Indication: Cholesterol reduction

Source: Eur J Clin Nutr, May 24, 2006 (Epub ahead of print; doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602445).

Research: In this double-blind, randomized, parallel group study, researchers studied the effect of stanol-fortified cheese on 67 subjects with mild hypercholester-olemia. Twenty-four men and 43 women were randomly assigned to either a stanol ester group, consuming cheese enriched with 2 grams of plant stanols per day, or a control group, which ate normal (non-fortified) cheese. The subjects continued their regimens for a period of five weeks.

Results: In the stanol ester group both serum total and LDL cholesterol decreased significantly by nearly 6% and over 10%, respectively. However, there were no changes in HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and apolipoprotein B concentrations between the groups. Researchers believe that cheese fortified with 2 grams of plant stanols in the form of fatty acid esters decreases serum total and LDL cholesterol significantly and could be an adjunct to cholesterol-lowering regimens.