter that chomping down on 2g of these plant-derived compounds could whittle down a specific type of cholesterol by about 7.5-12 percent if you make it part of your routine healthy munching habits.
However, don’t bank on them alone to dodge heart attacks or strokes; the evidence for long-term effects isn’t robust yet. The UK’s take-home message remains—stick to a nutritious, balanced diet rather than banking on sterols and stanols as your sole shield against illness.
Victoria Taylor, a dietitian with the British Heart Foundation, recommends playing detective with food labels when hitting the aisles. Why?
Because each item on the shelves sports a different tally of stanols or sterols.
She said: “There’s little additional benefit to consuming more than 2.5g a day and it’s advised that you don’t consume more than 3g per day.”
Taylor added: “If you’re taking statins, it’s fine to use plant stanol or sterol products. As they work in different ways to reduce cholesterol, the effect can be cumulative. But remember that these plant stanols or sterols aren’t substitutes for prescribed medications and whilst there is an expectation that their cholesterol lowering effect will lead to fewer heart attacks, no clinical trials have been undertaken to show this.”
