Q 01/05

Which organ, only about 2% of body weight, holds roughly a quarter of all the cholesterol in the human body?

A) Heart

B) Brain

C) Stomach

D) Kidneys

Answer · why

B) Brain

The brain makes its own supply on site, and most of it is packed into myelin, the fatty insulation wrapped around nerve fibers.

Q 02/05

Which breakfast fruit can push some statins to risky levels in the blood by blocking an enzyme in the gut?

A) Strawberries

B) Banana

C) Grapefruit

D) Blueberries

Answer · why

C) Grapefruit

Grapefruit juice knocks out CYP3A4, an enzyme that normally breaks the drug down, so more of each dose stays in the body for longer.

Q 03/05

Which nutrient does human skin make in sunlight from a close chemical relative of cholesterol?

A) Vitamin A

B) Vitamin K

C) Vitamin C

D) Vitamin D

Answer · why

D) Vitamin D

Vitamin D starts life as 7-dehydrocholesterol, a compound sitting in the skin that ultraviolet B light converts.

Q 04/05

Which cooking oil, rated healthy by most Americans in one survey, raises harmful LDL about as much as beef fat?

A) Coconut oil

B) Olive oil

C) Canola oil

D) Sunflower oil

Answer · why

A) Coconut oil

Coconut oil won a healthy rating from 72% of Americans in that survey, yet only 37% of nutrition experts agreed.

Q 05/05

HDL earns its nickname of 'good' cholesterol by carrying excess cholesterol back to which organ for disposal?

A) Kidneys

B) Spleen

C) Liver

D) Pancreas

Answer · why

C) Liver

The liver is also where the journey starts, because LDL particles carry cholesterol out from it to the rest of the body.