Abstract
Introduction: Vegetarian diets have favorable effects on cardiovascular risk, provided that they do not contain ultra-processed foods (UPF). Objective: To compare the metabolic profile, cardiovascular risk, body composition, and food consumption in vegan (VEG), lacto-ovo vegetarian (LOV), and omnivorous (OMNI) women. To verify the association between UPF consumption and cardiovascular risk. Methods: Cross-sectional study with 119 VEG (n = 43), LOV (n = 38), and OMNI (n = 38) women. Anthropometric and biochemical parameters and the Framingham risk score [...]
Highlights
Vegetarian diets have favorable effects on cardiovascular risk, provided that they do not contain ultra-processed foods (UPF)
UPF consumption was associated with systolic blood pressure (SBP) (ρ = 0.439; p = 0.007) and blood sugar (ρ = 0.422; p = 0.010) in the VEG group, and in the lacto-ovo vegetarian (LOV) group it was inversely associated with Low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-c (ρ = −0.456; p = 0.010)
Even though the cutoff values of the anthropometric indices were within adequate values for all groups, VEG and LOV had lower body mass index (BMI), neck circumference (NC), and ABSI compared to OMNI
Summary
Vegetarian diets have favorable effects on cardiovascular risk, provided that they do not contain ultra-processed foods (UPF). Worldwide prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) practically doubled from 271 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 257 to 285 million) in 1990 to 523 million (95% UI: 497 to 550 million) in 2019, and the number of deaths due to CVD increased constantly from 12.1 million (95% UI: 11.4 to 12.6 million) in 1990 to 18.6 million (95% UI: 17.1 to 19.7 million) in 2019.1In young women, an increase has been observed in hospitalizations due to CVD and acute myocardial infarction, which has occurred mainly due to an increase in the prevalence of obesity and cardiometabolic risk factors.2In Brazil, according to Bianca Oliveira, MSc Master in Cardiovascular Sciences Postgraduate program in Cardiology - UFRJ. Oliveira et al Vegetarian diets and cardiovascular risk data from the Informatics Department of the Unified Health System (DATASUS, acronym in Portuguese), in 2019, 17.2% of deaths that occurred in women of childbearing age were due to circulatory system diseases, representing the second leading cause of mortality in this group.[3]. Some tools have been suggested to predict cardiovascular risk, such as the Framingham Risk Score (FRS), which assesses short-term risk of coronary artery disease (CAD), and traditional anthropometric indices, such as body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-height ratio (WHR), as well as new indices, such as lipid accumulation product (LAP), body roundness index (BRI), and body shape index (ABSI).[4,5]
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