Plant Sterols
Roles in Margarines
Pennington Biomedical Research Center
Division of Education
Heli J. Roy PhD
Shanna Lundy, BS
Phillip Brantley, PhD, Director
Overview…

Phytochemicals, or “plant chemicals,” have been studied
recently in an effort to explain why the consumption of
fruits and vegetables may help prevent coronary
heart disease

Of the three types of phytochemicals, namely plant
sterols, flavonoids, and plant sulfur compounds, only
plant sterols have been incorporated into margarine
spreads
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2005
Plant Sterols

Plant sterols are naturally occurring components
of plant cell membranes just as cholesterol is a
part of animal cell membranes

The three most abundant sterols are:



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Beta-sitosterol
Campesterol
stigmasterol
2005
Cell membrane
Plant Sterols

It was recognized in the 1950s that plant sterols lowered
serum concentrations of cholesterol

Their chemical appearance is rather similar to
cholesterol, but they are not found in any significant
abundance in eukaryotic cells

Plant sterols and their derivatives act in the
small
bowel by competitively inhibiting intestinal absorption of
cholesterol
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2005
Thus lower serum
concentrations of
cholesterol are
observed
Benefits

A meta-analysis of 18 clinical trials supporting the efficacy of action
of spreads containing plant sterols and stanols suggests that
regular consumption of 2 g per day of these materials, compared
with margarine alone, lowers LDL cholesterol concentrations by at
least:
• 0.5 mmol/L for individuals aged 50-59 years
• And 0.4 mmol/L for individuals aged 40-49 years

At this level of LDL lowering, a reduction in heart disease
risk of 25% would be expected in the populations!
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Larger than the effect that could be expected to be achieved by
people reducing
2005 their intake of saturated fat!
Take Control and Benecol

Margarine-like spreads that have recently been authorized by the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) to include cholesterol lowering claims on
their labels

Both are available in the dairy case of your
local supermarket

The FDA authorizes the claims based on the evidence that the plant sterol
and stanol esters in these products may help lower LDL cholesterol,
without effecting HDL, reducing the risk of coronary heart disease in some
individuals
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2005
Any Difference in Take Control
and Benecol?

Yes, however research indicates that both of the cholesterol-lowering
margarines work equally well

Benecol is composed of plant stanols, which are hydrogenated forms of
plant sterols

This type of margarine is synthetically produced as plant stanols exist only
in small quantities in nature

Take Control contains unprocessed plant sterols, which are abundantly
available
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2005
Benecol
Benecol

The key ingredient in Benecol is a plant stanol
ester,derived from pine trees

Been shown to have a cholesterol lowering effect by
reducing absorption
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2005
Benecol

The effective daily dose of Benecol is 1.5 tablespoons a day eaten
in three servings of 1.5 teaspoons

Unlike Take Control, the Benecol regular spread can be used for
cooking and baking

However, Benecol light is not recommended for cooking
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2005
Take Control

Uses unmodified plant sterols extracted from soybeans
as its active ingredient

The plant sterols inhibit cholesterol absorption in the
small intestine, lowering blood cholesterol levels
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2005
Take Control

Recommendations include using one tablespoon
of Take Control as a spread twice a day as part
of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol

Contains 50 calories per tablespoon, which is half
of that found in regular margarine

Cannot be used for cooking if the cholesterolfighting effect of the margarine is hoped to be
maintained because the plant sterols break down
when heated
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2005
Information.

1.5 tablespoons of Benecol contains 120
kcal, 13.5 g of fat, and 1.5 g saturated fat

1.5 tablespoons of Take Control contains
75 kcal, 9 g fat, and 1.5 g saturated fat
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2005
Cost
Benecol
Take Control
Cost is $5.00 per 8 oz. Tub
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Cost is $4.00 per 12 oz. tub
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Safety?

The most important concern about plant sterols is that they reduce
the absorption of some fat soluble vitamins

Randomized trials have shown that plant sterols and stanols have
lowered blood concentrations of beta carotene, alpha carotene,
and vitamin E by 25, 10, and 8%, respectively

Since these vitamins protect LDL cholesterol from oxidation, a
good recommendation would be to consume more fruit and
vegetables to counter the decrease in absorption
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2005
Future Areas of Research…

Include possible inverse links between plant sterol consumption
(beta-sitosterol) and cancer risk
 Compared with a cholesterol control, beta-sitosterol provided
to LNCaP cells, a human prostate cancer cell line, retarded
cell growth rate by 24%

Because prostate cancer occurs worldwide and is the second
main cause of cancer-related death in men, future work will
undoubtedly be focused in this area
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2005
Sites…

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http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/320/7238/861
http://cats.med.uvm.edu/cats_teachingmod/family_practice/module
s/nutrition/margarines/margarines.html
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/166/12/1555
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/columnnn/nn001226.html
2005