Sterol is the name given to a chemical cousin of fat that is found in both plants and animals, including nuts, grains, fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, poultry and humans. The more common sterols in plants go by the names sitosterol, campesterol and stigmasterol. The sterol we know best, cholesterol, is found only in animals.

Sterols have similar jobs in both plants and animals — among other tasks, they help form the “skin” that surrounds cells. In humans, cholesterol is manufactured in the liver, and we add to that whenever we eat animal products, such as meat, poultry, eggs or cheese. We also have the ability to reabsorb cholesterol that is released by way of the gall bladder (as an ingredient of bile), into the intestines to help with fat digestion. In the best of circumstances, these different pathways balance each other out.

But too much cholesterol in our blood (in the form of LDL cholesterol) is a sign of increased risk for heart and blood vessels problems. Heart disease still causes more deaths in the U.S. than any other disease, so plenty of emphasis is put on finding ways to lower that troublesome LDL cholesterol. Interestingly, plant sterols can play a role in human blood cholesterol management.

More than a hundred studies conducted since the 1950s have shown the LDL lowering power of plant sterols. They seem to get in the way of cholesterol absorption in our intestines because of their similar chemical structure. By regularly eating plant foods, we can take advantage of some of this, but not enough to make a huge difference. A daily dose of 2 grams of plant sterol seems to provide a significant cholesterol lowering effect — anywhere from 10 to 15 percent reductions in LDL. Because cholesterol lowering drugs act in a different way, plant sterols provide additional advantage to those who are taking medication to reduce their LDL.

The challenge of incorporating larger doses of plant sterols into food products was recently overcome by Finnish chemists. Extracted primarily from soybeans, they can now be found as an ingredient in “functional” foods touted for their cholesterol-lowering powers. Examples include margarine (Benecol and Take Control/Promise active), yogurt (Promise activ SuperShots and Yoplait Healthy Heart), orange juice (Minute Maid HeartWise), cheese (Lifetime low-fat), granola bars (Nature Valley Healthy Heart), rice milk (Rice Dream Heartwise) and chocolates (CocoaVia).

These products might be a harbinger of many more, since the Food and Drug Administration has approved a health claim that can be used to advertise such products to consumers. The most recent guidelines from the American Heart Association and the National Cholesterol Education Program encourage Americans with high cholesterol to include eating 2 to 3 grams of plant sterols as part of their “therapeutic lifestyle changes,” along with a low saturated fat and soluble fiber-rich eating style.

If you’d like to include plant sterols as part of your cholesterol-lowering arsenal, here are some tips. Consider working with a Registered Dietitian (RD) to translate the suggestions into real food in the real world.

• Consuming 2 grams of plant sterols daily can lower LDL cholesterol in as few as three weeks.

• Plant sterols work only when eaten daily; they work best when eaten as part of a meal. If you stop including them, the cholesterol-lowering effect is lost.

• Eating more than 2 to 3 grams of plant sterols per day does not provide any additional cholesterol-lowering benefits.

• It is important to eat just enough calories to reach or maintain a healthy weight. Look for foods that offer the most plant sterols per serving to get the 2 grams per day without adding more calories. The best choices would be replacements for similar food(s). In other words, if you add a yogurt and a couple granola bars each day as a way to include 2 grams of plant sterol, you have also added 300-some calories. If you didn’t subtract some other food item(s), you could end up 20 pounds heavier by the end of the year.

• Limit saturated and trans fat to 7 percent of total daily calories. For the person who maintains their weight on about 2000 calories, this would be 15 grams of saturated plus trans fat.

• Because plant sterols can lower the blood levels of some fat soluble vitamins, be sure to eat recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables. This is a good idea anyway, since those foods are low in saturated fat and good sources of soluble fiber.

• Find time for at least 30 minutes of physical activity on most days of the week.

Carol Walsh is Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator who provides nutrition counseling services at The Corvallis Clinic and Albany Family & Specialty Medicine