Gregor, a large, beefy man, came home from the doctor's office and complained to his wife that his blood tests 'were bad.' He told her that the doctor said he would have to give up some of his steaks and butter. He went on to mourn the fact that he would have to start eating more cottage cheese and olive oil instead. What kind of problem was revealed by his 'bad' blood tests? What do you think of his choice of food substitutes and why? What would you suggest?

Question

Accepted Answer

Welcome back, everyone. Let's take a look at our next question. A middle aged man fond of red meat and fatty food visits. His doctor for a routine medical check up. The doctor told him he has high levels of LDL in his blood chemistry report and advised him to avoid fatty foods and use unsaturated fats for cooking and consumption. Why is elevated LDL detrimental to health? A LDL cholesterol promotes the synthesis of HDL cholesterol which can lead to imbalances in cholesterol levels. B high levels of LDL cholesterol can cause the formation of plaques in the arteries leading to atherosclerosis. CLDL cholesterol inhibits the production of insulin resulting in increased blood sugar levels or D excess. LDL cholesterol increases the production of red blood cells leading to the thickening of blood. So our correct answer here is choice B that high levels of LDL cholesterol can cause a formation of plaques in the arteries. LDL cholesterol or excuse me, LDL carries cholesterol molecules from the liver to cells throughout the body. And this includes the cells that form the lining of the arteries when there's an excess of LDL that can lead to the formation of plaques in the arteries. These plaques are made up of cholesterol fats, calcium and some other things. And over time these can grow and they can harden as we get the name atherosclerosis, sclerosis, meaning hardening and narrow the arteries. And that can lead to coronary artery disease, heart attacks and stroke because the narrowing can obviously restrict blood flow to those important organs like the heart and the brain. So choice B is going to be a correct answer. The doctors recommended using unsaturated fats because unsaturated fats can actually lower LDL levels. So when we look at our other answer, choices C and D just aren't um the way LDL works, it doesn't inhibit the production of insulin or increase the production of red blood cells. When we look at choice A, it says that LDL promotes the synthesis of HDL cholesterol which can lead to imbalances in cholesterol level. HDL cholesterol is actually known as the good cholesterol as it's not detrimental to health health. But good. You want to have high levels of HDL cholesterol, it takes excess cholesterol in the blood and brings it back to the liver. So that's why HDL actually promotes the balance of cholesterol levels. So it promotes balance. So the two work in partnership with each other in an ideal situation. But when there's excess LDL, then you have this issue with possible atherosclerosis. So that's my choice. A isn't our correct answer. And our answer is B high levels of LDL cholesterol can cause the formation of plaques in the arteries leading to atherosclerosis. See you in the next video.

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Key Concepts

Cholesterol and Health

Dietary Substitutes

Nutrition and Lifestyle Changes