Wide Range Of Benecol Products
One of the main advantages of phytostanol is its ability to incorporate virtually any food product, including most labeled as low-fat or fat-free, such as yogurt, liquid yogurt, milk, etc. The dose of Benecol depends on the typical daily consumption of the product in question. It has no odor or taste and has most of the physical and chemical properties of fat. Its shelf life is equivalent to that of most edible oils and fats.
Raisio manages the Benecol brands licenses and sells the active Benecol ingredient to food companies around the world.
Worried About Your Cholesterol
Too much cholesterol in the blood causes fatty deposits to gradually build up in blood vessels. This makes it harder for blood to flow through, which increases the risk of heart attack or stroke.
Regular exercise and a healthy diet may help reduce cholesterol levels, but if your cholesterol is particularly high there are extra measures you can take, like taking cholesterol-lowering medications or eating cholesterol-lowering foods.
Cheaper Alternative To Benecol 5
peterfoster · 22/01/2018 09:27
I’ve just started taking a daily Benecol for health reasons. I’ve noticed that wherever one shops the price seems to around £3.25 for 6. Does anyone know, please, of a cheaper source for the product or a cheaper alternative which broadly will do the same job. Thanks.
RagingWoman · 23/01/2018 15:48
There are apparently supermarket own brand equivalents of benecol yogurt drinks which have the same effect on your cholesterol. Worth looking out for?
Blondie1984 · 23/01/2018 16:41
brownelephant · 23/01/2018 16:43
I’m with blondie.oats are beneficial, as is a general good diet rich in veg and cold pressed veg oils.
peterfoster · 24/01/2018 12:49
Many thanks for the helpful responses, guys. I’ll most certainly give the Aldi option a go. My favourite breakfast is 40 grams of oat bran mixed with half a pint of semi skimmed milk and microwaved for four minutes, pausing each minute to give the mixture a stir. I have it with half a banana, chopped, and a handful of mixed nuts….
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When And How Should I Use Benecol Products
- USING BENECOL PRODUCTS
Benecol products should be consumed every day to get the best cholesterol lowering results and gain long term benefits. Its important to eat Benecol products with a meal rather than on their own. This is because eating a meal helps to set the whole digestive process in motion, ensuring that cholesterol is in the digestive system from the foods you eat and from bile, which is made in the liver and helps to digest the fats you eat. And it doesnt matter whether you have the recommended daily dose of stanols in one go or spread them out over several meals to have the full cholesterol blocking effect.
So the most important take home message here is to make sure you have enough plant stanols in your daily diet and to eat them with a meal. Check the packaging to find out the amount of plant stanols in individual Benecol products or check Benecol product information from the website.
Plant stanol ester has been shown to lower cholesterol. High cholesterol is a risk factor in the development of coronary heart disease. The beneficial effect has been shown with a daily intake of 1.5-3.0g plant stanols, as part, of a healthy diet and lifestyle.
Sterols Aren’t A Get Out Of Jail Free Card
Even though sterol-enriched products are effective at helping to control cholesterol levels, high blood cholesterol needs to be managed under medical supervision. To reduce your overall risk of heart disease it’s still vital that you eat a healthy diet that’s low in saturated fat and high in fruit, vegetables and whole grains, and that you stop smoking and increase your activity. If your blood cholesterol levels are normal, there’s little advantage to eating these products they’ll just cost you more money.
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Foods With Added Sterols And Stanols
Sterols and stanols are plant chemicals which are a similar size and shape to cholesterol. They are absorbed from the intestines into the blood stream and block some cholesterol from being absorbed, lowering the cholesterol in your blood.
We get a small amount of sterols from plant-based foods such as vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, but its not enough to lower cholesterol. So, food companies have developed foods with plant sterols or stanols added to them, such as mini yogurt drinks, fat spreads, milk and yogurts.
These fortified foods lower your cholesterol gradually, over a few weeks, and how much depends on the amount you eat. Some experts believe they are the most effective single food for lowering cholesterol.
Who should eat foods with sterols and stanols added?
Sterols and stanols have been thoroughly researched, so they can be added to foods and are safe to eat.
They are suitable for:
- People with high cholesterol theres no real benefit if you dont have high cholesterol.
- Children with inherited high cholesterol such as familial hypercholesterolaemia with support from a doctor or dietitian.
- People taking statins sterols and stanols will help to lower your cholesterol further because they work in a different way to the statin.
They are not suitable for:
Aim for: one to three servings of fortified foods a day. This will give you 1.5 to 3g of stanols and sterols.
Three servings of: OR
- 1 glass of milk
One product a day:
Getting On The Sterols
More and more products that claim to help lower your cholesterol are showing up on supermarket shelves. Where previously this added benefit was offered by spreads alone, you can now get yoghurts and milks that do the same job, with cholesterol-lowering breakfast cereals on the horizon. And there’s good evidence that they do what they say.
These products have been enriched with plant sterols , which have a similar chemical structure to cholesterol. When eaten, they’re thought to compete with and block the absorption of cholesterol from the intestine, ultimately reducing the amount of cholesterol that ends up in your blood.
