Want to Boost Heart Health and Lower Blood Sugar? Natural Compounds Found in These Foods May Help Here’s what to know about these substances—and how to add more to your diet
New research suggests that plant compounds called phytosterols may reduce the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes
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- New research suggests a diet rich in phytosterols could reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
- Phytosterols are compounds found in plant-based foods, including some seed oils.
- The study doesn’t conclusively prove that phytosterols reduce disease, but experts say that a diet high in plants can offer a range of benefits.
A new study found that compounds in many plant-based oils, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains may lower the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
The findings “support the long-standing recommendation to increase the amount of plant foods people eat,” the study’s lead author, Fenglei Wang, PhD, a research associate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told Health.
Past studies have found that compounds called phytosterols or plant sterols can help stave off high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. The new research, presented at the American Society for Nutrition’s conference in Orlando this week, dove deeper into whether eating a high phytosterol diet appears to have an effect on chronic disease. It has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
What Are Phytosterols?
Phytosterols are compounds found in all plant foods, such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, and seeds. They are found in high amounts in nuts such as almonds, walnuts, and pistachios—as well as flaxseed, wheat germ, rye bread, and other types of whole grains.
The substances are also concentrated in unrefined plant oils, including some seed oils. In recent months, seed oils have faced criticism online, with claims that they fuel chronic conditions and are less healthy than beef tallow or other animal fats—but a large body of research shows that seed oils can be a healthy choice.
Vegetable oils—some of which are considered seed oils—along with olive oil and nut oils, are among the best sources of plant sterols.
Additionally, you can find phytosterols in supplement form.
A Focus on Food, Not Supplements
Instead of focusing on supplements, like many previous papers have, Wang and his colleagues wanted to see how much benefit people could derive from the foods they eat.
They investigated how the three main types of plant sterols—β-sitosterol, campesterol, and stigmasterol—affect the gut microbiome and metabolic biomarkers that can indicate underlying issues like inflammation and insulin resistance. Both are tied to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk.
The researchers used data from three studies, including more than 206,000 people who were followed for up to 36 years. Almost 80% were women. The data detailed what people ate, as well as blood biomarkers for more than 40,000 participants and blood metabolites for nearly 11,500. The team was able to analyze the gut microbiomes of 465 participants.
Using this data, the scientists looked at the association between the amount and types of phytosterols people get in their diet and metabolic biomarkers linked to disease.
Dietary Phytosterol Tied to Reduced Disease Risk and Positive Gut Changes
Compared to people who ate the least phytosterol-containing foods, those who ate the most were 9% less likely to develop cardiovascular disease and 8% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. The people in the high-intake group consumed a daily intake of about:
- four to five servings of vegetables
- two to three servings of fruit
- two servings of whole grains
- half a serving of nuts
Β-sitosterol, which is found in vegetables, especially broccoli and cauliflower, as well as oranges, avocados, and soybean oil, was associated the most with potentially beneficial changes in the gut microbiome.
The compound appears to be metabolized in the gut, a process that creates more gut bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids, which are strongly linked to lower risk of type 2 diabetes, explained Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, MPH, DrPH, a cardiologist and director of the Tufts Food is Medicine Institute at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.
Β-sitosterol may also reduce trimethylamine N-oxide, or TMAO, a compound produced by the gut bacteria that break down red meat. High TMAO has been linked to increased cardiovascular risk, he added.
Other Reasons Why Phytosterols Could Cut Disease Risk
The new study was observational, which means it shows only an association but doesn’t prove causation. It also used survey data that asked people to recall what they ate, which can be skewed by people’s own ability to recall. Still, Mozaffarian said the results support what a growing body of research has found—that plant sterols appear to have a positive effect on health.
Researchers have long known that phytosterols may help lower LDL, or “bad” cholesterol. The plant-derived compounds have a structure similar to cholesterol and compete with cholesterol in the gut, preventing the body from absorbing some of the LDL cholesterol you eat.
About 10% of American adults and 7% of kids and teens have high cholesterol, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Over time, excess cholesterol builds up as plaque on the inside of arteries, putting you at higher risk for heart disease.
Plant phenols may have anti-inflammatory properties in addition to blocking the body from absorbing LDL cholesterol, said Julia Zumpano, RD, a registered dietitian with the Cleveland Clinic Center for Human Nutrition who was not involved with the new study.
The new study opens further questions about other ways plant phenols might make adjustments throughout the body that alter a person’s disease risk. “We have typically thought of plant sterols as kind of mechanical—it absorbs in the gut, blocking cholesterol,” Mozaffarian said. “But we are now learning about all of these interesting pathways. It metabolizes in the gut and releases metabolites that can impact health.”
How to Boost Plant Phenol Consumption
Zumpano said that in her own preventative cardiology practice, she often prescribes plant sterol supplements to patients who need to lower their LDL cholesterol.
According to Wang, studies that have found plant sterols can lower LDL cholesterol typically used supplements that provide 2,000 milligrams or so of the compounds per day.
“The data from the diet shows people usually get less than 600 mg per day from food,” he said, noting that the study found that the amount people got from food still appears to have a positive effect.
Dietary sources of phytosterols are less well-studied than supplements, but many experts prefer them for their potential health benefits. In general, people should make sure they’re eating plenty of the plant foods that are commonly found in the Mediterranean diet.
“As nutrition researchers, we always focus on increasing the consumption of foods because these foods—vegetables, fruits, whole grains—are not just rich in phytosterols but other beneficial compounds, too,” Wang said.
Jani Hall
Jani Hall is a news editor for Health with a background in health, science, and investigative reporting. Previously, she wrote full time about parenting issues for the app Parent Lab. Before that, she worked as a reporter for National Geographic covering wildlife crime and exploitation.
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This story originally appeared on: Health News - Author:Kaitlin Sullivan
