STEP 2: DETERMINE WHICH DIET BETTER REDUCES THE CONCENTRATIO…
STEP 2: DETERMINE WHICH DIET BETTER REDUCES THE CONCENTRATION OF LDL CHOLESTEROL IN A PERSON’S BLOOD For many years, the medical community has advocated a diet that limits cholesterol and saturated fats, which are common in meat, dairy, and fried foods. However, foods such as eggs and shrimp have a large amount of cholesterol but little saturated fat. Should a person with high cholesterol avoid consuming such foods? To answer this question, you must determine whether cholesterol concentration in a person’s blood depends on the amount of cholesterol or the amount of saturated fats consumed in their diet. You have access to data from an experiment in which 50 people with very high concentrations of LDL cholesterol followed a controlled diet for 3 months. Individuals were assigned to one of two treatments: 1) a diet low in cholesterol or 2) a diet low in saturated fats. A blood sample was taken from each person at the experiment’s beginning and end. The concentration of LDL cholesterol in each blood sample was measured using a standard protocol. Researchers then calculated the change in LDL cholesterol (Δ) for each person by subtracting the initial concentration from the final concentration: