Can supplements lower cholesterol like pills?
Supplements for Lipid Lowering: What Does the Evidence Show?
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Berberine works as well as low-dose statins at lowering LDL and triglycerides, despite being a natural compound.
Most people assume natural = weak, but berberine has pharmaceutical-level potency—yet it’s not regulated like a drug.
Practical Takeaways
If you want to try plant sterols, choose fortified foods with 2–3g per day (like certain margarines or orange juices) and pair them with a heart-healthy diet.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Berberine works as well as low-dose statins at lowering LDL and triglycerides, despite being a natural compound.
Most people assume natural = weak, but berberine has pharmaceutical-level potency—yet it’s not regulated like a drug.
Practical Takeaways
If you want to try plant sterols, choose fortified foods with 2–3g per day (like certain margarines or orange juices) and pair them with a heart-healthy diet.
Publication
Journal
Current Cardiology Reports
Year
2023
Authors
Saeid Mirzai, Luke J. Laffin
Related Content
Claims (5)
Eating 25 grams of soy protein every day—like from tofu, edamame, or soy milk—can slightly lower your 'bad' cholesterol by a few percent, mostly because it replaces meat and dairy, and helps your liver process fats better, but it’s not as powerful as cholesterol-lowering drugs.
If you wait to take proven heart medications and instead rely on supplements that haven’t been shown to work, you’re putting yourself at higher risk for a heart attack or stroke that could have been avoided.
Taking 2–3 grams of plant sterols or stanols every day can lower your 'bad' cholesterol by about 8–10%, helping your heart—especially if you already have high cholesterol—by blocking your gut from absorbing too much cholesterol from food.
Red yeast rice might lower your bad cholesterol by up to a quarter, but because the active ingredient isn't the same in every brand, it can act like a weak statin drug — which might help, but could also hurt your liver.
Taking berberine pills (500 mg, 2–3 times a day) can help lower your bad cholesterol and fat levels in the blood almost as well as a low dose of statin drugs, and it might work by turning on a cellular switch that helps your body remove more bad cholesterol.