What can help lowering cholesterol?

The American Heart Association's (AHA), Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations state that individuals should consume plant sterols and plant stanols from a variety of foods and beverages every day—just as they would use cholesterol-lowering medication to maintain LDL (bad) cholesterol reductions from these products. The AHA also notes that maximum effects are achieved at plant sterol and plant stanol intake of approximately 2 grams per day.

A study has been done for years about the relationship between these two "S" plants and how they can affect our cholesterol.  They have found that if we consume just 1.8 to 2.8 grams of plant sterol and plant stanol, we will be able to lower our cholesterol by 7 to 11 % .

Of course, there is no miracle for lowering our cholesterol but I am here to help. 

Before I move on, I want to post all the fortified food that have the Plants "S" in them.  We can just buy these in the grocery store and feel good eating them. 

Food Sources of Plant Sterols	Amount (grams)
Avocado, 1 small	0.13 g
Corn oil, 1 Tbsp	0.13 g
Sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup	0.19 g
Oat bar with plant sterols, 1 bar	0.40 g
Milk with plant sterols, 8 oz	0.40 g
Lifetime Low-Fat Cheese Singles, 1 slice (2/3 oz)	0.40 g
Carazonas Tortilla Chips, 10 chips	0.40 g
Nature Valley Healthy Heart Honey Nut Bar, 1 bar	0.40 g
Thomas’ Hearty Grains Oatmeal & Honey English Muffin, 1	0.40 g
CocoaVia Chocolate Covered Almonds, 13 almonds	0.70 g
CocoaVia Snack Bar, 1 bar	0.90 g
Orange juice with plant sterols, 1 cup	1.00 g
Vegetable oil spread with plant sterols, 1 Tbsp	1.00 g
Right Direction Chocolate Chip Cookies, 1 cookie	1.30 g
Fruit and yogurt flavored drink with plant sterols, 3.4 oz bottle	2.00 g

Remember eating more than 2 grams of plant sterol and plant stanol a day will not provide additional cholesterol lowering benefits. So with that said, all we will need to do is to eat up to 2 grams of  the plant "S" and be happy.

Anyway, in the next few days, I will try to include Plant "S" in my diet everyday. This is a test to see how a change of diet can change my cholesterol.