Cardiovascular disease risk factors are lower in African-American vegans compared to lacto-ovo-vegetarians.

OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to determine if African-American strict vegetarians (vegans) exhibit lower blood pressure (BP) and a more favorable serum lipid profile than their lacto-ovo vegetarian (LOV) counterparts, and if plasma ascorbic acid (AA) concentrations could explain any group differences in these cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. METHODS: Habitual dietary intake, anthropometric characteristics, blood pressure, and blood lipids and ascorbic acid concentrations were determined in African-American study participants (male vegans, n = 14, age = 45.6 years; male LOV, n = 49, age = 49.8; female vegans, n = 31, age = 51.1, female LOV, n = 94, age = 52.1) recruited from Seventh-Day Adventist Churches in several cities in the northeastern United States. RESULTS: Body mass index (BMI) was significantly lower in the vegans (24.7 +/- 1.9 kg/m2) compared to LOV (26.4 +/- 0.45 kg/m2). There were no diet or gender differences in BP. Serum total cholesterol (3.75 +/- 0.12 vs. 4.51 +/- 0.10 mmol/L), LDL-cholesterol (2.06 +/- 0.13 vs. 2.65 +/- 0.09 mmol/l), and triglycerides (0.94 +/- 0.07 vs. 1.17 +/- 0.04 mmol/L) were significantly (p < 0.05) lower in vegans compared to LOV, but there were no dietary group differences in HDL-C. The ratio of total to HDL-cholesterol was significantly lower in vegans than in LOV (3.0 +/- 0.13 vs. 3.7 +/- 0.13). There were no dietary group differences in plasma AA concentrations. However, in the entire sample, plasma AA was inversely associated with BP (SBP: r = -0.46, p < 0.001, DBP: r = -0.32, p < 0.001), but unrelated to the serum lipid concentrations. CONCLUSION: African-American vegans exhibit a more favorable serum lipid profile than lacto-ovo-vegatarians and plasma AA is inversely related to BP in African-American vegetarians but does not explain any of the differences in CVD risk factors between vegans and lacto-ovo vegetarians.

Blood pressure and blood lipids among vegetarian, semivegetarian, and nonvegetarian African Americans.

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.

Blood pressure differences in older black and white long-term vegetarians and nonvegetarians.

The vegetarian diet has been associated with lower blood pressure (BP) in elderly white Americans. This study was undertaken to determine whether or not long-term adherence (at least 5 years) to a plant-based diet is similarly related to lower BP in older black Americans, a group exhibiting significant risk for hypertension (HT). Anthropometric characteristics, nutrient intake, and resting systolic and diastolic BP were measured in older black vegetarians (n = 27, age = 69.3 +/- 1.7 years), black nonvegetarians (n = 37, age = 65.4 +/- 1.2 years), white vegetarians (n = 85, age = 66.7 +/- 1.0 years), and white nonvegetarians (n = 54, age = 65.2 +/- 0.9 years). Older black vegetarians were significantly leaner and exhibited lower average systolic BP (131.4/76.8 mm Hg) and less hypertension than the black omnivores (141.6/76.2 mm Hg), but had significantly higher average BP than either dietary group of older white adults (vegetarians: 120.9/66.7 mm Hg; nonvegetarians: 122.8/67.6 mm Hg). These data suggest that long-term adherence to a vegetarian diet by older black Americans may afford some protection against hypertension, but in comparison to older white adults, does not completely offset their apparently greater susceptibility to untoward elevation of BP.