Here’s a New One: Whortleberry for Cholesterol

Here’s a herb you’ve probably never heard of: Caucasian whortleberry (Vaccinium arctostaphylos). Two new studies have now proven this close relative of the blueberry to be a powerful cholesterol fighter. . . .

A double-blind, placebo-controlled study gave fifty people with elevated cholesterol either 1g of Caucasian whortleberry or a placebo every day for four weeks. The whortleberry significantly reduced total cholesterol, the harmful LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. It also had a siginficant antioxidant effect (Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2014;2014:217451).

The second study was also placebo-controlled and double-blinded. This study lasted for two months and gave a slightly higher dose of 350mg every eight hours to people who had either elevated cholesterol or elevated triglycerides. Compared to the placebo, the Caucasian whortleberry lowered total cholesterol by a significant 27.6%, LDL cholesterol by a significant 26.3% and triglycerides by a significant 19.2%. Unlike the previous study, though, in this study the whortleberry also increased the beneficial HDL cholesterol by a significant 37.5%: these are impressive numbers (Phytother Res 2014;28:432-6). The difference effect on HDL cholesterol in the two studies could be accounted for by the higher dose or the longer duration of the study. Increasing HDL cholesterol is even more important than decreasing LDL cholesterol.

These two new studies show that Caucasian whortleberry may be an important new herb for fighting cholesterol and cardiovascular disease. Maybe soon this berry that no one has heard of will be a herb that everyone has heard of!