If you have trouble managing your cholesterol, you are not alone. According to the American Heart Association, one in three Americans—more than 100 million—struggle with borderline to high cholesterol, leaving themselves at risk for heart attacks and strokes. High cholesterol is such a widespread health concern the U.S. government introduced a program to help people lower their cholesterol levels naturally. The program, launched in 2001, is called Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes or, TLC. The TLC program recommends diet, exercise, weight maintenance, and consuming soluble fiber and plant-based nutrients called sterols and stanols as an all-natural first line of defense in the battle against elevated cholesterol levels.
A recent survey commissioned by Nature Made CholestOff and conducted by Harris Interactive® reveals that 59 percent of U.S. adults who currently have or previously had high cholesterol use lifestyle changes to treat their high cholesterol.
However, millions of people with elevated cholesterol levels have yet to try the program. While most Americans are aware that diet and exercise can help with cholesterol reduction, many are still lacking information about the cholesterol-fighting properties of plant sterols and stanols. More than 50 years of research support using plant sterols and stanols for cholesterol reduction, yet few Americans know about these natural cholesterol fighters.
“Sterols and stanols are found naturally in plants, nuts, corn and rice,” says registered dietitian Rachel Agnew. “They decrease total cholesterol and ‘bad’ (LDL) cholesterol by blocking cholesterol absorption.”
Agnew says, “One therapeutic option recommended in the TLC program for lowering LDL cholesterol is the intake of 2 grams of plant sterols and stanols daily. The average American gets only 0.2 grams or less a day through their daily diet. That’s far short of where we need to be to promote healthy cholesterol levels.”
Fortunately, it’s easier than ever to add plant sterols and stanols to your diet. Specialty foods and beverages made with these ingredients, such as margarine and orange juice, are readily available at most drug and grocery stores.
However, these specialty products can add unwanted fat, calories, and carbohydrates to the diet, which can be a problem for those people trying to maintain a healthy weight. Agnew says one easy and effective alternative way to take plant sterols and stanols is through a dietary supplement called Nature Made CholestOff. “People tell me they prefer CholestOff because it’s convenient and that they know it contains 1.8 grams of sterols and stanols. Unlike specialty food products, there’s no guessing on serving size or portion, it’s just two pills, twice a day. As a registered dietitian, I like it because it’s clinically proven to work and does not add calories, sugar (a major concern for those with diabetes), or fat to a person’s diet.”
Clinical studies show plant sterols and stanols may lower LDL cholesterol by up to 24 percent when used with a low-fat diet and exercise. Doctors have also found that plant sterols and stanols are safe to take with some cholesterol-lowering drugs like statins. Nature Made CholestOff is available in U.S. discount, drug and grocery stores.
Lowering your cholesterol with the TLC program can be easy, especially when you know all of your options. To learn more about plant sterols and stanols, call 1-800-276-2878 or visit www.NatureMade.com.
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Methodology: Harris Interactive® fielded the online survey on behalf of Nature Made CholestOff between May 11 and 13, 2005 among a nationwide sample of 2,129 U.S. adults aged 18 or older, of whom 681 currently have or ever had high cholesterol. The data were weighted to be representative of the total U.S. adult population on the basis of region, age within gender, education, household income, race/ethnicity and propensity to be online. Though this online sample is not a probability sample, in theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the overall results have a sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Sampling error for the results of U.S. adults aged 18 or older who currently have or ever had high cholesterol is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
© 2005 HealthNewsDigest.com