THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PLANT STEROLS DAILY INTAKE

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F. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PLANT STEROLS DAILY INTAKE

AND TOTAL BLOOD CHOLESTEROL LEVEL Based on the Pearson correlation test in total and each respondents group, there was no association between the consumption of daily plant sterols to blood cholesterol level shown in Table 19. However, there could be several limitations of research which could explain the result. As one of the inclusion criteria of respondents was nutritional status; respondents had body mass index 18-27 which considered had normal nutritional status and in health condition which meant they were not in medication or not being in treatment to cure a disease in the research time, the result was also limited to health population. No association means that the level of plant sterols intake by 223.80 mgday had no visible effect in low or high level of total blood cholesterol in healthy respondents. By the fact that the mean of respondents‟ blood cholesterol level was 179.70 mgdL, it could be considered that plant sterols intake by 223.80 mgday kept blood cholesterol in desirable level in healthy respondents, although not had visible reduction to the blood cholesterol level. The result was in line with research conducted by Hendriks 1999 which stated that consumption of plant sterols of 200-400 mgday can maintain the blood cholesterol in healthy level. It also consistent with study by Berger et al. 2004 which mentioned that free plant sterols found naturally in food can have visible reduction to LDL cholesterol level of 5 or more by consumption of 0.8-1 gday. In addition, Carr et al. 2010 stated that plant sterols intake from daily food can reduce the absorption of cholesterol, but that supplemental doses of plant sterols as much as 1.5-3 gday are required to achieve maximal reductions in serum cholesterol. Table 19.The result of Pearson correlation test results between plant sterols intake and total blood cholesterol levels Respondents Groups Plant sterols intake mgday Blood cholesterol level mgdL Coefficient of Correlation P Value Note Total 223.80 179.70 0.016 0.873 No correlation Male 223.41 190.40 -0.055 0.702 No correlation Female 224.19 169.00 0.116 0.424 No correlation Other limitation might be the similar socioeconomic characteristics in majority of respondents. Since this research was taken place in only Bogor rural area, which considerably a narrow survey scale, almost all of respondents had similar level of education; type of jobs; and income per capita, which contribute to their choices and kinds of food consumed. Due to the sim ilarity, they didn‟t have much variation in food patterns and lifestyles, which also impacted to their nutrition and non-nutrition intake, including cholesterol and plant sterols. The similar characteristics also impacted to their adjacent level of blood cholesterol. Moreover, blood cholesterol levels of respondents were tested through a fingertip test using cholesterol home test kit and not reflect the value of LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. To determine the effects of daily plant sterols on cholesterol, complete cholesterol test is required, as was done by Andersson et al. 2004 in his research. Nevertheless, testing blood cholesterol level with home test kit can provide a started picture of the hypercholesterolemia risk on the respondents and also useful for periodically controlling of blood cholesterol levels AHA 2012. V. CONSLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

A. CONCLUSION