Functional Foods

I have a friend who swears by psyllium (a.k.a. Metamucil) for lowering cholesterol. Curious, I googled "Cholesterol metamucil", and following a couple of links, ended up at American Dietetic Association. I searched for psyllium and 5 documents came up. Here's one that talks about Functional foods.

Although functional foods remain undefined under current US food regulations, they are usually understood to be any potentially healthful food or food ingredient that may provide a health benefit beyond the traditional nutrients it contains. The term “functional” implies that the food has some identified value leading to health benefits, including reduced risk for disease, for the person consuming it.

They list a long table of various functional foods. In particular, psyllium is listed with very strong evidence that it "reduces total and LDL cholestreol" at the dosage level of 1 gram per day. I am going to start taking psyllium every day and see how it affects my cholesterol.