Vegetarian Diets along with Regular Exercise: Impact on High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels among Taiwanese Adults.
Background and objectives: High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) is important for improving risk estimates of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. We investigated the effect of omnivore and diverse vegetarian diets in connection with exercise on HDL-C. Materials and Methods: Historical data of 9588 biobank participants (4025 exercisers and 5563 non-exercisers) aged 30-70 years were categorized as omnivores (n = 8589), former vegetarians (n = 544), lacto-ovo vegetarians (n = 417), and strict vegetarians (n = 38). We used multiple linear regression for analyses. Results: HDL-C levels were higher in exercisers compared to non-exercisers. Compared with omnivores, strict vegetarians had decreased levels of HDL-C (β = -5.705; p = 0.001) followed by lacto-ovo vegetarians (β = -3.900; p < 0.001) and former vegetarians (β = -0.329; p = 0.475). The test for trend was significant (p < 0.001). After categorization by exercise modalities, the β-value was -13.984 for strict vegetarians, -4.419 for lacto-ovo vegetarians, and -1.864 for former vegetarians, respectively (p < 0.05). There was an interaction between diet and exercise (p = 0.009). Omnivores who exercised regularly had significantly higher HDL-C, whereas strict vegetarians who exercised regularly had significantly lower HDL-C. Conclusions: In summary, strict vegetarian diets in conjunction with regular exercise might not serve as healthful behaviors to be implemented in everyday life considering the negative impact on HDL-C.
['Chang|Shu-Lin|SL|', 'Lee|Kuan-Jung|KJ|', 'Nfor|Oswald Ndi|ON|', 'Chen|Pei-Hsin|PH|', 'Lu|Wen-Yu|WY|', 'Ho|Chien Chang|CC|', 'Lung|Chia-Chi|CC|', 'Chou|Ming-Chih|MC|', 'Liaw|Yung-Po|YP|']
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D015992:Body Mass Index D008076:Cholesterol, HDL D014676:Diet, Vegetarian D015444:Exercise D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D012307:Risk Factors D013624:Taiwan
HDL-C cardiovascular disease physical exercise