Previously we have reported that samples of men from various populations differ in the average concentration of cholesterol in the blood serum so that, in general, the cholesterol level tends to be directly related to the proportion of the total calories provided by fats in the habitual diet of the population (1-6). Differences in the cholesterol content of these diets cannot account for the differences in the serum (7).These observations are confirmed by other recent studies (8), but the question has been asked as to whether differences in habitual physical activity could not account for the findings. The suggestion has been made that "a large muscle mass or a large energy expenditure is the effective agent and that this, not the diet, is the important element in preventing hyperlipemia" (8, p. 1010).In some areas it is easy to show that the more prosperous men, who are usually less active physically than the rest of the local population, tend to have higher cholesterol values than men representing the rest of the community. We found this to
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