Beeswax Component Debunked as Cholesterol Treatment

Sugar Cane Cholesterol Treatment Debunked
Associated Press, 5/17/2006

CHICAGO - German research casts doubt on the effectiveness of a sugar cane-based ingredient sold as a cholesterol treatment in One-A-Day Cholesterol Plus vitamins and other products marketed in dozens of countries.

The substance, called policosanol, worked no better than dummy pills in German adults with high levels of LDL cholesterol, the kind that can clog arteries and lead to heart problems…

Most previous studies that reached the opposite conclusion were sponsored by a company founded by Cuba's National Center for Scientific Research to market policosanol, the German researchers said.

Cuban sugar cane-based policosanol is sold in more than 40 countries, mostly as a cholesterol treatment, the researchers said. Other sources for the ingredient include wheat germ, rice, bran and beeswax…