Cholesterol's Too High? Eat Lots of Veggies

By David Liu and editing by Rachel Stockton

High intake of dietary phytosterols can help the body better rid itself of cholesterol, a new study found.

The study, published in January 2010, shows that daily intake of dietary phytosterols in the dose of 2059 mg per day significantly reduces serum low density cholesterol in adults.

The small, placebo-controlled crossover feeding trial of 18 adults was conducted by Susan B Racette and colleagues from Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, Missouri and the Pennington Biomedical Research center in Baton, LA.

In the trial, three doses of phytosterols incorporated in meals prepared in a metabolic kitchen were given to participants for four weeks each in random order.

Compared to the dose of 59 mg per day diet, intake of 459 and 2059 mg of phytosterols per day significantly increased fecal cholesterol excretion and billary cholesterol excretion.

Additionally, high intake of phytosterols in doses of 459 mg and 2059 mg per day reduced intestinal cholesterol absorption.

Not surprisingly, the serum low density lipoprotein or LDL cholesterol declined significantly in adults who had an intake of 2059 mg per day of phytosterols. 

Even in men with intake of 459 mg per day, a trend was observed.

The researchers wrote in their report that "phytosterol supplementation of two grams per day is recommended by the National Cholesterol Education Program to reduce LDL cholesterol."

They concluded that moderate or high intake of dietary phytosterols favorably alter whole body cholesterol metabolism in a dose-dependent manner and the moderate intake 459 mg per day of phytosterols can be obtained through a healthy diet.

Phytosterols are cholesterol-like compounds that are found in vegetable oils, nuts and legumes.  Forty four plant sterols have been identified and the most abundant phytosterols are beta-sitosterol, campesterol and stigmasterol.

Because the similarity between phytosterols and cholesterol, phytosterols in high doses can compete with cholesterol to get into the body.  One early study found that subjects given wheat germ had 42 percent lower cholesterol in their blood compared to a diet free of wheat germ.

Phytosterols rich foods include rice bran, corn, wheat germ, flax seed, cottonseed, soybean, peanut, olive, coconut and palm.

Nuts, (including cashew, almond, pecan, pistachio, walnut) and legumes, (including pea, kidney bean and broad bean) are also known to have a relatively higher content of phytosterols compared to common vegetables and fruits. 

Cholesterol is not bad in all cases.  It is needed for the synthesis of sex hormones and vitamins.  Eating too many phytosterols may affect sex hormone levels.  But too high a level of cholesterol has been associated with increased risk of heart disease.