According to an expert consensus statement from the European Atherosclerosis Society,

at the recommended daily intake of 2 grams of plant sterols a day, the available evidence

does not suggest any adverse effect associated with long-term intake. And evidence from animal cell studies suggests a protective role of plant sterile intake

and risk of certain cancers.

Human population studies have also found a protective effect of dietary

phytosterol intake on cancer risk.

Those who consume the most had a 37 percent lower risk of cancer, but where

are phytosterols found? Healthy foods like nuts and seeds. Even just a single ounce of nuts

of days associated with less cardiovascular risk and a lower risk of dying from cancer

and from dying from all causes put together. So phyostersterellis may just be a marker for healthy food intake,

though it's also possible that phyosterols may be one of the reasons

nuts and seeds are so good for us.

There's a new class of anti-cancer agents known as histone deacetylase inhibitors

available for the low-low cost of $38,000 a month, but in terms of the most potent naturally occurring

such inhibitors reported to date phytosterols may fit the bill, perhaps one of the reasons

healthy plant foods are so good for us.

Post-marketing surveillance studies are said to have given phytosterols a clean bill of health

based on thousands of consumers, but the study was done by the company that sells those

products, so I don't take much comfort from it.

There's a concern that plant sterols could reduce the absorption of certain fat-soluble vitamins.

They don't seem to impact concentrations of blood levels of vitamins

A, D, or K, but they can drop vitamin E levels by about 10%.

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