Plant Sterols Added to Orange Juice May Do the Heart Good - Plant sterols added to orange juice can significantly reduce markers of cardiovascular risk, researchers here reported.
Action Points

* Explain to interested patients that plant sterols can be found in small quantities in foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, cereals and legumes, and have been added to some margarines and other spreads.

* The National Cholesterol Education Panel and the FDA both recommend dietary plant sterols or stanols as helpful in reducing LDL-cholesterols and possibly the risk of cardiovascular disease as well.

One gram of plant sterols added into reduced-calorie orange juice reduced C-reactive protein by 12% (P<0.005) and significantly improved cholesterol levels compared with plain low-calorie OJ, reported Sridevi Devaraj, Ph.D., of the University of California at Davis here, and colleagues, in the October issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Downing the supplemented juice twice daily significantly decreased total cholesterol by 5% (P<0.01) and reduced LDL cholesterol by 9.4% (P<0.001) compared with study participants' baseline levels and compared to placebo.

Likewise, HDL levels improved significantly compared with baseline (6% increase, P<0.02), though not with placebo, over the eight-week period....