Sterols cut LDL

Phytosterols, the natural compounds found most abundantly in vegetable oils, reduce levels of low-density lipoproteins (the "bad" cholesterol).

While sterol supplements of two grams or more have proved to block cholesterol, the amount of sterols in normal diets--usually ranging up to one-quarter gram a day--were previously considered inconsequential. Now it appears that even such miniscule amounts are beneficial.

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., determined that removing the phytosterols from corn oil fed to healthy patients resulted in a 38 percent jump in cholesterol absorption. Adding the sterols to a follow-up meal resulted in an immediate drop in absorption.

"Phytosterols comprising less than 1 percent of commercial corn oil substantially reduced cholesterol absorption and may account for part of the cholesterol-lowering activity of corn oil previously attributed solely to unsaturated fatty acids," concludes the report, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

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