Certain dietary supplements can help reduce elevated cholesterol levels. A new report from ConsumerLab.com, White Plains, NY, reviewed the evidence behind each of the popular cholesterol-lowering ingredients and provided test results for 12 supplement brands. ConsumerLab.com testing focused on supplements containing plant sterols or policosanol and showed most to contain the listed amount of ingredient and to meet other quality standards. However, one product failed to break apart in the disintegration test, suggesting that its sterols would not be properly released and used by the body.
Among the supplement ingredients proven to work are plant sterols, also known as phytosterols, which bind cholesterol in the gut. The FDA permits plant sterol-containing products to claim that they help reduce the risk of heart disease when used with a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol. This claim can only be made if the product provides a minimum of 800 mg of free sterols or 1300 mg of sterol esters divided into at least two servings per day taken with meals. ConsumerLab.com identified seven brands of plant sterol-containing supplements that met this requirement. However, an eighth product would not break apart to release its ingredients within the allowed 30 minutes. Even when tested for six hours, the product still did not fully disintegrate.
Policosanol is another supplement ingredient touted to lower cholesterol, although the clinical evidence is mixed. Tests by ConsumerLab.com identified four policosanol-containing supplements that contained the claimed amount of the policosanol and met other quality standards.