15 Dec 2009 --- A new Greek study shows that a Benecol diet with plant stanol ester and a Mediterranean diet are equally effective in reducing the estimated risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The study was conducted at the Aristotelian University in Thessaloniki, Greece, and it was published online in Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases at the end of November.

The study compared the effects of a regular cholesterol-lowering diet and two study diets. One of the study diets was a Mediterranean diet and the other a Benecol diet, including plant stanol ester spread (2 g plant stanols per day). Altogether 150 subjects with mildly elevated cholesterol levels participated in the 4-month long intervention. An estimated CVD risk was assessed by three different risk engines: PROCAM, Framingham, and Reynolds risk engines.

The Mediterranean diet gradually reduced the levels of several risk factors of CVD, including total and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure. These moderate but significant changes resulted in a significant 24-32% reduction in the estimated CVD risk. Comparatively, the plant stanol ester-containing diet induced a fast and substantial reduction in total and LDL cholesterol (-14% and -16%, respectively), resulting in a 26-30% reduction in the estimated CVD risk already after 1 month. These effects were sustained for the whole 4 month duration of the study.

The results of this study further strengthen the role of the Mediterranean diet rich in fruits and vegetables, vegetable oil, legumes, whole grains, fish, and low-fat dairy products in CVD risk reduction. However, adherence to this type of diet is decreasing even in countries like Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal, and despite nutritional recommendations, the majority of Western people do not follow such a diet.

The new information provided by this study is that the Benecol diet, enriched with plant stanol ester, induced a similar effective reduction in estimated CVD risk as the renowned Mediterranean diet. Thus, a simple dietary change like the use of Benecol products as part of the daily diet, seems to have significant health benefits. "Plant stanol ester-enriched foods seem to be a very useful option to reduce CVD risk especially for those who do not adopt a Mediterranean diet," the head researcher of the study, professor Athyros, concluded.

Plant stanol ester is the cholesterol-lowering food ingredient patented globally by Raisio, and it is recommended internationally for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. A coronary heart disease risk reduction health claim for plant stanol ester was recently accepted by the EU Commission. Benecol, the original expert in cholesterol lowering, is a global trademark owned globally by Raisio.