Influence of Galactooligosaccharides on the Positive Effect of Plant Sterol-Enriched Beverages on Cardiovascular Risk and Sterol Colon Metabolism.

In the present study, the impact of galactooligosaccharide (GOS) addition to a plant sterol (PS)-enriched beverage on the hypocholesterolemic effect and on the bioavailability and colonic metabolization of sterols was evaluated. A crossover trial was undertaken in postmenopausal women who intook a PS-enriched (2 g PS/day) or PS-GOS-enriched beverage (2 g PS/day and 4.3 g GOS/day) for 6 weeks.

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

Background: 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.