Plant Sterols, Stanols Don't Affect Cognition

MAASTRICHT, The NetherlandsLong-term use of plant sterols or stanols at recommended intakes of 2.5 g/d does not affect neurocognitive functioning or mood in hypercholesterolemic individuals receiving statin treatment (J Nutr. 2009;139(7):1368-73). The double blind, placebo-controlled dietary intervention trial randomly assigned hypercholesterolemic individuals, aged 43 to 69 years, receiving stable statin treatment to an 85-week supplementation with margarines enriched with plant sterol esters (2.5 g/d), plant stanol esters (2.5 g/d) or placebo. Long-term supplementation with plant sterol or stanol esters did not affect cognitive performance (memory, simple information processing speed, complex information processing speed, Letter-Digit Substitution test performance), subjective cognitive functioning or mood.