title: Postmenopausal vegetarians' low serum ferritin level may reduce the risk for metabolic syndrome.
abstract: The present study was conducted to compare the serum ferritin status between the postmenopausal vegetarians and non-vegetarians and to identify the relation of serum ferritin with metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk factors in postmenopausal women. The two study groups consisted of postmenopausal vegetarians (n=59) who maintained a vegetarian diet for over 20 years and age-matched non-vegetarian controls (n=48). Anthropometric measurements, dietary intakes, serum metabolic syndrome-related parameters, and serum ferritin level between the two groups were compared. The vegetarians exhibited significantly lower weight (p<0.01), body mass index (BMI) (p<0.001), percentage of body fat (p<0.001), waist circumference (p<0.01), SBP (p<0.001), DBP (p<0.001), and fasting glucose (p<0.05). According to the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP)-Adult Treatment Panel III criteria for MetS applying Korean guidelines for waist circumference, the prevalence of MetS was lower in vegetarians (33.9 %) than in non-vegetarians (47.9 %). Vegetarians had significantly lower serum level of ferritin (p<0.01) than non-vegetarians. In the correlation analysis, serum ferritin was positively related to fasting glucose (r=0.264, p<0.01), triglycerides (r=0.232, p<0.05), and the NCEP score (r=0.214, p<0.05) and negatively related to high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (r=-0.225, p<0.05) after adjusting for BMI, lifestyle, and dietary factors (animal protein, animal fat, and dietary fiber intake). In conclusion, postmenopausal vegetarians had lower MetS presence and a lower serum ferritin level compared to non-vegetarians. Furthermore, vegetarians' low serum ferritin level may reduce the risk of MetS in postmenopausal women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition, Kangwon National University, Samcheok 245-711, South Korea. mhkim1129@kangwon.ac.kr
authors.forename: Mi-Hyun
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yun Jung
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Bae
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D014676:Diet, Vegetarian; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000097:blood*; D015995:Prevalence; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D055105:Waist Circumference
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D014280:Triglycerides; D005293:Ferritins