Policosanol is one of the most promising nutritional supplements in recent history. It is a combination of long-chain fatty alcohols (no biological similarity to ethanol) that are isolated and refined from sugar cane wax (Saccharum officinarum). Octacosanol is the most important of these isolated alcohols, followed by seven other prominent high aliphatic (open-chain structure) alcohols. This unique extract was originally studied in Cuba as a cholesterol-lowering agent and is an approved treatment for high cholesterol in about two-dozen countries.
Policosanol appears to slow down cholesterol synthesis in the liver and increase liver re-absorption of low-density lipoproteins (LDL). Policosanol has also been shown to increase levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL).
