Cellular Regulation

Each cell in your body is its own organism. Think of each of the trillions of cells within your body as a person hard at work, 24 hours a day – non-stop.

Each cell has a very specific function and it must do exactly what it is supposed to do, exactly when it is supposed to do it. Your health is the result of the combined actions of all of the cells in your body.

This is why it is extremely important for your cells to be regulated. Jobs, for example, have training sessions that explain what is appropriate and inappropriate in the workplace; Governments establish laws so people understand what is, and what is not acceptable in society.

Cells too have to be regulated. The body has many regulation mechanisms – the most prominent being through hormones secreted by the endocrine system.

Your diet plays a very important role in how hormones are made, secreted, transported, and ultimately recognized by target cells.

Phytosterols

Phytosterols

Plant sterols (phytosterols) provide many health benefits. One reason is that they can serve as precursors to certain hormones. They are not human hormones, however. They serve the body as starting material for hormones. This alleviates a lot of the stress from hormone-producing organs (they have an abundance of building material).

A phytohormone (phytosterol) is a plant hormone^[1] that regulates plant growth.^[2] They are signal molecules that are produced in extremely low concentrations.

Some types of phytohormones are used as food additives, others are used in medicine and cosmetics.^[3] When present in food, as an additive or ingredient, they are known to lower cholesterol by reducing the absorption in the intestines.^[4]

To get enough phytohormones in your diet, you may need to take a phytosterol supplement.

References:

[1] TheFreeDictionary.com. Available at http://www.thefreedictionary.com/phytohormone.
Accessed August 13, 2008.

[2] TheFreeDictionary.com. Available at http://www.thefreedictionary.com/plant+hormone.
Accessed August 13, 2008.

[3] Wikipedia.org. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytosterol.
Accessed August 13, 2008.

[4] Hayes, KC. “Free Phytosterols Effectively Reduce Plasma and Liver Cholesterol in Gerbils Fed Cholesterol.” The American Society for Nutritional Sciences. J Nutr. 132:1983-1988, 2002. Available at: http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/132/7/1983.
Accessed August 13, 2008.