Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1966, Page 63

Effect of dietary whale fat in serum cholesterol levels
71
Subjects and method.
The subjects, 40 men and women, all healthy people between
the ages of 45 and 65 years of age, were all volunteers. They
carried on with their usual work throughout the period of the
experiment, which lasted six months.
No active disease was detected by routine clinical investi-
gation. All had normal blood counts, erythrocyte sedimen-
tation rates, urine analysis and blood urea level. Ten persons
(10) of the group, 5 males and 5 females acted as control
group and were asked to withdraw the whale fat from their
diet, for the time of the experiment.
The other group, consisting of 30 persons, 15 males and 15
females was asked to eat at least 150—200 gr. of whale fat
(blubber from the Pilot whale) daily to cover about 40 °/o of
their caloric intake and to avoid eating any other form of fat
for the period mentioned. All were supervised regularly to
ensure their adherence to the diet. Blood samples were taken
after three and six months period, and analysed in duplicate
for serum total cholesterol by the method of Abell et al. modi-
fied by Anderson and Keys (1956).
Results.
On table No. I are the number and ages of people taking
part in the experiment.
Table No. I
Age Group Contro group Experiment group
Females Males Females Males
45-49 2 1 5 2
50-54 2 2 5 3
55-59 1 2 3 4
60-64 2 6