Policosanol Simply Explained

1. What It Is About

Policosanol is not a single substance, but a mixture of several fatty alcohols. This has nothing to do with the alcohol in drinks. Such substances form a fine wax layer on leaves and stalks in plants. For policosanol, the wax from sugar cane is mainly used; the same mixture occurs in smaller amounts in wheat germ and rice. Because the mixture differs depending on the raw material and production, two preparations with the same name are not necessarily the same. The substances dissolve poorly in water, so the body presumably absorbs only part of them. In the studies, policosanol was given as a tablet. Blood lipid levels and the clumping of blood platelets were mainly investigated, as well as inflammatory markers in the blood and the protective power of the blood against oxidation. Many of these measurements are intermediate values: they show a change in the blood, but not whether someone falls ill less often as a result.

2. What Studies Show

Blood lipid levels were measured most frequently. LDL cholesterol is considered the unfavourable blood lipid, HDL cholesterol the favourable one. In one study 1 people with elevated blood lipid levels received policosanol or a sham preparation without active ingredient for twelve weeks. A second study 2 followed 437 people with a hereditary form of high blood lipids and further risk factors over 24 weeks. Here too the blood lipid levels improved. In the group with the sham preparation there were two deaths and seven serious cardiovascular events, in the policosanol group no serious events. Such differences may also be due to chance, and the study had no comparison group with an approved medicine. A study 8 with 50 healthy women over eight weeks found, in addition to lower blood lipid levels, a higher protective power of the blood against harmful oxidation. Oxidation is a chemical process in which fats in the blood are converted and can irritate vessels. Two smaller studies 6 7 examined how well blood platelets clump. Blood platelets are small cells that close a wound in case of injury. Under policosanol they clumped more slowly. Both investigations lasted only a few weeks. Combination preparations containing policosanol together with other substances also lowered blood lipid levels 3. From such studies, however, it cannot be said which substance in the mixture produces the effect.

3. What Remains Unclear

Almost all studies with clear results come from one country, namely Cuba. Studies from North America and Europe, on the other hand, often found no change in blood lipid levels at all. A small study 4 with 40 people with mildly elevated levels saw no difference from the sham preparation after eight weeks. Why the results diverge so much is open. The preparations differed in composition, the participants were different, and the studies matched poorly 5. Whether policosanol prevents heart attacks or strokes is open. Most measurements concern intermediate values in the blood; one study also recorded serious cardiovascular events. This question remains open.

4. What This Means in Everyday Life

One can note: policosanol is a mixture, not a single active substance. Improved blood lipid levels are an intermediate goal, not proof of fewer heart diseases. Anyone reading the study situation encounters two sorts of results, depending on where and with which preparation research was conducted. In combination preparations policosanol cannot be assessed individually, because several substances act simultaneously; a good result of a mixture therefore says nothing about an individual component. What remains to be clarified is whether a uniformly produced policosanol lowers blood lipid levels at all in people outside Cuba and whether this yields anything for heart and vessels. As long as this is open, it remains a research subject and not a clarified remedy.

All details with study numbers and sources: detailed page on policosanol. For children: Policosanol for children.