title: Vegetarian diets and cardiovascular risk factors in black members of the Adventist Health Study-2.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare cardiovascular risk factors between vegetarians and non-vegetarians in black individuals living in the USA.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional analysis of a sub-set of 592 black women and men enrolled in the Adventist Health Study-2 (AHS-2) cohort of Seventh-day Adventists.
  
  
  METHODS
  Members of the AHS-2 cohort, who lived in all states of the USA and provinces of Canada.
  
  
  METHODS
  Black/African-American members of two sub-studies of AHS-2 where blood and physiological measurements were obtained.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of these women and men, 25% were either vegan or lacto-ovo-vegetarians (labelled 'vegetarian/vegans'), 13% were pesco-vegetarian and 62% were non-vegetarian. Compared with non-vegetarians, the vegetarian/vegans had odds ratios for hypertension, diabetes, high blood total cholesterol and high blood LDL-cholesterol of 0·56 (95% CI 0·36, 0·87), 0·48 (95% CI 0·24, 0·98), 0·42 (95% CI 0·27, 0·65) and 0·54 (95% CI 0·33, 0·89), respectively, when adjusted for age, gender, education, physical activity and sub-study. Corresponding odds ratios for obesity in vegetarian/vegans and pesco-vegetarians, compared with non-vegetarians, were 0·43 (95% CI 0·28, 0·67) and 0·47 (95% CI 0·27, 0·81), respectively; and for abdominal obesity 0·54 (95% CI 0·36, 0·82) and 0·50 (95% CI 0·29, 0·84), respectively. Results for pesco-vegetarians did not differ significantly from those of non-vegetarians for other variables. Further adjustment for BMI suggested that BMI acts as an intermediary variable between diet and both hypertension and diabetes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As with non-blacks, these results suggest that there are sizeable advantages to a vegetarian diet in black individuals also, although a cross-sectional analysis cannot conclusively establish cause.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Biostatics,Loma Linda University,24951 North Circle Drive,NH 2005,Loma Linda,CA 92350,USA.
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fraser
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Biostatics,Loma Linda University,24951 North Circle Drive,NH 2005,Loma Linda,CA 92350,USA.
authors.forename: Sozina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Katuli
authors.affiliation: 2Internal Medicine,VA Loma Linda Healthcare System,Loma Linda,CA,USA.
authors.forename: Ramtin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Anousheh
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Biostatics,Loma Linda University,24951 North Circle Drive,NH 2005,Loma Linda,CA 92350,USA.
authors.forename: Synnove
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Knutsen
authors.affiliation: 3Health Promotion and Education,Loma Linda University,Loma Linda,CA,USA.
authors.forename: Patti
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Herring
authors.affiliation: 4Adventist Health Study,Loma Linda University,Loma Linda,CA,USA.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D044383:Black People; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D014676:Diet, Vegetarian / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D033303:Protestantism; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014900:West Indies / Q000208:ethnology
keywords: Adventists; Blacks; Cardiovascular risks; Vegetarian diet