In a recent clinical study published in this month's American Heart Association's Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, participants significantly lowered their LDL or "bad" cholesterol by drinking two 8-fluid-ounce servings of Minute Maid Premium Heart Wise orange juice daily with meals for eight weeks. Benefits of Heart Wise, the first national orange juice clinically proven to help reduce cholesterol, were demonstrated in otherwise healthy men and women with normal to borderline high total cholesterol.
The study was conducted at the University of California Davis Medical Center. Researchers conclude that orange juice containing plant sterols -- naturally sourced plant extracts -- may help lower cholesterol. Plant sterols inhibit the absorption of cholesterol.
UC Davis researchers enrolled 72 participants ages 20 to 73 with normal to borderline high total cholesterol. The participants were asked to eat their normal diet but to drink eight ounces of orange juice along with their breakfast and dinner for eight weeks. Subjects were asked to refrain from consuming any other source of orange juice, citrus fruits, or fortified sterol or stanol spreads, four weeks before the study and during the study. Half of the group had Minute Maid Premium Heart Wise orange juice containing the plant sterols, while the others drank orange juice without added sterols. Fasting blood tests were taken before and after the study to determine total cholesterol, total triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein B levels.
The study found that participants who drank Minute Maid Premium Heart Wise orange juice lowered their LDL cholesterol 12.4 percent and their total cholesterol 7.2 percent, compared to their cholesterol at the beginning of the study. Also important, the group that received orange juice without sterols experienced no significant changes in cholesterol levels. There were no significant changes in HDL cholesterol or triglycerides in either group.
"Lowering LDL cholesterol through changes to diet is a well-accepted means of helping reduce the likelihood of heart disease," said Sridevi Devaraj, an assistant professor of pathology and investigator in the Laboratory for Atherosclerosis and Metabolic Research at UC Davis Medical Center who led the study. "Adding plant sterols to orange juice is an easy and effective way to boost a diet's LDL-fighting power in individuals with mildly elevated cholesterol levels."
"Orange juice with added plant sterols is good for most patients with elevated cholesterol levels," said Michael H. Davidson, Director of Preventive Cardiology and Atherosclerosis Research at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. "The National Cholesterol Education Panel recommends plant sterols as a therapeutic option for patients with elevated LDL cholesterol levels."
Elevated LDL cholesterol is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease. Foods that contain at least 0.4 grams per serving of plant sterols, consumed twice a day with meals for a daily total intake of at least 0.8 grams, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease. An 8-fluid-ounce serving of Minute Maid Premium Heart Wise contains 1.0 gram of plant sterols.
According to the American Heart Association, an estimated 105 million American adults have been classified as having total blood cholesterol at "borderline high" or higher levels (200 mg/dL or above), and forty-two million adults have "high" levels of cholesterol (240 mg/dL or above).
This study was supported with grants from National Institutes of Health and The Coca-Cola Company.
