HOW DOES PREVALIP WORK?
Cholesterol is essential for good health. While we know that high blood cholesterol is linked with conditions like heart disease and stroke, we should remember that a small amount of cholesterol is necessary for a regular, healthy body to thrive. Learning about the inner workings of our digestive system helps illuminate why plant sterols are key in keeping our cholesterol at healthy levels while reaping the benefits cholesterol provides us.
Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance produced by the liver. Cholesterol plays an essential role in your digestive tract where it acts like the “cooking grease” of your small and large intestine. Similar to how grease in a frying pan helps break food down and extract nutrients into the overall mixture, cholesterol helps break food down and extract nutrients from food for transport into your bloodstream. Your digestive tract absorbs all the nutrients you eat from food, but sometimes it also absorbs cholesterol along with it.
Cholesterol is helpful “cooking grease” inside your digestive tract
Cholesterol is helpful “cooking grease” inside your digestive tract, but when it gets absorbed in your bloodstream, it can become dangerous. Studies show that over the years, cholesterol can stick to the walls of your arteries where it can significantly increase your risk of a heart attack or stroke. This is why a diet high in vegetables and dietary fiber is so important: vegetables contain compounds called “plant sterols.” Plant sterols are the plant equivalent of cholesterol and are found in vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. They have a chemical structure very similar to your blood cholesterol, and are a natural part of a healthy diet. Eating vegetables helps lower cholesterol because the plant sterols bind to your cholesterol, preventing it from being absorbed into your bloodstream. Cholesterol and plant sterols, when bound together, do not get absorbed and instead stay in your digestive tract until you excrete both the plant sterols and cholesterol during a bowel movement.
Studies show that optimal LDL cholesterol-lowering occurs at approximately 2 grams of plant sterols per day.
Studies show that optimal LDL cholesterol-lowering occurs at approximately 2 grams of plant sterols per day. But this is difficult to get through diet alone. 100 grams of broccoli contain between 10-15 milligrams of plant sterols. You would have to eat a lot of broccoli in order to get 2 grams! Studies show that when extracted from vegetable sources and taken in supplement form, plant sterols have the same effect and are “Generally Regarded as Safe.” This is why the Natural Institute of Health recommends patients with high cholesterol to consume 2 grams per day of plant sterol esters. There’s no need to consume more than 2 grams daily because your body only produces so much cholesterol to lubricate and “grease up” your digestive tract.
When you take Prevalip, plant sterols bind to cholesterol throughout your digestive tract.
When you take Prevalip, plant sterols bind to cholesterol throughout your digestive tract. As the liver constantly produces cholesterol, it’s important to take plant sterol supplements regularly. But this doesn’t mean you should stop eating vegetables! Vegetables have many other healthy properties, and the fiber in vegetables also helps reduce and block cholesterol absorption. The best way to take plant sterol supplements is to take one gram in the morning to reduce your cholesterol absorption during the day, and one gram in the evening to reduce your cholesterol absorption throughout the evening. If you forget a day of plant sterol supplements, don’t try to overcompensate by taking more the next day, because plant sterols cannot undo cholesterol absorption that’s already happened. Once your body absorbs cholesterol into the bloodstream, it’s absorbed. The best we can do is resume regular consumption the next day.
Plant sterols are an important dietary requirement for everyone, and there is no medical replacement for plant sterols.
Plant sterols are an important dietary requirement for everyone, and there is no medical replacement for plant sterols. If you have extra risk factors for heart disease, or if your cholesterol is considerably high, your doctor may recommend taking a pharmaceutical medication called a statin. Statins work differently than plant sterols: they reduce the amount of cholesterol you produce in the liver to begin with, and have been shown to also reduce cholesterol levels. For maximum cholesterol-lowering, you should take medications as prescribed by your doctor in addition to an optimal dietary intake of plant sterols, fiber, and vegetables.
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Safety Profile
The FDA classifies phytosterols (plant sterols) as “Generally Recognized As Safe” at the recommended dose levels.