Are plant sterols safer than statins?
Plant sterols may not reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke like statins do. However, it is proven that sterols can help reduce LDL cholesterol.
Can I take plant sterols with statins?
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.
What is the best natural alternative to statins?
7 cholesterol-lowering alternatives to statins
- Fibrates. Mostly used for lowering triglyceride levels in patients whose levels are very high and could cause pancreatitis.
- Plant stanols and sterols.
- Cholestyramine and other bile acid-binding resins.
- Niacin.
- Policosanol.
- Red yeast rice extract (RYRE)
- Natural products.
Is there a better solution than statins?
There are many non-statin medications your doctor might prescribe: Bile acid-binding resins, like cholestyramine (Locholest, Prevalite, Questran), colesevelam (WelChol), and colestipol (Colestid) stick to cholesterol-rich bile acids in your intestines and lower your LDL levels.
Do plant sterols reduce cholesterol?
Plant sterols can lower cholesterol levels. Because of this, eating foods that contain at least 3.4 grams of plant sterols per day as part of a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet may help prevent heart disease.
Are plant sterols harmful?
Plant sterols/stanols are generally safe for most healthy people. Side effects include diarrhea or fat in the stool. In people with sitosterolemia, high plant sterol levels have been associated with increased risk of premature atherosclerosis.
What’s the difference between plant sterols and plant stanols?
They are naturally occurring compounds that are present in the membranes of the plant. Plant stanols have a less significant effect on lowering blood cholesterol whilst plant sterols possess a significantly high effect. This is the key difference between plant stanols and sterols. 1.
Which is better plant sterols or statins for high cholesterol?
While plant sterols help lower LDL cholesterol, they don’t appear to affect your levels of HDL cholesterol or triglycerides. One Canadian study concluded that plant sterols are the most effective natural treatments for high cholesterol. Plant sterols are found naturally in: All of these foods contain low levels of plant sterols, though.
What makes a phytosterol different from other sterols?
Phytosterols are made up of sterols and stanols. A sterol is a steroid that has a group of alcohol molecules attached to it. Stanols are saturated sterols that are similar to cholesterol, but unlike cholesterol, they aren’t absorbed by the intestines.
Which is the most abundant type of sterol?
With regards to its chemical nature, plant sterols contain a double bond or a methyl or ethyl group. Out of the abundant plant sterols, the most abundant types include sitosterol, campesterol and stigmasterol. With regards to the daily human intake, plant sterols are present in the diet with an average value of 160 mg to 400 mg per day.