UCSF

Background

Following a vegetarian diet is considered to be beneficial for overall health and is associated with a lower risk of chronic disease.

Objective

This study examined whether South Asians in the United States who consume a vegetarian diet have a lower prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors.

Methods

Data from the Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America study, which included 892 South Asians (47% women), with an age range of 40-83 y and a mean ± SD age of 55 ± 9.4 y, were used. Participants were classified as vegetarian if they reported no consumption of meat, poultry, or fish in the previous year on a validated and culturally appropriate food-frequency questionnaire. Adjusted linear and logistic regression models were used to examine associations of a vegetarian diet with cardiometabolic risk factors.

Results

Thirty-eight percent of the cohort participants were classified as vegetarian. Vegetarians reported more frequent weekly eating occasions of whole grains (median frequency/wk: 10 compared with 9, P = 0.012) and beans and legumes (median frequency/wk: 8.5 compared with 5.1, P < 0.001), and less frequent weekly eating occasions of sweets and desserts (median frequency/wk: 1.9 compared with 2.3, P < 0.001). Consuming a vegetarian diet was associated with lower body mass index (P = 0.023), fasting glucose (P = 0.015), insulin resistance (P = 0.003), total cholesterol (P = 0.027), and LDL cholesterol (P = 0.004) and lower odds of fatty liver (OR: 0.43; 95% CI: 0.23, 0.78, P = 0.006). The odds of having any coronary artery calcium were lower for vegetarian men (OR: 0.53; 95% CI: 0.32, 0.87, P = 0.013); however, no significant associations were observed among women.

Conclusions

Among US South Asians, a vegetarian diet was associated with fewer cardiometabolic risk factors overall and with less subclinical atherosclerosis among men.