Lower Cholesterol With Plant Sterol Food

Lowering cholesterol is an important part of any diet if you have a higher than normal cholesterol level. A better idea is to never allow your cholesterol level to get high in the first place. To do this you need to take regular exercise and cut down on products high in animal fats and oils. As you are probably aware, high cholesterol over an extended period of time can lead to heart disease and atherosclerosis, both potentially life threatening diseases. Another product that is supposed to help lower cholesterol is plant sterol. This article will explain how plant sterol does this and what type of foods have this additive in them.

Plant sterols, also known as phytosterols, occur naturally in plants. They are the plants equivalent to cholesterol in mammals, in that they act as a structural component in the cells membranes of the organism. Many processed foods like margarines, spreads, supplement drinks and yogurts contain plant sterol. Natural foods that contain plant sterol are things like grains and legumes, particularly rice, corn and wheatgerm. Many vegetable oils such as olive, soybean and peanut also have a high amount of plant sterols. And of course all fresh vegetables and fruit contain a certain amount of plant sterol. Thus it is important to incorporate these types of food into your diet if you want to lower cholesterol. But how does it lower cholesterol ?

It is believed that by consuming around 2-3 grams a day of plant sterol, cholesterol will be lowered. It does this in the intestinal tract where it blocks the absorption of cholesterol into the rest of the body. Studies have shown that it reduces the level of LDL cholesterol in the body. LDL cholesterol is the lipoprotein that transports cholesterol throughout the body and hence is thought of as bad cholesterol.

Adding plant sterols into margarines and other types of spreads like salad dressing have, by and large, been endorsed by many dietary and nutritional organizations. Notably the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the use of it in marketing of these types of food products after examining research.

If you think you may have high cholesterol then find out how you can perform a cholesterol test and what you need to monitor your cholesterol levels at http://www.lowcholesteroldieting.com Adrian Whittle writes on issues related to reducing cholesterol and how to keep cholesterol levels low.

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