Margarine with plant stanols or sterols and LDL cholesterol
What it found
Margarines with added plant stanols or sterols lower LDL cholesterol only modestly.
Prescription drugs work much better and also improve other blood fats.
What they found
Studies in people
Modest LDL lowering
Plant stanols and sterols have a limited ability to reduce LDL cholesterol. They do not work well in every situation.
No effect on other fats
These plant compounds do not change HDL cholesterol or triglyceride levels. They also have not been shown to prevent heart problems.
Prescription drugs work better
Medicines like statins, ezetimibe and niacin lower LDL cholesterol far more than the plant esters. These drugs also raise good cholesterol and lower triglycerides.
What the authors conclude
- They advise choosing prescription medicines over plant esters to bring down bad cholesterol in most cases.
- Their recommendation applies to everyone except those whose cholesterol is only slightly above normal.
How it was done
Guidelines for using these plant compounds in food had not been updated since 2001. Many new cholesterol medicines became available after that time.
The authors looked at how margarines containing plant stanol or sterol esters affect LDL cholesterol. They compared these effects to modern prescription medicines used in 2010 and 2011.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- This work looks at blood fat levels rather than long term health outcomes for the plant compounds. It cannot show whether eating these margarines prevents heart disease over time.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Queensland University of Technology, Australia
The paper
- Title
- Lowering LDL cholesterol with margarine containing plant stanol/sterol esters: is it still relevant in 2011?
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Doggrell SA (2011). Lowering LDL cholesterol with margarine containing plant stanol/sterol esters: is it still relevant in 2011?. Complementary therapies in medicine. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2010.12.004PubMed 21296266DOI
Summary written 1 Oct 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error