Cholesterol: Down With the Bad, Up With the Good

Tomatoes provide other nutritionally beneficial phytochemicals: carotenes and lycopene. While each compound offers benefits to consumers, research now indicates that they work together to provide synergistic benefits. A Finnish study indicates that daily consumption of tomato products such as ketchup and juice can lower total cholesterol by almost 6% and LDL by almost 13%. Increased blood levels of lycopene, beta- and gamma-carotene were also observed, further supporting the synergy theory. No heart-health claims are currently available for these compounds.

Mother Nature is not the only manufacturer of synergistic combination products. Chet Rao, sales & marketing manager, functional & nutritional products, Hormel Specialty Foods, Austin, MN, describes “a patented formulation that combines plant sterols and omega-3s in a way that provides synergistic effects in lowering cholesterol, particularly LDL cholesterol.” Phytosterols stabilize the omega-3s, protecting them from rancidity, while EPA and DHA improve the phytosterols’ cholesterol-reducing effect by lowering triglycerides. “Typical reductions will be 10% to 20%,” he says.

Lower cholesterol? Yes glu-can!

Another important contribution plants make to our diet comes in the form of carbohydrates we cannot digest. Collectively known as fiber, these materials are either insoluble or soluble. Soluble fibers are dispersible in water. Insoluble fibers are not. This dispersability difference was once thought to be the basis for health effects. While this notion has been disproven, the terms remain in use by nutritionists and FDA for labeling indications.

Insoluble fiber affects digestion by increasing bulk and decreasing intestinal transit time, but has little to no effect on cholesterol. Soluble fibers, on the other hand, specifically beta-glucans, serve to improve cardiac health by lowering LDL. Also referred to as a viscous fiber, beta-glucan forms a thick gel that reduces intestinal absorption of cholesterol, fatty acids, biliary cholesterol and bile acids.

Found in yeast, mushrooms, bacteria and algae, beta-glucan is especially prominent in oats and barley (5% and 7%, respectively). It is these latter sources, along with Oatrim (defined by 21 CFR Part 101 as “the soluble fraction of alpha-amylase hydrolysed oat bran or whole oat flour with a beta-glucan soluble fiber content of up to 10% (dwb) and not less than that of the starting material (dwb)”) and psyllium husk, that were initially named in 21 CFR, 101.81, “Soluble fiber from certain foods and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD),” which requires 0.75 grams soluble fiber per reference amount of whole oat, barley, or Oatrim, or 1.7g per reference amount of soluble fiber from psyllium husk.

“Recently the FDA expanded the soluble fiber health claim to include barley betafiber,” says Pam Stauffer, global marketing programs & communications manager, Cargill Foods, Minneapolis, MN. Defined by FDA as the ethanol-precipitated soluble fraction of cellulase-hydrolyzed and alpha-amylase-hydrolyzed whole grain barley flour, betafiber contains 70% or more beta-glucan. “High purity reduced-molecula-weight beta-glucan soluble fiber has some very exciting product formulation attributes,” she notes, “including the ability to formulate into clear beverages.”

“That’s soy folks!”

Research through the years has since confirmed soy’s reductive effect on LDL. Traditionally held theories about inhibition of cholesterol synthesis and absorption have, however, given way to new information. A study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (2007; 55(26): 10599-10604) described how using soy protein hydrolysates indicates that soy’s bioactivity stems from peptides stimulating LDL-receptor transcription, thus reducing blood cholesterol level.

Regardless of the mechanism, 21 CFR 101.82 reads: “25 grams of soy protein a day, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease. A serving of [name of food] supplies __ grams of soy protein,” or “Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol that include 25 grams of soy protein a day may reduce the risk of heart disease. One serving of [name of food] provides __ grams of soy protein.” In addition to being low in cholesterol and fat, foods bearing this claim must deliver at least 6.25 grams of soy protein per serving.

R.J. Foster is a wordsmith with a B.S. in food science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and over 15 years of experience in the food industry. He can be reached through his website,wordsmithingbyfoster.com.