Margarine and Phytosterolemia

Stephan Wholehealthfoodsource also has a recent interesting blog on this topic.

The more I read about processed foods, the more I stick to whole foods. I was part of the trans fat experiment. I am not willing to take part in the sterol test.

Most medical blogs, though useful, give us a "Choose your guru" kind of model. This post exemplifies an approach that can be summarised as: "Here's what I think, and why; you can follow my recommendations, or you can do your own research; and what's more I'll give you some pointers to get you started." Great stuff. Thank you.

On the issue of plant sterols, the standard argumentation appears to be: "Cholesterol is bad. Anything that displaces cholesterol must be good. We're not interested in what the substances displacing cholesterol might be doing." Unfortunately, the argument is usually tacit; otherwise, it would be immediately obvious how misguided this line of thought is.

Here they go again.  They try to solve a non-existant problem and just make things worse.

There's big $$$$$$ in cholesterol and this is all about $$$$$, not health.

I rarely shop in regular supermarkets anymore (farm subscription for veggies, meat bought in bulk for the freezer, eggs from a local individual, fish from a fish market, freshly roasted coffee from a local coffee place, etc.).  What little else I need comes from quirky Trader Joe's (dark chocolate!), the fish market, farmer's markets, a small natural foods store, or mail order.  

When I do need to go into one of the many huge supermarkets near me, not being a regular shopper there, I never know where anything is, so I have to ramble a bit around the aisles before I find what I'm looking for (and I almost always can grab a hand basket, instead of a trolley cart).  

It's almost like being on another planet!  There's always so many new products (most of them I hesitate to even call food).   It's really a shock to the senses now to see how much stuff supermarkets sell that I wouldn't even pick up to read the label, let alone put in a cart or want to taste.  I'm not even tempted by 99% of the tasting samples handed out by the sweet senior ladies in at Costco anymore (only thing I remember tasting at Costco in at least 6 mos was the Kerrygold  Irish cheese, because I know their cows have pasture access and it's real food).

What's really shocking to me is how large some sections of the markets have become in recent years.  While Americans got larger, so did some sections of the supermarket (hint - good idea to limit the consumption of products from those areas).  Meat and seafood counters have shrunk, though.  Produce areas seem to be about the same size as always (but more of it is pre-prepped and RTE in packaging.

But the chilled juice section is h-u-g-e!  And no, I don't think there is a Florida orange grove behind the cases.  Come on, how much juice do people need?  Juice glasses used to be teeny tiny, for a good reason.  To me it looks like a long wall stocked full of sugar water.  Avoiding that section will put a nice dent in the grocery expenses.

The yogurt case is also e-n-o-r-m-o-u-s!   Your 115 yo Bulgarian "grandmother" wouldn't know what to make of all these "pseudo-yogurts"!  Chock full of every possible variety, but very little fit to eat.  The only yogurts I'll look at are made with plain whole milk, without added gums, emulsifiers, or non-fat milk solids, and live cultures (I mostly buy yogurt now and then to refresh my starter culture at home).  I can flavor them at home if needed.   The sterols are showing up in processed yogurts, too, along with patented new strains of probiotic cultures (I'll stick to my old fashioned, but time-proven homemade lacto-cultured veggies and yogurt instead).

I found the same "cooler spread" in the butter & "spread" section.  The spread options were just grotesque sounding.  Actually, the butter options weren't much better, as many were blended with other ingredients to increase spreadability, reduce calories or cholesterol/saturated fat, etc.  A few plain butters were enhanced with "butter flavor" - say what?  And on no package could it be determined if the butter came from cows that were naturally fed on pasture or on grain in confined pens.

Are sterols the same as plant stanol esters, as in Benecol (http://www.benecol.co.uk/new/light-nutrition-information.htm)?

Is beta-sitosterol, found in anti-BPH supplements in the amount of about 500 mg., okay?

I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.


Joannah

http://myscones.com/

One of your articles cited concludes:

"However, the role of dietary plant sterols in the development of atherosclerotic plaque is not known."

Basically, there is no evidence that adsorption of sterols into serum did anything negative here. The presence of sterols is not a smoking gun.

I take your warning as a caution, but I am not sure I believe you any more than the opposite side of this story, and yet I am by example proof that sterols have reduced my bad cholesterol levels.

By the way, the Promise Active Supershots actually have 2 GRAMS of sterols, not 400 mg as you stated. Also, that product is being taken off the market at the end of August 2009 due to lack of market response (so I am told by Unilever).

This study, piled on top of the worrisome literature that precede it, are enough for me: No more tin cans (which are lined with BPA), no more hard plastics labeled with recycling code #7 or #3, no more polycarbonate water bottles (the hard ones, often brightly colored). Microwaveable-safe may also mean human-unsafe, as highlighted by this damning assurance from the Tupperware people that BPA is not a health hazard.

