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Plasma lipids and body composition: A comparison of lacto‐ovo vegetarians and non‐vegetarians
Author(s) -
SegoviaSiapco Gina,
BurnsWhitmore Bonny,
Sabate Joan,
Rajaram Sujatha
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.1092.16
Subject(s) - cholesterol , medicine , blood lipids , endocrinology , composition (language) , fat mass , total cholesterol , body mass index , biology , linguistics , philosophy
Plant‐based diets have been shown to be protective against several chronic diseases compared to meat‐based diets. Serum lipids and body composition measures are commonly used indicators of risk for many chronic diseases. In a cross‐sectional analysis of baseline data from two clinical studies conducted at Loma Linda University for other purposes, we compared the serum total cholesterol (TC), HDL‐cholesterol (HDL‐C), LDL‐cholesterol (LDL‐C), triglycerides (TAG), BMI, fat mass (FM), and fat free mass (FFM) of a group of lacto‐ovo vegetarians (LOVs) and non‐vegetarians (NVs). Overall, the LOVs (18 females & 7 males, mean age=43 y) have significantly lower TC, LDL‐C, HDL‐C, BMI, and FM compared to the NVs (25 females & 10 males, mean age=48 y); however, after age adjustment, significant differences disappeared for HDL‐C and BMI. Female LOVs have significantly lower TC, LDL‐C, and FM compared to their counterparts, but the difference for FM disappeared after age adjustment. Male LOVs have significantly lower TC, LDL‐C, and HDL‐C compared to male NVs, which remained significant even after age adjustment. Our findings suggest that LOVs have a more favorable serum lipid profile but may be similar in body composition compared to the NVs.