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If you use Benecol spread.....

D

desidiabulum

Well-Known Member
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706
Disregarding all the arguments about low-fat and benefits of reducing cholesterol -- if you are taking Benecol spread to reduce cholesterol, it might be worth noting Benecol's own specifications about how much should be used in order to have an effect. Benecol stresses you should use between 5 and 7 and a half teaspoons of the spread DAILY to reduce cholesterol. That is actually quite a lot, especially if as a diabetic you don't have much that you can take to spread it on! This was drawn to my attention today by my cardio rehab team, and their advice was very straightforward: it is not worth buying if you are only putting a smear on low-carb bread.
 
I was also advised not to use it when on statins - might make the old cholesterol too low and that is equally as bad as too high!
 
Note that Benecol in the UK 'probably' contains trans fats. It certainly does in the US:

Do BENECOL® Spreads contain trans fatty acids?
The amount of trans fat contained in BENECOL® Light and Regular Spread is less than 0.5 grams per one tablespoon serving. The FDA allows products containing less than 0.5 grams of total fat per serving to be labeled 0 grams total fat, since this is considered an insignificant amount.
http://www.benecolusa.com/faq/spreads

In the UK, food manufacturers do not need to list whether their foods contain trans fats so when Benecol lists 'vegetable oils' as the lead ingredient, there's no requirement for the manufacturer to list whether any of the vegetables oils used are sources of trans fats.
http://www.benecol.co.uk/our-food-range/spreads#!prettyPhoto[product]/2/

Yes, the plant stanols can help help lower cholesterol but there's no guarantee that the trans fats in Benecol won't end up being worse for your health.
 
Wonder if one serving of the Benecol drink would be give the same results as 5-7 teaspoons of spread?

There was guy on here that took a daily Benecol drink together with 2-3 cloves of garlic (raw) and he reduced his cholesterol quite significantly, my bet it was the garlic rather than the Benecol drink :)
 
I use the drink. Light version as much lower in carbs. It was the only useful thing I took from DESMOND course as the dietician said that one of the drinks was the therapeutic dose whist you did have to have a reasonable amount of the spread which would mean things to spread it on. They are about 66 cals a pot, taste ok and may keep the statin police at bay.( my GP is a lovely man but is a statin advocate )
 
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