Eating 23 g per day of plant sterols in the form of enriched spread, yoghurt, milk or a combination of these products can help lower your cholesterol.
These products can have an impact on your cholesterol levels in a matter of weeks. But as with cholesterol-lowering medication, you need to have them daily for the benefits to last, so the costs can quickly add up.
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Ially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil
According to the Mayo Clinic, trans fats–also known as partially hydrogenated oils–are the worst kind of fats because they raise your bad cholesterol and lower your good cholesterol 13. This leads to an increased risk of heart disease, which is the number one killer of both men and women.
Benecol contains partially hydrogenated soybean oil. Although the harmful effects of it may be canceled out by the phytostanol esters, many nutrition experts would advise against consuming any trans fats, especially those in processed foods such as margarine.
- According to the Mayo Clinic, trans fats–also known as partially hydrogenated oils–are the worst kind of fats because they raise your bad cholesterol and lower your good cholesterol 1.
Are Benecol Products Suitable For Everyone
- USING BENECOL PRODUCTS
Benecol products are recommended for everyone who wants to lower their cholesterol levels, including those with certain cardiovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease, those with diabetes who need a little helping hand to reach their cholesterol targets, as well as adults and children with familial hypercholesterolaemia .
However, pregnant or breastfeeding women and children under five years old have special dietary needs and Benecol foods may not be nutritionally appropriate, so these groups should always consult with their doctor before using any products designed to help lower cholesterol levels.
Benecol products are also not intended for people who do not need to control their blood cholesterol, so if your levels arent elevated, you might like to enjoy a regular vegetable oil spread such as olive, rapeseed or soya, low fat dairy yogurts or plant-based alternatives.
Plant stanol ester has been shown to lower cholesterol. High cholesterol is a risk factor in the development of coronary heart disease. The beneficial effect has been shown with a daily intake of 1.5-3.0g plant stanols, as part, of a healthy diet and lifestyle.
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Drinks Containing Sterols And Stanols
Sterols and stanols are plant chemicals similar in shape and size to cholesterol that block the absorption of some cholesterol.
However, vegetables and nuts contain low levels of sterols and stanols that cannot lower cholesterol.
Companies are adding these chemicals to several foods and drinks, including fortified yogurt drinks, milk, and fruit juices.
The FDA state that most people should try to consume 1.3 g or more of sterols and 3.4 g of stanols per day.
Try to consume these sterols and stanols with a meal.
Are You Confused By The Different Healthy Yogurt Drinks
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There are two main types of yogurt drinks
There are two main types. Yogurt drinks with plant sterols or stanols, such as Benecol, can be helpful in reducing blood cholesterol levels. They reduce absorption of harmful LDL cholesterol from the gut into the blood. One a day, on a regular basis, can lower your level of LDL cholesterol by up to 10 per cent.
Probiotic yogurt drinks, such as Danone Actimel or Yakult, aim to boost the levels of the bacteria in the gut that aid digestion.
Some people find that they ease bloating and can reduce the digestive side effects of antibiotics but they will not make any difference to your cholesterol level.
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Choosing The Right Mix To Lower Your Cholesterol
Products enriched with plant sterols can work together with cholesterol-lowering drugs such as statins, as well as cholesterol-lowering diets, to lower blood cholesterol levels even further, but they’re not meant to replace your medication. And if you’re taking cholesterol-lowering medication, check with your doctor first before eating foods enriched with plant sterols.
People with familial hypercholesterolaemia or diabetes may also benefit from eating these products. However, recent research has suggested that people with metabolic syndrome may not. People with a very rare, inherited metabolic disease called sitosterolaemia shouldn’t eat these products.
Who Can They Benefit
People at risk of heart disease and in particular those who have high blood cholesterol levels can benefit from eating products enriched with plant sterols. Research shows that if you lower your blood cholesterol levels, you lower your risk of heart disease and stroke. Some research suggests that a reduction in LDL cholesterol levels by about 10% could reduce the risk of heart disease by 2025% although a benefit this great is most likely in someone with risk factors as well as high blood cholesterol.
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Sterols And Stanols In Two Words
First, as noted above, are the phytosterols. It is quite well documented that these phytosterols compete with cholesterol in food such that, when sterol or stanol-rich food is ingested, these components are absorbed instead of the cholesterol.
However, in addition to finding them in the aforementioned functional foods that lower cholesterol, these phytosterols are naturally present in various fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, cereals, legumes, and vegetable oils. The same is true of the stanols, but they are found in even smaller amounts than sterols.
These Are The Six Most Frequent Myths About Cholesterol
What, in the constellation of myths of surrounding cholesterol, is true? Here are six tips to clarify some of the confusion about the role it plays in our bodies.
1. There is good and bad cholesterol
Cholesterol is a single lipid molecule found in the bloodstream that travels to different cells or flows in the intestinal systems direction to be expelled from the body. It is thought that it is imperative to strike a balance between the cholesterol entering the body and that being excreted, such that the levels in the blood do not exceed 200 mg per 100 milliliters of blood .
