Sterols and Sterolins

As with all the products of Nutrisprouts Health Products the unique method by which the flaxseed powder is produced, it retains all the enzymes, vitamins and minerals. Flexiflax capsules consists of 600mg powder from Flax sprouts high in concentrations of Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s) as well as lignans, sterols/sterolins, digestive enzymes, vitamins and minerals.

Sterols / Sterolins
Plant sterols and sterolins are essential plant fats that occur naturally in all fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and soy products. Sterols and sterolins are called phytosterols.

Phytosterols appear to have important immuno-modulatory and anti-inflammatory activities. They have been shown to regulate the functions of the T-cells by enhancing their cellular division and their secretion of lymphokines – which control the activity of B cells which produce antibodies.

As food processing reduces the amount of phytosterols we can get in our diets, the use of supplement formulas may provide some therapeutic and preventive health benefits.

How do the sterols and sterolins impact on the immune cells?
The immune system is literally a system made of a network of cells and the factors that they secrete. Such factors are called cytokines and these have the most profound impact on the outcome of an antigenic stimulus. In health, there exists a balance between cytokines that enhance the formation of antibodies by B-lymphocytes and others that promote a cellular response (conducted by T lymphocytes) such as when we are infected by a virus. However, certain infections and diseases lead to an imbalance between these cytokines so that we have an overwhelming cellular or antibody response. Some supplements containing phytosterols has been shown to promote the secretion of cytokines leading to cellular responses, hence making it useful in diseases where we need to boost this side of the immunity. Such infections would include viral and intracellular bacterial infections.

How then can simple plant derived compounds be so important in the functioning of the immune system? The answer lies in the fact that these molecules (together with other minerals and nutrients) are removed from our daily diets by refinement processes. Although the natural sources of the sterols/sterolins are nuts, seeds and oils, these are removed to prevent their precipitation upon storage. Over the ages, we have become a society of fast foods and refined nutrition and our diets have possibly become devoid of important nutrients. After all, the incidence of cancer and other chronic diseases are diseases of First World societies. Is this due to our nutritional intake? The sterols/sterolins were discovered in 1922 and are the 'Cinderella's' of nutrition: they have important roles to play in the way the immune system functions and could possibly have a major impact on the way of managing chronic conditions. After all, was it not Hippocrates who said 'Let food be our medicine'!

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