A Study on Phytosterols or Phytostanols Consumption and the PROTECTION from Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease(CVD) is the main cause of death in the adult population of industrialized societies, and it is well known that as oxidized low-density lipoprotein(LDL) is an inflammatory component of the atherosclerotic process, hypercholesterolemia is one of the main risk factors contributing to the appearance and progression of CVD. On the other hand, plant sterols and plants stanols, commonly known as phytosterols, are substances found in the cells of plants and are long been known to be effective in reducing serum cholesterol concentration by competing with dietary and biliary cholesterol for intestine absorption. With this reason, it has been suggested that these cholesterol-lowering effect of phytosterols may ultimately help for preventing CVD. However, some research has shown that not all phytosterols supplementation may be beneficial, and those individual with sitos-terolemia may be susceptible to overload. Also, limited evidence supports a decrease in fat soluble vitamins and carotenoid concentrations through the decrease in the number of available lipoprotein carriers by phytosterols consumption. However, it has been demonstrated that supplementation with food rich in carotenoids can atten-uate these adverse effects. Thus, normal populations consuming a healthy diet and not exceeding their daily intake of sterols should be of no concern. With regard to phytosterols intake associated with therapeutic effects, intake of phytosterol-enriched products of about 1.5~2.5g/day has been recommended to reduce plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C) without any reported side effects based on pertinent research on phy-tosterols. In several meta-analyses, a dose- response relationship was found between the amount of phytosterol intake and the LDL-C lowering effect of phytosterols. In addition, there was no difference in cholesterol-lowering effect between phytosterol enriched foods and phytosterol supplements provided by capsule or tablet. Thus, the proposed method is to decrease total cholesterol(TC) through exercise and controlled dietary mechanisms to free up carrier molecules for these fat-soluble vitamins. In conclusion, it is wise to consider the supplementation of phytosterols/stanols in the human diet, and appropriate intake of phytosterols/stanols could be used in place of statin drugs with reduced side effects as an alternative treatment.