Ideally, the cholesterol entering the body does not exceed 150 mg/dl and that it does not leave at a rate higher than 40 mg/dl. If this balance is maintained, good health is maintained, while if there is an imbalance, people are considered to have bad cholesterol.
2. Eating meats and sausages increase the danger of cholesterol
3. Dairy products and eggs have an impact on cholesterol
The same is true of fats from dairy or egg products as, even though they are high in calories, they do not directly influence the amount of cholesterol in the blood, according to the journal Cholesterol. It is possible to be overweight without showing an alarming amount of bad cholesterol due to genetic factors or fatty foods ingestion.
4. Drinking Danacoles and Benecoles Lower Cholesterol
5. Cholesterol is a toxin that must be avoided
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Benecol And A Healthy Diet
Phytostanol is a natural compound found in whole grains and cereals. However, the levels seen in plants are usually too low to provide significant health benefits.
Raisio patented its use of refined phytostanol foods in the early 1990s. It is refined by a proprietary process designed to bring out phytostanols cholesterol-reducing powers, without side effects.
Raisio has developed margarine, which includes Benecol, to have the most favorable nutritional profile of any margarine on the market. It is expected that future developments will improve these characteristics as new Benecol products will appear with lower amounts of unsaturated fatty acids, combined with higher levels of beneficial unsaturated fatty acids.
Foods Rich In Unsaturated Fats
Cutting down on saturated fat and replace some of it with unsaturated fats is great way to lower your cholesterol. Foods which contain unsaturated fats include:
- vegetable oils such as olive, sunflower, corn, rapeseed, nut and seed oils
- avocado, nuts and seeds
- fat spreads made from vegetable oils, such as sunflower and olive oil
- oily fish
Oily fish are a good source of healthy unsaturated fats, specifically a type called omega-3 fats. Aim to eat two portions of fish per week, at least one of which should be oily. A portion is 140g, but you could have two or three smaller portions throughout the week. Tinned, frozen or fresh all count e.g. salmon, sardines, pilchards, trout, herring and mackerel.
Avoid coconut and palm oil as, unlike other vegetable oils, they are high in saturated fat.
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How Benecol Fights Cholesterol
Benecol is a plant-based addition to sterol products that act against cholesterol, LDL, and other bad forms. It works to reduce cholesterol efficiency in just three weeks, thus operating against hypercholesterolemia. It is made from fermented milk, which means it is a good addition to other dairy-based ferments containing plant sterols. These plant sterols occur naturally in vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, making it a great treatment for hypercholesterolemia.
The plant sterols reduce the absorption of cholesterol by the body by 75%. This increases the synthesis of the apolipoprotein HDL, which facilitates good cholesterol. One unit of Benecol contains 1.6 g. of sterols, which reduces cholesterol levels in three weeks. It is important to include a variety of fiber-rich foods, such as more fruits and vegetables, in addition to Benecol.
Benecol Cholesterol Lowering Yogurt Drink Blueberry 6 X 675g
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So Why People Are Using Benecol
Recall that, in this case, the serious knowledge about cholesterol was forged in the interest of a specific industry. The work of hundreds, or thousands, of advertising strategies, has worked perfectly to convince the consumer that buying these functional foods will positively impact their cardiovascular health. However, there is not much that has been fully proven.
At present, there is a special sensitivity in the world to research concerning subjects like cholesterol, cardiovascular health, sterols, and stanols. There is plenty of information about these things in editorials of the Cardiovascular Safety of Plant Sterol and Stanol Consumption journal which summarize, in an obvious way, the impacts of these compounds on cardiovascular health:
Although links have been made between cardiovascular health and the levels of plant sterols and stanols present in functional foods, there has been no conclusive evidence to support this.
There has also been no evidence. However, including these has no negative impact either.
As mentioned above, cholesterol in a persons diet has minimal impact on a persons cholesterol levels. This raises the question of why one would add a unique milk-cabbage product to an already healthy diet?
Besides Danacol and Benecol products, there is also the possibility of drinking yogurt enriched with plant sterols. These products adorn themselves with various health claims, and the European Food Safety Authority has found some of these to be effective.
The Bottom Line On Benecol
We are excited to see that Benecol spreads, chews, and cereals can potentially help people lower their bad cholesterol levels to improve heart health. But, wed like to see a stronger focus on dietary changes that could also help weight-loss. There is a direct connection between losing and improving overall health. Plus, weve got negative reviews and problems with taste to consider.
For dieters who need to slim down and drop pounds of fat, we suggest partnering a product like Benecol with a clinically tested weight-loss program thats backed by some amazing customer testimonials.
After reviewing hundreds of weight-loss programs, the best weve found is called Noom. The program provides personalized meal plans. Support groups, and interactive support g, just to name a few. As if that wasnt enough, dieter reviews and multiple clinical studies show some fantastic weight-loss.
Also, the company responsible for Noom is so confident in their system, theyre offering a free trial offer, which means the only thing you have to lose is those extra pounds!
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