Am J Clin Nutr. 1994 Jan; 59(1): 103-9.

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

Melby CL, Toohey ML, Cebrick J.

Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 80523.

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.