Use of plant sterols to reduce cholesterol

Food Nutrition
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the usual cholesterol medications like statins give me muscle weakness so my wife discovered plant sterols that have been proved to reduce LDL by 14% which is sufficient for me because I am at an overall cholesterol level of 200 with small sized particles.
So I am interested in communicating my positive experience to others and also finding out your experiences.
I am also wondering if large doses of plant sterols might actually affect my other stress hormones adversely, as I have been having very high BG after intense exercise unlike before and this has occurred at the same time as taking this supplement.

Here is a research article about this.

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I am taking a different product called CholestOff which has 900 mgs of plant sterols/stanols. It does not affect my glucose levels at all. I haven’t had a lipid test since taking it, but hoping for the best.

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Thank you Marilyn6! I found it on Swanson’s website where we usually purchase our vitamins and supplements. I will discuss it with my wife who is wise in these areas! The plant sterol supplement I mentioned is no longer available at Swanson"s.

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After using Cholestoff for several months, my LDL dropped from 114 down to 47.
Since I can’t take statins or Repatha, I am thrilled! Plant sterols work very well for me.

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Marilyn, thanks I will pick some up at Walgreens to try.

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Plant sterols used to be our best seller for lowering cholesterol in our store. An average of about 25% in 2 months.

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I was thrilled to have such a large reduction. My HDL came down too, so I am trying to bring that back up.

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Wow, that’s a huge drop!

What are the numbers (before and after) for the HDL?

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I was wrong about my HDL It went from 57 to 56. So really no change at all. When low carbing my HDL was around 100, but unfortunately my LDL was also very high.

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Well, you certainly did a great job on lowering the LDL!

And the HDL is good too! I’m glad to hear this supplement didn’t make a difference in the HDL because I’d like to give it a try, but not at the cost of negatively effecting the HDL.

Congratulations :clap::clap::clap:

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Thanks Tapestry!

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Wow this might be what I need, since I also can’t take statins.
I haven’t had a blood test since I had a high total cholesterol 2 months ago. My Hdl was good 77 my ldl was 106. Total was 190.
Previously I had never had anything near abnormal on my lipid panel.
Did this product being down your total cholesterol ? I might grab some today

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Timothy, I was using a cholesterol machine which I had ordered from China. It works very well for another member who has one, but tests low for my husband and myself when compared to a lab test. My LDL did come down but only to 101. I was very disappointed, but l still like the Cholestoff product very much.

Trigs are 57, HDL 56, LDL 101 Total 168

When I received stents my LDL was around 190, HDL around 100 and Trigs around 36

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I am still unsure how many capsules to take and I have not seen a dramatic decrease in my overall cholesterol but it has helped. So many other factors influence the readings each time I am tested.

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I take 4. Yes, the product isn’t the miracle worker that I thought it was, but it still helps.

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I was doing some reading about it. It looks promising. From what I gather it works better on self made esterols than consumed animal based ones.
However there are some side effects for men specifically.
However I’m going to try it and see. I can always stop

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Plant sterols do carry some side effects.

Since they reduce cholesterol absorption, they may cause gut-specific side effects like diarrhea and excess amounts of fat in the stool (steatorrhea). They also lower levels of carotenoids, which are antioxidants and pro-vitamin A. Plant sterols may also reduce the absorption and blood levels of vitamin E, but it’s uncertain to what extent. Some people are also sensitive to them. One study suggests they might disrupt the microcirculation, but more research on this is needed. Also, the long-term side effects are unknown.

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I’ve been taking Cholestoff for a month now and I’ve noticed a change in my glucose, but I have not had my lipids checked yet.

If I take my capsules at dinner time, my glucose goes low about 2 hours later and lasts for several hours, I need to get up twice to eat carbs.

I think I need to take them in the morning and at lunch instead.
A second issue is that the timing of my carbs has also changed.
I need to take my bolus earlier than I usually do. In order to combat the spike after meals.

The 2 might not be connected at all. I’ve been battling timing after carbs for a while. I’ve been considering trying Symlin because it is suppose to help with this exact issue.
I’m not sure it will be covered by my insurance though.
It’s expensive