The Science Behind Step One Foods

Updated July 2026

Step One Foods are real foods, engineered to lower cholesterol the way a good diet does, only more reliably. They are built around the specific nutrients with the strongest evidence for heart health, delivered in the amounts that actually move the needle, and we proved they work in a randomized controlled trial conducted with Mayo Clinic and the University of Manitoba. Here is how they are designed, and why that design matters.

What makes Step One Foods different from other "heart healthy" foods?

They are actual foods, not fortified products. Most "healthy" items on the grocery shelf start with a processed base and then have isolated vitamins or fiber added back in. Step One Foods are made exclusively from whole food ingredients that have a health-promoting effect in their own right. That difference matters, because the evidence is consistent that whole, real foods improve health in a way that supplements and fortified products do not.

How do Step One Foods actually lower cholesterol and heart risk?

They work on several fronts at once, because heart disease develops on several fronts at once. Lowering a cholesterol number is only part of the job. Real risk reduction also means calming inflammation and improving the way your blood vessels function. That is why you cannot simply add a scoop of fiber to something and call it heart-healthy. Fiber alone leaves most of the picture unaddressed. Step One Foods are formulated to address the whole picture, the way you would expect a treatment to.

What nutrients matter most, and how much?

Four stand out, and Step One Foods deliver all of them in meaningful amounts: fiber, omega-3 fats, plant sterols, and antioxidants.

• Fiber does more than most people realize. Pooling 10 large U.S. and European studies, researchers found that each additional 10 grams of fiber a day was linked to a 14% lower risk of heart attack and a 27% lower risk of dying from heart disease. To put 10 grams in perspective, a medium apple has about 3 grams, a stalk of broccoli about 2.7, and a slice of whole wheat bread about 1.5.
• Omega-3 fats improve how your blood vessels respond and help keep blood from clotting too easily, which is exactly what you want if you are trying to prevent a heart attack.
• Plant sterols block cholesterol absorption. About 2 grams a day, taken in two separate servings, can lower LDL cholesterol by around 10%.
• Antioxidants help keep the cholesterol circulating in your blood from damaging the vessel lining, which is part of how blockages form in the first place.

These are not findings from small or preliminary studies. They come from a large and consistent body of population and dietary research. And the amounts in Step One Foods are far higher than what you will find in comparable grocery-shelf products, which is the whole point.

Has it actually been proven to work?

Yes, and this is the part I am proudest of. We did not just formulate the foods around good science and leave it there. We put them to the test in a randomized controlled trial conducted with Mayo Clinic and the University of Manitoba, the same kind of rigorous study used to evaluate medications. Participants saw measurable improvements in their cholesterol in about 30 days, simply by replacing two of their usual daily foods with Step One servings. A rigorous clinical trial is the standard we hold ourselves to, and it is truly rare for a food company to meet it.

The idea behind Step One Foods has always been simple: build food that works like medicine, then prove it like medicine. If you have high cholesterol, or you are trying to keep it from getting there, that is a foundation worth starting with.

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