The Relationship between Vegetarian Lifestyle and Anthropometric and Biochemical Factors in Taiwanese Adult Females
Date Issued
2008
Date
2008
Author(s)
Chiang, Jui-Kun
Abstract
Obesity is a global warning sign after the development of world economics. High prevalence rate of metabolic syndrome has been noted in the most countries. The different lifestyle may influence the inflammatory status of the body. Vegetarians may have the lower risk of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, better insulin sensitivity, improved endothelium cells function.nsulin resistance is a physiological defect of insulin function. The clinical manifestation is associated with dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, gout etc. The fat cells can secret several hormones and several genes can be expressed in the fat cells., such as leptin, adiponectin.diponectin, an adipose-derived plasma protein, has been well established as an important biomarker for metabolic syndrome. Plasma concentration of adiponectin was found to be lower in overweight or obese subjects. Adiponectin is associated with inproved insulin sensitivity and has the function of atherosclerosis prevention, inhibits the adhesion of manocytes to the endothelium cells and the accumulation of lipids, and has the potential of anti-inflammation by the inhibition of α-tumor necrosis factor. Low adiponectin level is associated with the endothelium dysfunction, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and carotid artery atherosclerosis. The aim of this cross sectional study is aimed to explore the effect of vegetarian lifestyle, physical activity and clinical outcomes on concentration of plasma adiponectin, and insulin resistance among vegetarians and omnivores of the female adults in Taiwan. ethods: Those healthy adults that take part of Health Physical Exam are our possible study group. Informed consent will be given before enrollment .This study was approved by the IRB of the Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi General Hospital.. Definition of vegetarians: those who practiced ovo-lacto-vegetarian diet or vegan for more than one year.. Questionnaires are including the demographic data, which including 7-day physical activity and exercise. . Blood was collected for routine physical exam and the data will be recorded for analysis. Another 10cc blood will be collected for adiponectin and insulin assay after informed consent. esults: Totally 397 female vegetarians (VEG) and 400 female non-vegetarians (non-VEG), with a mean age of 55.10 (S.D.: 8.81) years old, were enrolled in our study. The year of VEG are 10.23±7.22. The age of VEG was significantly older than the non-VEG by 2.76 years (p < 0.001). There were no significant difference between the VEG and non-VEG group among systolic blood pressure (p = 0.566), diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.747), heart rate (p = 0.6547), triglyceride (p = 0.121) and the prevalence of diabetes (p = 0.235) and hypertension (p = 0.747). The VEG has better metabolic parameters than the non-VEG among the variables of body height ( mean difference = -0.81cm, p = 0.039), body weight [ mean difference (VEG minus non-VEG) = -2.12kg, p < 0.001],BMI ( mean difference = -0.67kg/m^2, p = 0.015), waist circumference ( mean difference = -1.71cm, p = 0.003), glucose AC ( mean difference = -1.70mg/dL, p = 0.007), total cholesterol ( mean difference = -16.45 mg/dL, p <0.001), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol ( mean difference = -3.86 mg/dL, p < 0.001), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol ( mean difference = -12.83 mg/dL, p < 0.001). Using multivariate logistic regression, the VEG (vs. non-VEG) is an independent factor for central obesity (OR: 0.412, 95%CI: 0.274-0.62, p < 0.0001) for central obesity after adjusting for the variables of age , systolic blood pressure, glucose AC, triglyceride (TG), menopause statue, activity score. Using logistic regression analysis with an adjustment for age, systolice blood pressure, body mass index, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), menopause status, activity score, the VEG (vs. non-VEG) has a lower probability of diabetes, with an odds ratio of 0.473, 95%CI: 0.233-0.962, p = 0.0389). Using logistic regression analysis with an adjustment for age, menopause status, years of vegetarian diet, sleep hours, activity score, the VEG (vs. non-VEG) has a lower probability of Taiwan modified metabolic syndrome, with an odds ratio of 0.368, 95% CI: 0.191-0.708, p = 0.0028. For the insulin resistance, multivariate linear regression analysis showed that VEG (vs. non-VEG, β = -0.3548, p = 0.001) were significant independent factors when controlling for the variables of age, systolic blood pressure, waist, HDL-C, TG, menopause status, and activity score. Using multivariate linear regression analysis for adiponectin, VEG (vs. non-VEG, p = 0.3801) was not a significant factor. Daily activity is negative associated with insulin resistance（β = -0.144，p = 0.0086）after adjusting age, systolic blood pressure, waist, total cholesterol, TG, menopause status, vegetarian status. Moreover, the effect of VEG was most contributed by the cases of years of vegetarian diet below 11 years. n conclusion, vegetarian lifestyle is good for health. The vegetarians have lower glucose, total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, waist circumference, and lower probability of obesity and diabetes. The vegetarian is an independent significant factor of insulin resistance and has lower insulin resistance. The association between smaller waist circumference, and lower probability of diabetes with vegetarian lifestyle may result into higher adiponectin level. The physical activity is an independent risk factor for insulin resistance. The higher physical activity score, the lower insulin resistance. There is no direct association between physical activity score with adiponectin. Further prospective follow up studies are still necessary for more investigation about the gender effect and the long term impact of vegetarian lifestyle on the health.
Subjects
vegetarian
insulin resistance
adiponectin
metabolic syndrome
MET
SDGs
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