Vegetarian diets and cardiovascular risk factors in black members of the Adventist Health Study-2

Public Health Nutr. 2015 Feb;18(3):537-45. doi: 10.1017/S1368980014000263. Epub 2014 Mar 17.

Abstract

Objective: To compare cardiovascular risk factors between vegetarians and non-vegetarians in black individuals living in the USA.

Design: 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.

Setting: Members of the AHS-2 cohort, who lived in all states of the USA and provinces of Canada.

Subjects: 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.

Keywords: Adventists; Blacks; Cardiovascular risks; Vegetarian diet.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Black People
  • Black or African American
  • Body Mass Index
  • Canada / epidemiology
  • Cardiovascular Diseases / blood
  • Cardiovascular Diseases / epidemiology
  • Cardiovascular Diseases / ethnology
  • Cardiovascular Diseases / prevention & control*
  • Cohort Studies
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Diet, Vegetarian / ethnology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hypertension / blood
  • Hypertension / epidemiology
  • Hypertension / ethnology
  • Hypertension / prevention & control
  • Male
  • Metabolic Syndrome / blood
  • Metabolic Syndrome / epidemiology
  • Metabolic Syndrome / ethnology
  • Metabolic Syndrome / prevention & control*
  • Middle Aged
  • Obesity / blood
  • Obesity / epidemiology
  • Obesity / ethnology
  • Obesity / prevention & control*
  • Protestantism
  • United States / epidemiology
  • West Indies / ethnology