Phytosterol-Enriched Chocolate May Protect Heart Health

Phytosterol-Enriched Chocolate May Protect Heart Health

NIJMEGEN, The Netherlands--Dietary chocolateenriched with phytosterols may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease inpeople with high blood pressure by lowering blood total and LDL cholesterol,according to research published in the November issue of the British Journalof Nutrition (88, 5:479-88, 2002) (www.cabi-publishing.org/journals/bjn).Researchers from the University Medical Centre of Nijmegen enrolled 70 patientswith high cholesterol to receive either placebo or dietary chocolate enrichedwith phytosterols (1.8 g/d of unesterified phytosterols) in conjunction with alow-fat, low-cholesterol diet for four weeks.

At the end of the study period, the subjects in the treatmentgroup exhibited at 6.5-percent reduction in plasma total cholesterol and a10.3-percent reduction in LDL cholesterol, as well as no change in HDLcholesterol levels. In addition, the treatment group exhibited an increase inplasma lathosterol concentration of 20.7 percent, reflecting an increasedendogenous cholesterol synthesis in response to phytosterol-induced decreasedintestinal cholesterol absorption. And, compared to the placebo group, thetreatment group exhibited significantly increased plasma sitosterol andcampesterol levels.

The chocolates used in this study were fortified with Reducol,a phytosterol ingredient produced by Vancouver, British Columbia-based ForbesMedi-Tech Inc.