Dietitian: High consumption of sodium increases some people’s chances

Question

Dietitian: High consumption of sodium increases some people’s chances of developing heart disease. To maintain cardiac health without lowering sodium consumption, therefore, these people should eat fresh, rather than canned or frozen, fruit and vegetables, since the potassium in plant foods helps to prevent sodium’s malign effects.

Which one of the following is an assumption required by the dietitian’s argument?

(A) Fresh fruits and vegetables contain more potassium than sodium.
(B) Food processing businesses often add sodium to foods being canned or frozen.
(C) Potassium is the only mineral that helps to prevent sodium’s malign effects.
(D) Potassium in fruits and vegetables has few negative side effects.
(E) Fresh fruits and vegetables contain more potassium than do canned or frozen ones.

yashikaaggarwal · Answer

1) High consumption of sodium increases chances of developing heart disease in some people.

2) To maintain cardiac health, these people should eat fresh fruit and vegetables, since the potassium in plant foods helps to prevent sodium’s malign effects.

The assumption used here is;
(A) Fresh fruits and vegetables contain more potassium than sodium. (nothing mentioned as such that the fresh fruits don't contain any other mineral or nutrient than potassium) (Out of Scope)

(B) Food processing businesses often add sodium to foods being canned or frozen. (The passage don't mention anything regarding food processing businesses) (Irrelevant)

(C) Potassium is the only mineral that helps to prevent sodium’s malign effects. (No proof to validate the statement that the sodium malign effect can't be correct by any other source)

(D) Potassium in fruits and vegetables has few negative side effects. (No negative effects of potassium is mentioned as such)

(E) Fresh fruits and vegetables contain more potassium than do canned or frozen ones. (This can be possibly inferred from the passage as it's advisable to eat fresh fruits over canned ones because they have more potassium than canned ones) (correct)

Answer is E

Posted from my mobile device

Nipungupta9081 · Answer

IMO - E

Premises - High consumption of sodium increases some people’s chances of developing heart disease
Conclusion - these people should eat fresh food rather then canned food and vegetables.

Option A - We don't know about this , not given in the question .  OUT OF SCOPE ( X )

Option B - The passage didn't mention anything regarding this point.  IRRELEVANT ( X )

Option C -  Out of scope . ( X )

Option D - no info regarding this in the passage  ( X )

Option E - This hits the conclusion of the passage as Dietitian recommends having fresh food over canned foods.  ( ✔ )

MayankDimri · Answer

The conclusion is saying to opt for fresh foods rather than canned foods, since it contains potassium. How can we infer whether having more amount of potassium in food is a better proposition?(The option is only saying presence of potassium is important to mitigate negative effect, nothing about the quantity is mentioned)

Please someone explain how we can draw this inference about more quanity being beneficial?

Please someone explain how we can draw this inference about more quanity being beneficial?

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  MayankDimri . The argument is concerned only with providing a link between  potassium in plant foods  and preventing the negative effects of sodium consumption—i.e. potentially  developing heart disease . Although there could very well be diminishing returns once consumption of potassium reaches a certain level, such a consideration goes beyond the scope of the passage. If, given the premise that plant foods can mitigate the effects of sodium by way of the potassium they contain, the recommendation is for people to  eat fresh, rather than canned or frozen, fruits and vegetables , then the dietitian must be assuming that the potassium in such fresh foods is either more abundant or more bioavailable (to combat the harmful effects of sodium) than that which is found in canned or frozen produce. So, while there could be a few directions in which this question could go, the only answer choice that aligns with a reasonable assumption the dietitian would make is (E). Choice (A) introduces a proportion that is not brought up in the passage; (B) does not mention potassium at all; (C) is too extreme in its use of  only , when the passage simply focuses on potassium; and (D) says nothing about the causal relationship between consuming potassium-rich foods and reducing the harmful effects of sodium.

I hope that helps. If you have further questions, feel free to ask. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

satya2029 · Answer

Say 10 grams of Sodium is considered high consumption. 
Potassium counters sodium's malign effects 
Note-Without lowering that 10 grams intake of sodium 
Fresh fruit or vegetables with 10 grams of sodium Vs frozen fruits or vegetables with 10 grams of sodium
People should eat fresh fruits n veggies
this means Fresh fruits and veggies have more potassium to counter sodium than do frozen ones
E:)

Archit3110 · Answer

conclusion of argument :
To maintain cardiac health without lowering sodium consumption,  therefore, these people should eat fresh, rather than canned or frozen, fruit and vegetables , since the potassium in plant foods helps to prevent sodium’s malign effects.

