B Vitamin Lowers Cholesterol

Changes in diet, exercise, and weight loss (if necessary) are the first steps to lowering unhealthy cholesterol levels, but sometimes that isn’t enough. A specific form of a B vitamin can help.

The vitamin is B5, also known as pantethine. In various studies, different formulations of B5 have sometimes — but not always — lowered cholesterol and triglycerides, another blood fat that increases risk for heart disease and diabetes. But a specific form of the vitamin, known as Pantesin, was found to effectively lower LDL (“bad”) and total cholesterol in a recent American study.

In the study, published in Nutrition Research, researchers compared the effects of Pantesin and a placebo on 120 people with low to moderate risk for heart disease, in conjunction with a cholesterol-lowering diet.

All participants followed the same diet. However, those taking Pantesin for 16 weeks lowered their cholesterol by an additional 4 percent for LDL and 3 percent for total cholesterol. That may not seem like a dramatic amount, but it’s significant when it comes to lowering risk for heart disease.

"Pantesin works at the cellular level, and helps maintain balanced cholesterol levels," said study co-author John Rumberger, M.D., Ph.D. In addition, he said, the supplement helps to maintain healthy levels of cholesterol and other blood fats that are already in a normal range.

The study used 600 mg daily of Pantesin for the first eight weeks and then 900 mg daily for the remaining eight weeks.

B5 and other B vitamins, known collectively as the B complex vitamins, are necessary for healthy conversion of carbohydrates into fuel. B vitamins are water soluble and are not stored in the human body, so the supplement would need to be taken on an ongoing basis.

The Diet

In this study, Pantesin worked in conjunction with a cholesterol-lowering diet recommended by the U.S. government — the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) Diet. These are its key features:

• Limiting saturated fat to no more than 7 percent of your day’s total calories

• Eating 25 to 35 percent of your total calories from fat

• Choosing foods that provide no more than 200 mg of cholesterol daily

• Consuming no more than 2,400 mg of sodium daily

• Eating enough, but not more, to maintain a healthy weight

The last point means that if you are overweight, the right diet would lead to weight loss and a stable, lower healthy weight. Although that may be easier said than done, it’s never too late to start.

Helpful Resources

You can get help figuring out how to follow a Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) Diet from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute here, and get more detailed information here.

On supplement bottles, the label on the front often says “Pantethine” and lists “Pantesin pantethene” as an ingredient on the back, but not all pantethine supplements contain the Pantesin form.