Restore ability to smell AND remember....Today's post:  Tuesday, 7-24-2018

Long ago I began taking beta sitosterol because it tends to lower LDL cholesterol.

I also added more niacin; and my LDL went from 130 to 105.

I knew not to take statins; but I also knew I wanted lower LDL & heart attack risk.

As a bonus, it’s also known that taking beta sitosterol reduces the symptoms and problems with BPH which I was beginning to have as an older man.

THEN I read that losing your sense of smell is a sign of Alzheimer’s AND that people taking beta sitosterol had their sense of smell come back!

Since then I recently read losing your sense of smell can also be a sign of Parkinson’s disease.

Beta sitosterol appears with stigmasterol and campesterol.  The article said that the stigmasterol seemed most effective in reversing smell loss.  I looked and was delighted to find that the supplement I’d been taking with beta sitosterol DID also contain stigmasterol.

Since then I found a reference that all three sterols, beta sitosterol, have been known for some time for their ability to clear beta amyloid from the brain.

I now take two a day of the Plant Sterols by Blue Bonnet.  This has a bit more of each than the discontinued supplement I used to take 3 a day of.

Today I found out there may be a great deal more to this story:

Beta sitosterol causes neural stem cells to make new nerve and brain cells!

Dr Al Sears email today had this: ” "Beta-sitosterol. In one study, beta-sitosterol increased the growth of neural stem cells by 105% compared to a placebo (Journal of Natural Medicine)29." “

In other words, besides increasing blood flow by lowering LDL cholesterol and removing the beta amyloid that harms nerve and brain cells, these 3 sterols ALSO tend to cause the damage nerve and brain cells to be replaced!

No wonder taking them tends to restore the sense of smell if it has been lost!

THIS is even less well known but I think is very important!

As you, know if you have been reading my posts or Dr Dale Bredesen’s book, The End of Alzheimer's: The First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline, there are many other ways to reverse the several other causes of Alzheimer’s disease to make the most effective protocol.

And, we’ve posted that regular exercise tends to release stem cells and the brain and nerve cell growth hormone, BDNF also.

But we now know that the plant sterols, beta sitosterol, stigmasterol, and campesterol can add a great deal to the process!

(Note that other companies sell a combination of red yeast rice and sterols to lower LDL cholesterol.

THIS is a dangerously BAD idea.  Red yeast rice is a statin; and if you take too much of red yeast rice or a statin and exercise it can permanently harm you.

I read that this has happened to both people taking red yeast rice and many people taking statins.

So, stick to the sterols and the other safe ways to protect your heart instead!)