option E on negation Fresh fruits and vegetables  do not   contain more potassium than do canned or frozen ones
basically this makes argument break with fact that with fresh fruits and veggies there wont be any added advantage of reducing sodium levels
option E is correct

prateekchugh · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

(E) Assumption 
When a term appears in the relevant piece of evidence, but nowhere in the conclusion, be sure to sync this up in the Assumption. The author concludes that individuals who are more susceptible to heart disease as a result of high sodium intake should eat fresh fruit and vegetables rather than canned or frozen fruit and vegetables. The author bases her conclusion on the single piece of evidence that potassium in plant foods—such as fruits and vegetables—prevents sodium’s bad effects. Since the
author is concluding that fresh fruits and vegetables are likely to help the individuals in question more so than canned or frozen fruits and vegetables, it must be true that potassium appears in higher quantities in fresh rather than canned or frozen fruits and vegetables. Choice  (E)  matches this prediction.

For the record:  (A), (B), and (C)  Irrelevant Comparison. Each of these answer choices compares potassium to sodium content in order to show that more potassium than sodium is present in various situations. Such may be the case, but the assumption needs to shore up that potassium is contained in fresh fruits and vegetables more so than canned or frozen fruits and vegetables, regardless of the sodium concentration.

(D)  Outside the Scope. There are two things wrong with this answer choice. First, the argument tells us the benefits of potassium. The number of negative side effects is immaterial. Second, there’s no comparison between fresh versus. canned and frozen fruits and vegetables so it cannot suppor t the author’s conclusion that fresh is better than the other.

TheGraceful · Answer

I was able to narrow down to answer choices 'A' and 'E'.

I did apply negation tests on both options and found to be working for both.
Fresh fruits and vegetables  do NOT  contain more potassium than sodium. <== Argument does fall apart.
Fresh fruits and vegetables  do NOT  contain more potassium than do canned or frozen ones. <== Argument does fall apart.

Option E is extended version of option A and option A encompasses 'E'.
While I do think 'E" is correct, I am NOT convinced with any explanation in eliminating option 'A'.

Assumption is an  unstated  premise and doesn't have to be stated in argument.

GMATNinja , @veritasprepkarishma can you please help in eliminating 'A'...?

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  TheGraceful . It has been a while since we crossed paths, but I remember commenting on your signature. Although you did not call upon me to help here, I believe I can clarify why (A) is not a required assumption, and, by extension, why your negation above will not cause the argument to fall apart. Notice that the passage says nothing about any ratios between potassium and sodium. It could be true that, say, 500mg of potassium would be sufficient to reduce the potential negative effects caused in the body by 1,000mg of sodium. That would be a 1:2 ratio that makes the  negation  of (A) fall apart. (From what I have read, the ideal ratio is closer to 3:1 in favor of potassium, but we cannot bring outside knowledge into answering the question. We have to stick strictly to what the passage lays out for us.)

I hope that helps. If you still have questions, feel free to ask.

- Andrew

TheGraceful · Answer

Sincere thanks for the response. Although, I still am NOT fully convinced with the detailed explanation, it gave me something very significant to grasp - In Assumption questions too (just like MUST BE TRUE and MAIN POINT questions), one cannot bring outside knowledge into answering the question. We have to stick strictly to what the passage lays out . And more thanks for remembering me and my signature.

Gokul20 · Answer

Dietitian: High consumption of sodium increases some people’s chances of developing heart disease. To maintain cardiac health without lowering sodium consumption, therefore, these people should eat fresh, rather than canned or frozen, fruit and vegetables, since the potassium in plant foods helps to prevent sodium’s malign effects.

Conclusion: People should eat fresh fruit & veg instead of canned or frozen food to prevent sodium's malign effects. This is because  plant foods (not fresh ones) contain potassium 
 Gap: Do the canned/frozen foods not contain potassium? Or does canning/freezing lower potassium levels ?

We are not really concerned whether they contain more potassium than sodium. The comparison is between potassium levels in fresh and canned food, not potassium vs sodium levels.
  Eliminate A  
 
Again not a relevant fact to assume.
  Eliminate B  
 
We need not assume that Potassium is the only mineral that prevents sodium's malign effects. Although the potassium in fresh fruits is of concern here. 
  Eliminate C  
 
We are not concerned about side effects here. So irrelevant at best.
  Eliminate D  
 
 Gotcha!!!  In line with the GAP we identified above. This is the required assumption. Without this we have no basis to compare fresh and canned/frozen fruits & veg.
  E is our answer

VerbalBot · Answer

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Dietitian: High consumption of sodium increases some people’s chances

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