In a new study from the University of Glasgow, researchers found that vegetarians appear to have a healthier biomarker profile than meat-eaters, and this applies to adults of any age and weight and is also unaffected by smoking and alcohol consumption.
Biomarkers can have bad and good health effects, promoting or preventing cancer, cardiovascular and age-related diseases, and other chronic conditions, and have been widely used to assess the effect of diets on health.
However, evidence of the metabolic benefits associated with being vegetarian is unclear.
In the study, the team analyzed data from 177,723 healthy participants (aged 37-73 years) in the UK Biobank study, who reported no major changes in diet over the last five years.
Participants were categorized as either vegetarian (do not eat red meat, poultry or fish; 4,111 participants) or meat-eaters (166,516 participants) according to their self-reported diet.
The researchers examined the association with 19 blood and urine biomarkers related to diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, liver, bone and joint health, and kidney function.
They found that compared to meat-eaters, vegetarians had much lower levels of 13 biomarkers, including: total cholesterol; low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol—the so-called ‘bad cholesterol; apolipoprotein A (linked to cardiovascular disease), apolipoprotein B (linked to cardiovascular disease); gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) and alanine aminotransferase (AST)—liver function markers indicating inflammation or damage to cells; insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1; a hormone that encourages the growth and proliferation of cancer cells); urate; total protein; and creatinine (a marker of worsening kidney function).
However, vegetarians also had lower levels of beneficial biomarkers including high-density lipoprotein ‘good’ (HDL) cholesterol, and vitamin D and calcium (linked to bone and joint health).
In addition, they had a much higher level of fats (triglycerides) in the blood and cystatin-C (suggesting a poorer kidney condition).
The team says as well as not eating red and processed meat which has been linked to heart diseases and some cancers, people who follow a vegetarian diet tend to consume more vegetables, fruits, and nuts which contain more nutrients, fiber, and other potentially beneficial compounds.
These nutritional differences may help explain why vegetarians appear to have lower levels of disease biomarkers that can lead to cell damage and chronic disease.
If you care about nutrition and your wellness, please read studies about this food additive may raise your blood pressure and findings of this common food ingredient may raise risk for obesity and diabetes.
For more information about diet and your health, please see recent studies about 5 foods that could help cut your risk of type 2 diabetes and results showing that this common food chemical may increase your cancer risk.
The study was presented at European Congress on Obesity (ECO). One author of the study is Dr. Carlos Celis-Morales.
Copyright © 2021 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
