Impact of colonic fermentation on sterols after the intake of a plant sterol-enriched beverage: A randomized, double-blind crossover trial

Cholesterol microbial transformation has been widely studied using in vitro fermentation assays, but less information is available on the biotransformation of plant sterols (PS). The excretion percentage of animal sterols (AS) (67-73%) is considerably greater than that of PS (27-33%) in feces from healthy humans following a Western diet. However, a lower content of AS in feces from subjects following a vegetarian, vegan or low-fat animal diet has been seen when compared to omnivorous subjects. Although only one human study has reported fecal sterol excretion after the consumption of PS-enriched food (8.6g PS/day), it was found that the target group showed an increase in the excretion of cholesterol and a 57% decrease in its metabolites compared to the control group.
Source: Clinical Nutrition - Category: Nutrition Authors: Tags: Randomized Control Trials Source Type: research