title: Blood pressure and blood lipids among vegetarian, semivegetarian, and nonvegetarian African Americans.
abstract: Blood pressure (BP) and serum lipids were compared among three dietary groups of Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) African-American adults: vegetarians (VEGs: no consumption of animal flesh, n = 66), semivegetarians (SEMIVEGs: one to three servings of animal flesh per week, n = 56), and nonvegetarians (NONVEGs: daily consumption of animal flesh, n = 45). VEGs had a lower mean waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and lower dietary intakes of protein, saturated fat, and cholesterol compared with the NONVEGs. Only 16% of the VEGs were confirmed to be hypertensive compared with 35.7% of the SEMIVEGs and 31.1% of the NONVEGs. Independent of differences in WHR, the VEGs had significantly lower concentrations of serum total cholesterol (STC), LDL-C, triglycerides, STC/HDL-C, and LDL-C/HDL-C than the NONVEGs. The SEMIVEGs had lipid values intermediate to the VEG and NONVEG groups. Among African-American SDAs, a vegetarian diet is associated with lower cardiovascular disease risk factors than is an omnivorous diet.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 80523.
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Melby
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Toohey
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cebrick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D044383:Black People; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D014676:Diet, Vegetarian; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States; D001741:Black or African American
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids