Botanicals for Lower Cholesterol

By Joanna Cosgrove Published December 10, 2009

Government of Canada researchers at the National Research Council (NRC) in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, have developed a botanical solution to help lower bad cholesterol levels. The combination of botanical extracts may take the form of a dietary supplement, a nutraceutical or an ingredient in a functional food. Common functional foods include calcium-enriched orange juice or yogurt with a probiotic culture.

“The cholesterol-reduction technology discovered by the National Research Council Canada (NRC) Institute for Nutrisciences and Health involves a combination of 98% pure berberine and 92% plant stanols (82% sitostanols and 10% campestanols),” explained Dr. Yanwen Wang, the principal investigator for NRC. “While both berberine and plant stanols inhibit the absorption of cholesterol individually, the combined treatment of berberine and plant stanols synergistically reduced plasma cholesterol levels and significantly reduced liver cholesterol.”

Researchers at the NRC Institute for Nutrisciences and Health started work on this project in late 2004/early 2005. Subsequent research conducted by NRC demonstrated that the botanical blend helped to lower LDL cholesterol, also known as bad cholesterol. “Without the side effects associated with statins, NRC’s in vivo trials demonstrated a 42-43% reduction in total cholesterol, a 63-66% reduction in non-HDL cholesterol (LDL + IDL + VLDL) and a 37-50% reduction in triglycerides percentage,” commented Dr. Wang.

There have been two published studies to support the promising findings, both in the journal, Atherosclerosis. The first, titled “Co-administration of berberine and plant stanols synergistically reduces plasma cholesterol in rats” (Xiaoming Jia, Yanfeng Chen, Jeffrey Zidichouski, Junzeng Zhang, Changhao Sun, Yanwen Wang) was published last year (201 (2008) 101-107).

The second, titled “Berberine and plant stanols synergistically inhibit cholesterol absorption in hamsters” (Yanwen Wang, Xiaoming Jia, Khadija Ghanam, Cécile Beaurepaire, Jeffrey Zidichouski, Lisa Miller) is the most current study and was accepted by Atherosclerosis on August 25, 2009. (It is available online via PubMed, however, print volume and page numbers weren’t available at press time.)

For complete details, click on the link:

http://www.nutraceuticalsworld.com/contents/view/15197

http://bionutritionalresearch.olhblogspace.com

http://back2basicnutrition.com/