Benecol Smart Chews, Caramel, 120-Count Soft Chews
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List Price: Our Price: $25.99 You Save: $4.00 (13%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Health Care See more product details |
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Customer Reviews of Benecol Smart Chews, Caramel, 120-Count Soft Chews
Customer Review: Not bad at all.
Summary: 4 Stars
I do not suffer from high cholesterol, so I don't have lab data to see if this truly works. I ordered it based on what other users have said. I began using it about a month ago. I take 2 chews in the morning, with breakfast, and 2 chews in the evening at dinner time. I was a little leary about the taste after reading so many complaints about the "waxy film left on the roof of the mouth". I don't mind the taste. I didn't taste any waxy film. Granted it's not the same as eating a carmel candy from the candy store. However, it's not candy. That being said the taste is not that bad. I haven't suffered any side effects from it. I also eat oat meal regularly to help with my cholesterol and work out on a regular basis.
I know several people that suffer from high cholesterol that I have suggested this to ~ my sister's fiancee's cholesterol is through the roof. When she recently visited me I had her try it to see if she might get it for him. She is going to order him some and let me know how much it lowers his cholesterol.
I think it's worth a shot for those that are suffering from high cholesterol and those that want to have a proactive take on their health.
I want to close out by saying I work as a Registered nurse caring for the adult population on a medical telemetry floor and see everyday what high cholesterol can do.
** Here's an update.. I had my cholesterol checked 5 years ago and it was 190, I don't remember the rest of the results, just the cholesterol. My doctor checked my lipids on 27Jun2009 and I was impressed/shocked about the results. I had slacked on the exercise and oatmeal for the past several months. I hate to say it, but I was bored with eating oatmeal so often.. The following is my labs: cholesterol 126, triglycerides 110, HDL cholesterol 39, LDL cholesterol 73. It makes me feel good knowing that this product MAY help lower your cholesterol. Now, I'm motivated to restart the oatmeal and exercise - I need to get that HDL up!**
Customer Review: Helped lower my cholesterol without side effects
Summary: 5 Stars
Statins caused me muscle pain, joint cramping and headaches. My cholesterol was 244 and my doctor said I needed to get it down. I started exercising every day (with the Shapely Girl DVD's which are low impact and easy to do), started eating healthy (with advice from a nutritionist at my doctor's office), and started taking 3 Benecol Smart Chews after dinner every evening. 3 weeks later, my cholesterol was down to 222. 3 months later, it was down to 185. The Benecol.com website says you can take 1-2 chews twice a day with meals, or 3-4 all at once with a meal:
"Plant stanol esters should be ingested at meal times, because this is the prime time when fat and cholesterol in the diet is absorbed into the intestinal wall. Stanols are absorbed in place of cholesterol into the intestinal lining and also cause cholesterol to be secreted back into the intestine. Studies show that peak benefits are derived with a stanol intake of approximately 2g per day...Studies also showed that once-a-day with a meal is sufficient as a daily dose of plant stanol ester, and that consuming the stanol as a food ingredient but not as part of a meal was not as effective."
Benecol Smart Chews have no scary side effects because they simply pass through the intestine, but if you eat too many, you can get diarrhea. The chews are carefully wrapped in foil so it takes a minute or two to unwrap 3 of them, perhaps to discourage children who might think they are caramel candy, or adults from accidentally eating too many. Each chew has .7g of plant stanols, so you need to eat 3 a day to get the recommended dose of approximately 2g per day. Benecol lowers cholesterol up to 14% in just 3 weeks. I am glad I found the Smart Chews here at Amazon.com as they are only available online.
Customer Review: Wrong for some people.
Summary: 3 Stars
This may be the last thing you need if your triglycerides and blood pressure are high and you've read some of the books (starting with Gerald Reaven) about Syndrome X, Insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, or metabolic syndrome. In fact, high blood sugar counts and the aforementioned considerations may be as indicative of a tendency toward heart disease as LDL and HDL levels.
The main ingredients in Benecol chews are corn syrup and sugar. True, they taste as good as chewy candy caramels, but the minimum daily quota requires you to imbibe 80 grams of simple carbohydrate calories. True, 80 "empty" calories isn't a great deal, but if you've read a popular book by someone of the other, "cholesterol camp"--Caldwell Esselstyne, fpr instance--you know that he believes the least bit of fish oil, or any sort of oil, can be damaging.
Later: I've come to the conclusion that many of the popular heart books, Esselstyne's along with the "China Study" included, say far too little (some totally ignoring the subject) about the role of sugar, insulin overproduction and insulin resistance, and the implications of all this to triglycerides and high blood pressure. I doubt that Dean Ornish would endorse this product. Since I've decided that corn syrup, simple sugar, etc. DOES matter--at least for some folks--I'm reducing my rating by a star, even at the rate of appearing a bit of a sourpuss. Besides your cholesterol levels, check your blood sugar count and triglyceride levels, both of which contribute to metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, syndrome X, and heart disease.
Customer Review: Wow!!!!!! I can't believe the results!!!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been taking this product for a few months now, along with Benefiber, to try and lower my cholesterol before my doctor put me on medication. Before finding these products, I changed my diet radically for about a month with no results, except my HDL dropped significantly and I gave up. Now I eat as I normally would (which has it's good and bad), and today I received the stunning results of my recent labwork. Total cholesterol down 48 points!!! LDL down 47 points!!! HDL remained about the same. Even my triglycerides went down. Now I feel as though I can change my diet a little more, keep being diligent with my workouts, increase the amount of Benefiber I'd been taking, continue to take the chews and I can hopefully drive the numbers down even more. I can't say for sure which of the two products have produced these results--maybe a combination of the two, but if you have high cholesterol and want to avoid medications, I would give this a try.
The taste is really good, just like a caramel. They are also very convenient to take along when eating out. I make sure to keep some in my purse at all times. Instead of taking a Benecol Chew after a meal, I take it before I eat a meal that is high in cholesterol. Even though they are expensive, I have not taken them 100% of the time and the container has lasted for quite a while. As far as the Benefiber, I've been taking that once a day, but I'm going to increase that to 2-3 times a day.
Customer Review: Inconsistent Dosage Recommendations
Summary: 3 Stars
I just started using this, so I can't comment on how well it will work to lower my cholesterol, but I want to alert people to inconsistencies in the labeling. The 120-count package is supposed to be a two month supply. On the front of the box it says "take twice a day to reduce cholesterol." If you consumed two per day there would indeed be a 60-day supply in the box. On the back it says, ". . . can help you meet the National Cholesterol Education Program Guidelines recommended amount of 2 g plant stanols/sterols per day. To meet this recommendation, enjoy 5 chews per day."
Each candy as 0.7 g of stanol in it, so if you had 5 a day you'd be getting 3.5 g, not 2. If you want to get around 2 g per day you have to take three of them (2.1 g), which means 120 of them won't last 60 days. (And if you consume them at a rate of five a day you won't even have enough for a month.)
The research says the minimum effective dose is 0.8 to 1 g per day, and the maximum is 2 g per day; therefore, there's no reason to have more than three of these a day, and less than two a day probably won't do any good. Natural sources of phytosterols don't come anywhere near the recommended intake. For example, a half cup of wheat germ has 197 mg of phytosterols.
They are soft, pleasantly flavored, small, and only 20 calories each. I think they're worth a try.