Cross-sectional and longitudinal comparisons of metabolic profiles between vegetarian and non-vegetarian subjects: a matched cohort study.
Several previous cross-sectional studies have shown that vegetarians have a better metabolic profile than non-vegetarians, suggesting that a vegetarian dietary pattern may help prevent chronic degenerative diseases. However, longitudinal studies on the impact of vegetarian diets on metabolic traits are scarce. We studied how several sub-types of vegetarian diets affect metabolic traits, including waist circumference, BMI, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol (TC), HDL, LDL, TAG and TC:HDL ratio, through both cross-sectional and longitudinal study designs. The study used the MJ Health Screening database, with data collected from 1994 to 2008 in Taiwan, which included 4415 lacto-ovo-vegetarians, 1855 lacto-vegetarians and 1913 vegans; each vegetarian was matched with five non-vegetarians based on age, sex and study site. In the longitudinal follow-up, each additional year of vegan diet lowered the risk of obesity by 7 % (95 % CI 0·88, 0·99), whereas each additional year of lacto-vegetarian diet lowered the risk of elevated SBP by 8 % (95 % CI 0·85, 0·99) and elevated glucose by 7 % (95 % CI 0·87, 0·99), and each additional year of ovo-lacto-vegetarian diet increased abnormal HDL by 7 % (95 % CI 1·03, 1·12), compared with non-vegetarians. In the cross-sectional comparisons, all sub-types of vegetarians had lower likelihoods of abnormalities compared with non-vegetarians on all metabolic traits (P<0·001 for all comparisons), except for HDL and TAG. The better metabolic profile in vegetarians is partially attributable to lower BMI. With proper management of TAG and HDL, along with caution about the intake of refined carbohydrates and fructose, a plant-based diet may benefit all aspects of the metabolic profile.
1Institute of Population Health Sciences,National Health Research Institutes,Zhunan,Miaoli County 35053,Taiwan.
Yen-Feng
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3352-4500
YF
Chiu
1Institute of Population Health Sciences,National Health Research Institutes,Zhunan,Miaoli County 35053,Taiwan.
Chih-Cheng
CC
Hsu
2Medical Mission,Tzu Chi Foundation,Hualien 97002,Taiwan.
Tina H T
TH
Chiu
1Institute of Population Health Sciences,National Health Research Institutes,Zhunan,Miaoli County 35053,Taiwan.
Chun-Yi
CY
Lee
4MJ Health Management Institution,Taipei 10018,Taiwan.
Ting-Ting
TT
Liu
4MJ Health Management Institution,Taipei 10018,Taiwan.
Chwen Keng
CK
Tsao
1Institute of Population Health Sciences,National Health Research Institutes,Zhunan,Miaoli County 35053,Taiwan.
Su-Chun
SC
Chuang
1Institute of Population Health Sciences,National Health Research Institutes,Zhunan,Miaoli County 35053,Taiwan.
Chao A
CA
Hsiung
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D000067269:Diet, Vegan; D014676:Diet, Vegetarian; D005215:Fasting; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D055442:Metabolome; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control; D012307:Risk Factors; D013624:Taiwan; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D000066988:Vegetarians; D055105:Waist Circumference; D055815:Young Adult
D001786:Blood Glucose; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D014280:Triglycerides
DBP diastolic blood pressure; FBG fasting blood glucose; Longitudinal studies; MS metabolic syndrome; Metabolic traits; NHRI National Health Research Institutes; SBP systolic blood pressure; TC total cholesterol; Vegetarian diets; WC waist circumference