title: Dietary fiber for reducing blood cholesterol.
abstract: Soluble dietary fiber, including psyllium, has been shown to have mild to modest cholesterol lowering properties. Psyllium hydrophilic mucilloid (Metamucil, Procter and Gamble, Cincinnati, OH), a bulk laxative, when used as a dietary supplement in combination with a low fat diet, can lower total serum cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and raise high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in hypercholesterolemic patients. The cholesterol lowering effects of psyllium are much less evident than those observed with cholestyramine and the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors. The mechanism for the cholesterol lowering effect of psyllium is not known. The substance is well tolerated with long-term use.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lipsky
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gloger
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Frishman
mesh_terms: D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004043:Dietary Fiber / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D011620:Psyllium / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D004043:Dietary Fiber; D011620:Psyllium; D002784:Cholesterol