Phytosterols that are naturally present in commercial corn oil significantly reduce cholesterol absorption in humans

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Abstract

Background: Although supplementing the diet with large quantities of phytosterols reduces cholesterol absorption and LDL-cholesterol concentrations, very little is known about the smaller amounts of phytosterols present naturally in food. Vegetable oils are the richest dietary source of phytosterols; corn oil contains 0.77% phytosterols by weight. Objective: We tested the hypothesis that removing phytosterols from corn oil would increase cholesterol absorption when measured in single-meal tests containing corn oil as a source of fat. Design: Free and esterified phytosterols were removed from corn oil on a kilogram scale by a new technique of competitive saturation adsorption to silica. Healthy subjects with a mean (±SEM) serum cholesterol concentration of 5.10 ± 0.18 mmol/L received an otherwise sterol-free test breakfast on 2 occasions 2 wk apart that contained 35 mg hexadeuterated cholesterol and 30-35 g of a corn oil preparation. The plasma enrichment of tracer was measured by negative ion mass spectrometry. Results: Cholesterol absorption was 38.0 ± 10.2% higher after consumption of the sterol-free corn oil than after consumption of commercial corn oil with an identical fatty acid content (P = 0.005; n = 10). When corn oil phytosterols were added back to sterol-free corn oil at a concentration of 150 mg/test meal, cholesterol absorption was reduced by 12.1 ± 3.7% (P = 0.03; n = 5) and by 27.9 ± 9.1% (P = 0.01; n = 10) after inclusion of 300 mg phytosterols. Conclusions: Phytosterols comprising < 1% of commercial corn oil substantially reduced cholesterol absorption and may account for part of the cholesterol-lowering activity of corn oil previously attributed solely to unsaturated fatty acids.

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Ostlund, R. E., Racette, S. B., Okeke, A., & Stenson, W. F. (2002). Phytosterols that are naturally present in commercial corn oil significantly reduce cholesterol absorption in humans. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 75(6), 1000–1004. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/75.6.1000

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