Many alternative treatments are on the market today claiming to help in lowering cholesterol levels. One of these is plant sterols or stanols. Stanols can be found in plants, vegetables and fruits. What is in plant sterols that make them effective in lowering LDL cholesterol? How effective are they? 

If you are suffering from high cholesterol levels, you are normally advised to be physically active and have a healthy eating habit, which is typically high in fiber and low in saturated fats. These measures can help in reducing your cholesterol level. However, the desired results cannot be achieved by simply doing these things. Interventions like taking cholesterol-lowering drugs are needed, or in some cases, adding plant sterols to the diet.

Many specialists claim that stanols can help reduce LDL cholesterol. With this, manufacturers began to fortify some foods with these substances. Recently, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis made a pill containing plant sterols. They stated that this pill might be effective and safe to use.

The necessary amount of daily plant sterols to get the desired result is at least 2 grams. Studies concluded that the addition of plant sterols in food helps further in lowering total cholesterol. Foods fortified with plants sterols such as margarines and orange juices, don't appear to affect levels of triglycerides, or "good" high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. They also don’t interfere with the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E, and K). By taking plants sterols, experts evaluated a nearly 10 percent reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL), called "bad" cholesterol.

Long-term studies are still ongoing to find out the negative effects of plants sterols to human health. Until then, necessary measures should be observed when taking plant sterols Children with hypercholesterolemic can also benefit from these, as long as they are closely monitored. They can use plant sterols as an addition to their diet.