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VEGETARIAN DIETS, LIPIDS AND CARDIOVASCULAR RISK
Author(s) -
MASAREI J. R. L.,
ROUSE I. L.,
LYNCH W. J.,
ROBERTSON K.,
VANDONGEN R.,
BEILIN L. J.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-5994
pISSN - 0004-8291
DOI - 10.1111/j.1445-5994.1984.tb03603.x
Subject(s) - triglyceride , cholesterol , medicine , endocrinology , ldl cholesterol , blood lipids , total cholesterol
Vegetarian diets produce moderate but appreciable changes in serum lipid levels. A six‐weeg intervention study in which other aspects of life‐style were kept constant showed that levels of total cholesterol, LDL‐cholesterol and HDL‐cholesterol fell 0.22, 0.19 and 0.07 mmol/l, respectively, while triglyceride levels increased non‐significantly 0.12 mmol/l. The ratio of total cholesterol to HDL‐cholesterol did not change. A comparison of grous of habitual vegetarians and omnivores matched for other aspects of lifestyle showed rather larger differences in atherogenic lipid levels: 0.71 and 0.67 mmol/l for total— and LDL—cholesterol; the difference in HDL‐C levels was 0.04 mmol/l; triglyceride was 0.19 mmol/l greater in vegetarians. 92% of the variation in intakes of major nutrients was accounted for by three derived factors; changes in levels of most of the lipids were associated in each case with one of the factors. The resultant falls in the levels of total‐and LDL‐cholesterol in people adopting a vegetarian diet probably contribute to a reduction in cardiovascular risk.