Cholesterol-lowering chocolate?
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial finds dietary chocolate enriched with 1.8 g/day tall oil-derived phytosterols "is effective in lowering blood total and LDL cholesterol levels in subjects with mild hypercholesterolemia" and may help reduce risk of coronary heart disease in these individuals. Published in British Journal of Nutrition, study found LDL cholesterol levels were statistically significantly reduced by 10.3%, total cholesterol by 6.4% with phytosterol-enriched chocolate, while cholesterol levels did not change in placebo group. Jacqueline de Graaf, University Medical Centre Nijmegen, The Netherlands, et al., randomized 70 participants ages 21-75 to receive either three chocolate servings/day containing tall oil-phytosterol mixture or placebo chocolate for four weeks. No adverse events were reported. Vancouver-based Forbes Medi-Tech provided fortified chocolates for the study...