The 3 best anti-cholesterol plants

Definition and role of cholesterol, a lipid essential to health

Cholesterol is a lipid (a type of blood fat) from the sterol family, which the body needs to function properly and which it produces itself.

Cholesterol is a component of cell membranes and enables the body to produce vitamin D, certain hormones (progesterone, testosterone, cortisol), etc.

Good and bad cholesterol (HDL and LDL)?

Primarily made in the liver, cholesterol is transported throughout the body by LDL: low-density lipoproteins. Once organ cells have used the cholesterol they need, the ‘spent’ molecules, plus any excess cholesterol, are carried back to the liver for recycling or elimination by HDL: high-density lipoproteins (1).

Strictly speaking then, there is no good or bad cholesterol. However, doctors have identified that an excess of LDL implies an excess of circulating cholesterol, which eventually creates deposits, clogging the arteries and reducing their elasticity (this is referred to as atherosclerosis).

High LDL-cholesterol levels and the presence of atherosclerosis are risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks (2).

Conversely, studies suggest that high HDL levels encourage cholesterol to be transported from the blood towards the liver, while also having anti-inflammatory properties. HDL is therefore considered beneficial to health (3).

Natural approaches to lowering LDL-cholesterol levels

If you’re worried about your cholesterol, consult a health professional who will be able to give you an accurate assessment, and if necessary, advise on suitable medication (statins for example).

In addition, there are several natural options available for tackling high LDL-cholesterol:

• adopt a low-cholesterol diet (reduce your consumption of animal (predominantly land animal) fats: butter, cheese, cold/cured meats, beef, etc.);
• maintain a healthy weight in general;
• reduce your alcohol intake;
• take regular exercise;
• reduce your stress levels;
• make use of anti-cholesterol plants. Here again, consult your doctor first, especially if you are already taking medication.

The 3 most effective anti-cholesterol plants

Black garlic: a concentrate of S-allyl-cysteine for fighting cholesterol

Containing a number of active ingredients, garlic is a natural remedy for numerous ailments, hence its age-old use in many traditional pharmacopoeia (4).

Garlic is especially rich in organosulfur compounds such as alliin, which is converted by an enzyme into allicin when garlic is crushed or chopped. It’s allicin that gives garlic its distinctive smell. S-allyl-cysteine is formed from allicin and is the subject of extensive scientific research.

It is these various compounds or their by-products which are responsible for garlic’s ability to reduce cholesterol levels by inhibiting cholesterol production in the liver and improving the elimination of lipids (5-10).

In addition, this traditional flavoring ingredient contains saponins which also contribute to its cholesterol-lowering benefits and cardio-protective effects.

Produced by fermenting white garlic at a high temperature, black garlic has an even higher content of S-allyl-cysteine: it is a real SAC concentrate. Black garlic therefore represents an excellent anti-cholesterol plant (you can obtain its benefits by taking Organic ABG10+®, an organic black garlic supplement standardized to 0.1% S-allyl-cysteine).

EGCG in green tea to reduce the absorption of cholesterol

Green tea also helps to lower LDL-cholesterol as a result of its powerful antioxidants which work by reducing the absorption of cholesterol in the gut (12).

These antioxidant compounds include, in particular, epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG.

Drinking green tea or taking green tea supplements on a regular basis thus helps to support cardiovascular health (an excellent option is EGCG, which provides at least 455mg EGCG a day).

Sugar cane with policosanol, another excellent anti-cholesterol plant

Highlighted by Cuban doctors in the 1990s, policosanol is a mixture of aliphatic alcohols usually isolated from the wax of sugar cane (13).

Policosanol appears to reduce the production of HMG-CoA reductase, an enzyme that plays a key role in the production of cholesterol by the liver. It acts in a different way to statins, which simply block the enzyme’s activity once formed.

Widely-studied, policosanol was the subject of a meta-analysis which concluded that at doses of 10mg-20mg a day, it reduces levels of both total cholesterol (by between 17% and 21%), and ‘bad’ LDL-cholesterol (by between 21% and 29%), while increasing those of ‘good’ HDL-cholesterol (by between 8% and 15 %) (14).

The authors suggest that daily supplementation with policosanol may be as effective at reducing total and LDL-cholesterol as the same dose of statins which, provided other studies confirm these benefits, would make sugar cane an effective plant for lowering cholesterol.

That’s why sugar cane extract is available in anti-cholesterol supplements (such as Policosanol).