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Atherosclerosis - The gradual hardening and narrowing of arterial blood vessels with time and may be accelerated by the presence of risk factors such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking and a family history of this condition.
Blood Cholesterol - The combination of the cholesterol that has been absorbed into your blood that was produced by your liver and ingested through your diet. It is generally recommended by health professional that blood cholesterol levels should not be more than 200mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter) in adults. Blood cholesterol is also known as serum cholesterol.
Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) - A process in which the coronary arteries become narrowed or completely occluded, is known as atherosclerosis, often leading to a heart attack.
Cholesterol - A fat-like steroid alcohol, responsible for many metabolic processes related to structure and function of mammalian cells.
Dietary Supplement - See Nutraceutical
Dyslipidemia - Dyslipidemias are disorders of lipoprotein metabolism, including lipoprotein overproduction or deficiency. These disorders may be manifested by elevation of the serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, and a decrease in the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentration.
Esterification - A chemical process that combines fatty acids with plant sterols or stanols to increase solubility and make it possible to include the plant extracts in ordinary foods.
FDA - Food and Drug Administration - the government agency which regulates the manufacture, use and sale of food, human diagnostics and therapeutic products in the United States.
Familial Hypercholesterolemia - A genetic predisposition to dangerously high cholesterol levels.
Fatty Acids (Fats) - Substances that occur in several forms of foods; diferent fatty acids have different effects on lipid profiles.
Functional Foods - See Nutraceutical
cGMP (Current Good Manufacturing Practices) - Manufacturing practices for drugs as set out in the regulations of the United States, Canada, and other countries.
Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) - A regulatory category created for a group of food additives that are exempted from the more rigorous FDA requirements. A substance is accorded GRAS status, if it is generally recognized by experts qualified by scientific training and experience to evaluate its safety, as having been adequately shown through scientific procedures or experience based on common use in food to be safe under the conditions of its intended use.
High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol or HDL-Cholesterol - The good form of cholesterol responsible for regulating or removing excess levels of bad cholesterol from the blood stream. The US National Institute of Health has established the following HDL cholesterol guidelines: > 35 mg/dL = Desirable < 35 mg/dL = High Risk
Hyperlipidemia - Plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels that exceed normal optimal levels or a condition involving an excess level of fats or lipids in the blood, including cholesterol, triglycerides, and various lipoproteins.
Hypercholesterolemia - A condition characterized by an abnormally large amount of cholesterol in the blood. The US National Institute of Health has established guidelines for cholesterol levels < 200 mg/dL = Desirable, 200 to 239 mg/dL = Borderline-high risk, > 240 mg/dL = High risk
Hypertriglyceridemia - High blood levels of the lipid triglycerides.
Hypertension - Persistently elevated arterial blood pressure.
Low-density Lipoprotein Cholesterol or LDL Cholesterol - Known as "bad" cholesterol. Excessive levels of LDL cholesterol accumulate in blood vessels creating cholesterol-rich fatty deposits and vessel hardening/lesions/damage (arthlerosclerosis). The US National Institute of Health has developed LDL cholesterol guidelines: < 130 mg/dL = Desirable, 130 - 159 mg/dL = Borderline-high risk, > 160 mg/dL = High risk
Lipids - Dietary or blood fatty substances, including cholesterol and triglycerides, which are present in cell membranes and body tissues.
Metabolism - The chemical processes involved in the absorption, molecular transformation, elimination and utilization of dietary constituents.
Milligrams/Deciliter (mg/dL) - A unit used for measuring Blood cholesterol. One milligram equals one-thousandth of a gram. One deciliter is one-tenth of a liter. Monounsaturated Fats - Dietary fats, such as olive oil or canola oil, that don't seem to have any affect on blood cholesterol.
Nutraceutical - Nutraceuticals can be generally described as ingredients extracted from natural sources which are incorporated into food or into capsules or other medicinal formats, and which have been demonstrated to have a physiological benefit and may help prevent disease. Functional foods can be defined as conventional foods containing ingredients that provide health benefits beyond basic nutritional functions and/or reduce the risk of chronic disease. Dietary supplements are products intended to supplement the diet which are ingested in dosage form, which may contain a nutraceutical.
Phytosterols - Generic term (including phytosterols and phytostanols) for sterols of plants, also known generally as 'plant sterols'
Placebo - An inactive compound having no physiological effect; an inert substance identical in appearance to the treatment drug used in clinical studies. Often the 'control group' in an experiment.
Polyunsaturated Fat - Fat that contains a high degree of unsaturated fatty acids. It naturally occurs in the greatest amounts in vegetable oils. When substituted for dietary saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat helps reduce blood cholesterol.
Risk Factor - A condition, element, or activity that may adversely affect the likelihood of developing a debilitating condition such as cardiovascular disease.
Saturated Fats - Fats found in foods from animal meats and diary products most often associated with a higher risk of high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease. They are characterized chemically by single bonds in an organic molecule. Saturated fats tend to stay hard at room temperature, while unsaturated fats are more liquid.
Statins - A family of medications (HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) that suppress the production of LDL while increasing the number of receptors in the liver that take in and destroy LDL cholesterol. Statins are among the most effective cholesterol-lowering drugs currently on the market, but they have been associated with potential liver problems, so liver function must be monitored regularly.
Sterols - Any steroid based alcohol having a hydrocarbon (aliphatic) side chain of 8-10 carbons at the 17-beta position and a hydroxyl group at the 3-beta position, therefore an alcohol)
Sterol Esters - A sterol or stanol which has undergone a process whereby it is chemically associated with vegetable oil fatty acids such as canola/rapeseed oil... the result is an oily, paste-like product.
Stanols - a new form of the sterol molecule created when it is saturated with hydrogen atoms in a process called hydrogenation.
Triglycerides - A dietary fat transported in blood as fatty acid esters of the alcohol glycerol.
Triglycerides are carried through the blood stream to the tissues where released fatty acids serve as a source of energy. Dietary fat is the primary source of triglycerides.
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