Coming in at #3 on our list, Nature Made Cholestoff Plus uses a 1,800 mg dose of plant sterols and stanols to help lower LDL levels. LDL is considered to be ‘bad’ cholesterol because when the levels get too high, it poses a serious health risk. Besides the single active ingredient, some of the inactive ingredients include medium chain triglycerides (MCT) and rapeseed- derived Lecithin. These are meant to work together with the plant nutrients included, but in such low doses they are fairly useless and not likely to get the job done.
One of our main problems with Nature Made Cholestoff Plus is that the official site does not offer the product themselves, as they only sell on the Amazon platform. This might be better for some customers for convenience’s sake, but in terms of money back guarantees or return policies, the company delegates the responsibility to Amazon. It does not look good when a manufacturer cannot back up their formula with a proper guarantee so that consumers don’t have to be as wary about purchasing the product for the first time.
Is Nature Made Cholestoff Plus Effective?
The formula that Nature Made Cholestoff Plus employs does not look like it makes for a fully-effective, high-result product. The formula is based around a single active ingredient, Pine tree stanols/sterols extract, which is useful for lowering LDL levels and has been said to possibly contain some antioxidant properties. Besides that, however, there are no other active ingredients based on clinical studies, which target other issues that come along with unbalanced cholesterol levels.
The inactive ingredients include MCT oil and Lecithin from rapeseed. Although both of these ingredients would usually be useful in a cholesterol-support product, the fact that they are inactive in this formula means that they are present in negligible amounts, which renders them almost completely useless for cholesterol-health benefits. Another curiosity that piqued our interest is the fact that, on the official site, the information about the active ingredients states that the same nutrients can be gained by…eating an apple. So why, we asked ourselves, would a consumer splurge on a specialized product when they may be able to derive similar, if not the same benefits, from simply eating some fruit?
In general, this product seems like it may be slightly effective, but we would not necessarily recommend it to consumers looking to truly balance out their cholesterol levels. There are many other options in the same price range, with similar or superior effects, and the slightly higher priced options have products that can produce profoundly better results.
Is Nature Made Cholestoff Plus Safe?
Nature Made Cholestoff Plus doesn’t seem like a product that would be unsafe. As far as we can tell, it is properly regulated and tested for quality – although we could not find an actual declaration of quality control testing, just a line that says that the ingredients are sourced from high-quality ingredients.
One of the concerning reviews we read stated that someone got a bad reaction to this product, as they were allergic to food grade cellulose (which is usually completely harmless and FDA approved). However, when they investigated further they found out that this product is mainly made up of just that. So, for anyone who may be intolerant to this ingredient – be aware.
Summary
Nature Made Cholestoff Plus is a lower-tier, generic cholesterol support supplement that doesn’t check off most of the boxes for a proper cholesterol balancing product. Although the price might look enticing, as it is lower than our top-choice, we still believe that it is better for customers to invest a little more, and reap the benefits in the mid-to-long term. If you are concerned about your immediate cholesterol health, we definitely suggest that you look for more reliable and better formulated products that utilize ingredients based on clinical studies. That being said, there is nothing wrong with this product, it just lacks the necessary oomph to be considered higher than #3 on our list.
