German study doubts sugar cane extract as cholesterol treatment

German study doubts sugar cane extract as cholesterol treatment

A German study has found that the dietary supplement policosanol, which
is made from sugar cane, works no better than dummy pills in reducing
bad cholesterol.

In the 12-week trial, 143 adults with high LDL cholesterol were given up
to 80 mg of policosanol per day or a dummy pill, and the results showed
no meaningful difference.

"Our results suggest that (policosanol) is devoid of clinically relevant
lipoprotein-lowering properties," lead author Heiner Bertold of the
University of Cologne, Germany, said in Tuesday's Journal of the
American Medical Association.

He didn't rule out the possibility that policosanol might be effective
in other ethnic peoples.

As the new findings contradict the positive results from many previous
studies, Bertold said more independent studies are needed to verify the
effect of policosanol in reducing cholesterol.

Policosanol, which was originally popular as a natural way to reduce
cholesterol in Cuba and is now marketed in more than 40 countries, is a
combination of alcohols usually made from the waxy coating on sugar
cane. Other sources of the ingredient include wheat ferm, rice, bran and
beeswax.

Source: Xinhua
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