Skills You’ll Gain by Completing This Assignment
Interpret each component of a lipid panel
Compare lab results with recommendations for the general population
Consider different nutrients in lipids, such as saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, and their impact on lipid panel results
Discuss how your intake of different types of nutrients in dietary lipids impact lipid panel results
Connect current intake with impacts on cholesterol and triglycerides
Explain the relationship between food and beverage intake and serum cholesterol
Apply information obtained from credible sources to make informed decisions about food choices
Introduction to Your Assignment
Understanding lipid panels can help you determine what, if any, intake-related changes you could make to impact your cholesterol and triglycerides. Be sure to watch the course videos in Unit 3 for a further understanding of this content before starting this assignment.
In this assignment, you will:
Journal your intake for an entire 24-hour period
Pretend the report below is yours and determine if your levels are within normal limits or concerning in some way
Isolate foods that may be high in nutrients that could have a negative impact on your lipid profile
Discover replacements or changes to your intake that could lead to a more positive impact on your lipid profile
See sample assignment and rubric (see below) for additional assistance before starting on this assignment. Make sure to review the rubric before submitting your assignment to ensure that you have included all the assignment expectations.
NOTE: If this assignment is triggering for you in any way, you can use a fictitious food log, use the food intake from a friend or relative, or reach out to your instructor for an alternate assignment option.
Instructions
STEP 1: You will track your intake for one full 24-hour period.
This needs to be a different day of intake than you submitted in the Unit 2 assignment. [NOTE: You will be using your food journal from the Unit 2 Assignment: Food Journaling & Carbohydrates, as well as your food journal from this assignment collectively with one additional food journal day for the Unit 4 Assignment. You will need a total of three distinct days of food journals for the Unit 4 Assignment.]
Please refer to the Unit 2 assignment instructions for details on completing a food journal with all details and quantities needed.
Be sure to review any grading feedback from your Unit 2 assignment to ensure that you are tracking your intake with enough detail.
STEP 2: Use the required readings in this Unit to fill in the third column in the chart with “high”, “normal “, or other analysis term as needed to describe your results.
Test
Lab Results
Analysis
(High/Borderline High/Normal/Low)
Total Cholesterol
232 mg/dL
LDL
124
HDL
48
Triglycerides
152
STEP 3: Select three lipid-rich foods or beverages from your food journal for this Lipid Panel Analysis assignment. As a reminder, intake of different nutrients in lipids, such as saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, impact lipid panel results.
In list or table format, include the following details for each of the three lipid-rich foods/beverages you selected:
The name of each lipid-rich food you identified (Example: Pepperoni pizza)
The amount of each lipid-rich food you consumed (Example: 1 cup; 3 ounces; etc.)
Identify a nutrient/ingredient in the food/beverage you suspect impacts the lipid panel profile in a negative way (Example: Saturated fat).
Search Nutrition Facts Labels or restaurant/product nutrition information for the nutrient you identified in Step 3-c for each of the three foods you selected. List the number of grams or milligrams of this nutrient of concern. (Example: 7 grams)
The use of normal/optimal ranges for lab results implies that results outside of those ranges may have a negative impact on health. The different types of nutrients in lipids (for ex., saturated fat) have distinct health impacts. Briefly discuss (1-2 sentences) how the nutrients/ingredients you selected impact your lipid profile in a negative way.
Note: The United States Department of Agriculture FoodData Central be helpful while looking for unsaturated or saturated fat content of whole foods. After selecting the food/beverage item you will see a long list of nutrients in a table format. Saturated fats and unsaturated fats are in the “Lipids” section. Be sure to use the “Total” amounts for the nutrient you are highlighting!
STEP 4: Using the three foods/beverages you selected above, find an alternative (replacement) food/beverage that you could include in your diet that you would expect to have a more positive impact on a lipid profile than the items in the food journal.
Use a list or table format and, for each of the three foods/beverages, address a-e below:
The original item
The alternate (replacement) for original item
What is one serving (portion size in grams or milligrams) of the replacement (alternate) item?
Provide the number of grams or milligrams of the nutrient you listed in (d) above in one serving of the new item (Example: There are 5 grams unsaturated fat in 3 oz cooked salmon)
Briefly discuss (1-2 sentences) how the new item would be expected to have a more positive impact on a lipid panel profile. The positive impact can be due to the presence of a different, specific nutrient from the nutrient you highlighted in Step 3 OR a reduction in the nutrient you highlighted in Step 3.
Note: The United States Department of Agriculture FoodData Central may be helpful here as well.
Optional: Want to Expand Even More?
Look at your most recent lipid profile. If you have access to the four lab values included in this assignment, you may replace the “Lab Results” column with your personal data.
Then, follow the instructions for analyzing your results. In order to edit the table, you can copy/paste the table from these instructions into your assignment, re-create the table, or use the assignment template.
Follow the rest of the assignment instructions using your own lipid profile data.
If you complete this optional change, please make a note at the top of your assignment that you used your personal data to alert your instructor.
