Has anyone tried the food products w/ plant sterols/stanols?

[gardenmaniac]

Hello..

I too took Zocor and had side effects..incredible lower back pain and a couple episodes of memory loss..only took this for 5 months & discovered accidentally that Zocor was the culprit..doc wanted me to try Lipitor..I was too scared..and then last year wanted me to try Zetia, as she said this was NOT a statin..so I took the samples home but again was too scared to try it..I feel fortunate that my side effects went away..but I know some of you have not been so lucky..so why take something that might damage you forever?

Anyway...I did some research on plant stanols & sterols..some of the products that I can find in my little town are Minute Maid Cardio orange juice, Promise activ super shots, Promise Activ margarine..you need 2 grams per day..supposedly they will lower LDL..I am willing to give this a try for 3 months until I go for my checkup & see if there is any change in numbers...I am halfway thru...so far I don't think I have any side effects...

I am not all that concerned with my numbers...I am 51, female, don't smoke, BP is fine, exercise at the gym 4-5 times a week, 10 lbs over what I want to weigh, but what woman doesn't say that?

However, my husband & I are both self employed..that means we have to provide our own helath ins...THEY ARE concerned with numbers...when they are concerned, they can decide to not cover you or charge you big $$$..so for 75 cents a day, (super shots are 2.99 at Walmart for 4 & one serving has 2 grams) if I can get my numbers down without damaging myself I am willing to try it..

I would like to know if anyone has tried this, what opinions are, etc...

PS..think my numbers last year were like 244 or so for total, 175 or so for LDL, 58 maybe for HDL & around 48 for triglyderides, actually down a teeny bit from the year before

thanks for your input!
Gardenmaniac

the weatherman says that spring really is going to arrive in Michigan.. I want to go play in the dirt!

[marci]

My guess would be that yes, they do. My husband had a physical in January '08, with a new physician. His total cholesterol was 272 and his LDL was 197. The physician was sure it was FH and wanted him on statins immediately. My husband explained that he had been borderline when last tested and chose instead to try the diet route, per the NIH guidelines. I began to feed him steel cut oats every morning, cooked and served with skim milk with plant sterols. I also gave him a Promise Super Shot with breakfast (you can find them in the yogurt section) and purchased Promise spread as well. He returned to the doc 6 weeks later for a repeat lipid panel. His total cholesterol had dropped to 197; his LDL was 130. I can only surmise that the sterols had something to do with the significant drop in such a short time.

[gardenmaniac]

thanks for the input....I will be going for my checkup in June & will post the results...

Been using the Minute Maid OJ, the Promise Activ Super shots and the Promise Activ margarine...

[marci]

I do believe the steel cut oats were also responsible for my husband's dramatic drop in such a short time. We've now added flax seed, too. It's available in several forms, but we're using the actual flax seeds- about a Tbsp. in the oats every morning. Truthfully, we're not all that concerned with his cholesterol level- we went through the exercize only to prove to the doc that he didn't have the familial type, which could be problematic.