“Psyllium lowers LDL cholesterol.”
Psyllium lowers LDL cholesterol by a modest amount when taken daily.
Daily psyllium is a real, if modest, way to lower LDL cholesterol. It works alongside a heart-healthy diet and is not a replacement for cholesterol medicine your clinician has prescribed.
If you want to try it, ask your clinician about taking about 10 grams of psyllium a day (check the label for grams per dose), and recheck your cholesterol at your next blood test.
Safety note: Mix each dose of psyllium powder with at least 8 ounces of liquid and drink it right away. Psyllium can affect some medicines: do not take digoxin, aspirin or nitrofurantoin within 3 hours of it.
Talk to a healthcare professional if: you have trouble swallowing, have had a bowel blockage, or have kidney disease, or you get stomach pain, vomiting or trouble breathing after taking psyllium.
Dozens of randomized trials, pooled in more than one review, consistently show that psyllium lowers LDL cholesterol. The direction is certain; the size varies between trials, and these trials measured cholesterol, not heart attacks.
Psyllium lowers LDL cholesterol by a modest amount when taken daily. In pooled trials, about 10 grams a day lowered LDL by roughly 9 to 13 mg/dL on average.
A 2018 review of 28 trials (1,924 people) found a median of about 10 grams of psyllium a day lowered LDL by about 13 mg/dL, and it also improved other blood fats linked to heart disease (non-HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein B). A 2025 review of 41 trials (2,049 people) found LDL about 9 mg/dL lower, with results that varied widely between trials. These are cholesterol trials, so they do not directly show fewer heart attacks.
- Jovanovski E, Yashpal S, Komishon A, Zurbau A, Blanco Mejia S, Ho HVT, Li D, Sievenpiper J, Duvnjak L, Vuksan V. Effect of psyllium (Plantago ovata) fiber on LDL cholesterol and alternative lipid targets, non-HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein B: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2018;108(5):922-932. DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/nqy115. PMID: 30239559
- Gholami Z, Paknahad Z. Psyllium supplementation and lipid profiles: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Genes & Nutrition. 2025;20(1):27. DOI: 10.1186/s12263-025-00786-5. PMID: 41366295. PMCID: PMC12690803
- MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine (AHFS Patient Medication Information). Psyllium. Last revised June 20, 2024