Phytosterol Superstars

Eating for a healthy ticker continues to appeal to consumers. After all, heart disease is the underlying cause for 37.3% of all deaths, making it the No. 1 killer in the United States. People are on the lookout for alternative ways to achieve cardiovascular health beyond cutting down on saturated and trans fats, placing heart-healthy phytosterol ingredients in a advantageous position.

According to the 2007 “Food & Health Survey—Consumer Attitudes Toward Functional Foods/Foods for Health” from the International Food Information Council Foundation, Washington, D.C., 80% of consumers believe in the heart-health benefits foods and beverages offer. Functional foods that help lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels can decrease the risk of developing coronary heart disease. “A survey conducted by National Consumers League in 2007 found that 82% of Americans at moderate risk for high cholesterol would prefer a nonprescription alternative to statins,” says J. J. Mathieu, ADM Technical Services, Decatur, IL.

Phytosterols are becoming honored among the health community as superstars due to their LDL-lowering potential. The National Cholesterol Education Program’s third report of the expert panel on “Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults” calls for adults with elevated LDL cholesterol to consider plant stanols and/or sterols (2 grams per day) as a therapeutic option to lower LDL. FDA granted the following health claim for food labels about plant sterols: “Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol that include at least 1.3 grams of plant sterol esters or 3.4 grams of plant stanol esters, consumed in two meals with other foods, may reduce the risk of heart disease.”

The power of phytosterols

Phytosterols are plant-derived compounds with a similar structure and function to cholesterol. They occur naturally in some vegetable oils, nuts, grain products, fruits and vegetables. The early human diet was probably once rich in phytosterols, in the neighborhood of 1 gram per day. But current dietary patterns only provide about 150 to 450 mg per day of phytosterols.

There are two classes of phytosterols: sterols with a double bond in the sterol ring, and stanols that lack a double bond in the sterol ring. The most-plentiful sources of plant sterols are sitosterol and campesterol. Stanols make up only 10% of the total dietary phytosterols.

Plant phytosterols work to lower LDL cholesterol levels by blocking its absorption. They compete with cholesterol in the formation of mixed micelles, mixtures of bile salts, lipids and sterols formed in the small intestine after a fatty meal is consumed. Research on phytosterols and cholesterol management has been growing since the 1950s, culminating in a strong body of evidence. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled intervention trials that investigated people with a family history of hypercholesterolemia found that consuming spreads fortified with 1.8 to 2.8 grams per day of sterols and/or stanols over a period of four weeks to three months significantly lowered total cholesterol by 7% to 11% (Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 2006;25(1):41-48).