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: New Formulation - Some important changes
Summary: 2 Stars
Some others have pointed out that the new formulation changed the shape, size taste and consistency of the chews. But there are some more important changes you need to know about.
First of all, each piece contains less plant sterol esters (0.70 down from 0.85), but more sugars (4g up from 3g). They have also added 50mg of calcium.
One study has shown that calcium in conjunction with plant sterols has beneficial effects on HDL and LDL. (Effects of calcium and plant sterols on serum lipids in obese Zucker rats on a low-fat diet - Timo Vaskonena, Eero Mervaalaa, Ville Sumuvuoria, Tuulikki Seppänen-Laaksoa and Heikki Karppanena - British Journal of Nutrition 2002)
However, other studies indicate that calcium might be associated with a higher risk of prostate cancer, possibly due to supressing Vitamin D levels. All of this is still somewhat controversial, so I suggest you do your research before using this product.
Customer Review: LDL's worst enemy
Summary: 5 Stars
Took my LDL from 106 to 66 dL/gm but then I switched to Cholestoff.
Benecol Chews [4 - 5 /day] took my LDL from 108 to 66 dL/gm even though I took 40mg/day of Lipitor. Because it was not candy and was much cheaper, I switched to [what I thought was] an equivalent Cholestoff dose [5 tabs/day] of stanols based upon the information told me by a Nature Made agent. Benecol states the stanol content on the packaging, Colestoff does not. My cardiologist switched me back to the Benecol and my LDL went back to < 70.
CholestOff 240 cpltsNature Made CholestOff 240 Caplets per BottleNature Made Cholestoff Complete, Value Size, 120-Count
Customer Review: Benecol Caramel Chews
Summary: 4 Stars
Not wanting to resort to "drugs" to manage Cholesterol, I did some research on plant Stanols, and plant Sterols. They both seem to have the ability to lower the cholesterol in your blood. However, based on a Johns Hopkins health alert....plant sterols tend to lose their ability to lower cholesterol, and instead start to appear in the blood them selves. Where as plant STANOLS seem to stay active and continue to lower cholesterol. BENECOL is the only off the shelf item that contains stanols instead of sterols. The Benecol spread is good and tastes fine, but the caramel chews are portable so you can easily take them with you. I would recommend the chews to anyone who wants to keeps tabs on your cholesterol....they are reasonably inexpensive, taste good, and have STANOLS in them...and they are portable. I was able to lower my cholesterol by 80 points by consumming STANOLS and watching my intake of cholesterol....Customer Review: It works for me
Summary: 4 Stars
Here are my test results taken over a period of 6 months with various drugs and diet.
semi-vegetarian
(no beef or pork, chicken or fish 3-4 times week, dairy and eggs) LDL 158
vegan diet, no drugs LDL 112
vegan diet, 10mg simvastatin 3x weekly LDL 80
vegan diet, 10mg simvastatin daily LDL 51
vegan diet, no statin drugs, Benecol chews 3x (1 after every meal)
plus 1 cardio multi-vitamin which contains 400mg stanols. (Benecol chews contain 700mg stanols each) LDL 81
It appears that 3 Benecol chews plus 1 cardio multi-vitamin is equal to low dose simvastatin (10mg 3x weekly)
As an added benefit, triglycerides went down from averaging 135-145 to 122. Don't know if Benecol did this.
Bottom line, works for me.
Customer Review: Taste is ok but texture is yucky
Summary: 2 Stars
My doctor wants me on statins but I think the possible side effects are
worse than the cholesterol the drugs treat. These chews sound like a great idea. The taste is ok - not great but ok. However, the texture is yucky. One reviewer said waxy but to me it's more like slimey and the slimey feeling stays after the chew is gone. I've only had a few so far
and I really don't know if I can make it through the bag much less order them again. The chews may lower cholesterol but only if you can tolerate them and I don't think I'll be able to do that. I think the company needs to rework the formula. It's back to the drawing board for me.
Amazon's service was great (as it usually is). They came fast and in perfect condition so it's only the product that I'm complaining about.
I just had another one and actually I'm not too happy with the taste either.