What would be your recommendation to ensure adequate vitamin D intake for my children who are 7 and 9?

Thanks for posting this and continuing your efforts to provide the public with GOOD information about D and health in general.

Most doctors don't "get it" when it comes to Vit D, so I don't expect Ms. Austin too either.

I'll stick with www.vitamindcouncil.com, my own research, and your site. Thats my vitamin D package.

P.S. A local pharmacy began carrying the 5,000 D-3 capsules! And, one of our patients is a pharmacist for a national chain and during a visit last week, we asked about the possibility of his pharmacy carrying 5,000 IU D3 and he said, "not a problem!"

We'll see!

I have a quick question: do we have any clue why we lose the ability to get vitamin D from sunlight after 30 or 40? And is this the same for everybody? Is there a way you can slow down the downhill slide? Thanks a lot.

The messages seems to be getting through in my area: every time there's a sale in the vitamin department, the larger dose Vitamin D pills vanish!

And the oil based D3 is showing up everywhere, too.

My gynecologist has got it wrong, too.  When I told her I was taking 3000IU of vit. D per day she snorted and said, "I think you mean 300".  I said, "No, 3000" and I explained that I had been deficient.  She said "There's just too much hype about D these days."

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

If you still think the vitamin D gelcaps work and the tablets don't, why don't you mention it more often: a lot of people take the tablets because they're cheaper, thinking they're getting the benefit.

For Cristy
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/2008-october.shtml
Dr Cannell talks about the idea amount for children here.

For anonymous. Vitamin D3 is made from the cholesterol in our skin. As we age our skin gets thinner and their is less cholesterol near the surface for the UVB rays to turn to  vitamin D3. You may find Dr Davis's previous blog on the topic interesting.
http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/vitamin-d-and-programmed-aging.html

Re  Peter Silverman some of us, who regularly get our 25(OH)D tested, use dry powder Vitamin D3 5000iu capsules do find, if we consume them with food, that we can attain and maintain a reasonable 25(OH)D status using these cheaper capsules.
Dr Davis finds the oil gel generally more reliable and so you pays your money and takes your choice. but vitamin d3, whatever form can be found very cheaply so cost/saving should not be the first priority.

But all skinflints here may be interested in the GRASSROOTS VITAMIN D TESTING TRIAL.
http://www.grassrootshealth.net/d-action
Sign up now for a 25(OH)D test from zrt labs for just $30 every six months for the next 5 years.
These tests normally cost $75 and the vitamin D council were doing them for $ 65.00
So hopefully those who save money will think about a donation to support the Grassroots site
http://www.grassrootshealth.net/

Ted, thanks for the grassroots Vit D info.  Turns out the administration of this study/PR campaign is right in my own backyard (metaphorically speaking).  I'm going to help the administrator stuff test kit envelopes (saving them $1000s in mail  stuffing services) and get the word out in the local vitamin stores and "health food" stores, etc.

Even though my family can get our levels tested through our HMO network, covered by insurance, I signed up the entire family for this study, because I feel strongly about helping them to get the data they need about Vit D levels and health conditions.

Cristy, I started my 75 pound 10 yo old on 3000 iU of Vit D3 (Carlson brand) when the school year started (more indoor time), based on the Vit D Council's weight/dose recommendations.  We had a need to get a blood sample for something else in December and I requested a 25 (OH)D at the same time.  It was 72 ng/ml, perfect!  I'll probably reduce or stop the Vit for the summer months, though, as he's outdoors a lot.  

BTW, we are in coastal San Diego County, where nearly all the middle aged (or older) adults I know who get tested are in the very low reference range (30s) or lower (my husband and I test so far in the 40s with some D3 supplementation, so we raised our dose in line with the Vit D Council's recs, too).  

So sunny mild climate means little if one's indoor or sun-avoidance lifestyle has little sun exposure (or age).

Oh, just noticed, there's an error in that d*action / Grass Roots Health link.  It's .org, not .net.

http://www.grassrootshealth.org/

It is such hell trying to work without the help of a nutritional doctor. I have been helped to regain my health by a nutritional approach but the GMC don't like that and my wonderful doctor was targeted and now I have to try and manage my health on my own. It is not very satisfactory to put it mildly

I don´t discuss my supplements with MDs most of them are totally ignorant and are brainwashed

The vitamin D added to these foods is, more often than not, the ergocalcferol, or D2, form that is woefully ineffective. And the dose added is trivial, usually in the 100-200 unit range per serving. The same goes for the milk, an inadequate source that we don't even factor into total intakes because of the low quantity.