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Background: Recent studies have shown a lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MSyn) in vegetarians (VEG) despite the inconclusive evidence from others., Objective: To verify the association between diet and other lifestyle characteristics and the prevalence of MSyn, cardiovascular risk factors (CRF), and Framingham Risk Score (FRS) in apparently healthy VEG and omnivorous (OMN) men., Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 88 apparently healthy men ≥ 35 years, 44 VEG and 44 OMN, were assessed for anthropometric data, blood pressure, blood lipids, glucose, C-reactive protein (CRP) and FRS. To test the association between lifestyle and MSyn, Student t test, chi-square test, and multiple logistic regression model were used. A significance level of 5% was considered in all statistical analyses., Results: Several CRF were significantly lower in VEG than in OMN: body mass index, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting serum total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, apolipoprotein b, glucose, and glycated hemoglobin (all p < 0.05). The FRS mean was lower in VEG than in OMN (2.98 ± 3.7 vs 4.82 ± 4.8, p = 0.029). The percentage of individuals with MSyn was higher among OMN than among VEG (52.3 vs.15.9%) (p < 0.001). The OMN diet was associated with MSyn (OR: 6.28 95%CI 2.11-18.71) and alterations in most MSyn components in the multiple regression model independently of caloric intake, age and physical activity., Conclusion: The VEG diet was associated with lower CRF, FRS and percentage of individuals with MSyn.

Background: Dietary habits play an important role in the development of atherosclerosis, the most important cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. The objective of this study was to verify if vegetarian (VEG) diet could be related a better profile of subclinical vascular disease evaluated by arterial stiffness and functional and structural properties of carotid arteries, compared to omnivorous (OMN) diet., Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 44 VEG and 44 OMN apparently healthy men ≥35years of age, in order to not have confounding risk factors of subclinical atherosclerosis, were assessed for anthropometric data, blood pressure, blood lipids, glucose, C reactive protein (CRP), and arterial stiffness determined by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV). Also, carotid intima-media thickness (c-IMT) and distensibility were evaluated., Results: VEG men had lower body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, fasting serum total cholesterol, LDL and non-HDL-cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, glucose and glycated hemoglobin values in comparison with OMN individuals (all p values <0.05). Markers of vascular structure and function were different between VEG and OMN: PWV 7.1±0.8m/s vs. 7.7±0.9m/s (p<0.001); c-IMT 593±94 vs. 661±128μm (p=0.003); and relative carotid distensibility 6.39±1.7 vs. 5.72±1.8% (p=0.042), respectively. After a multivariate linear regression analysis, a VEG diet was independently and negatively associated with PWV (p value 0.005)., Conclusions: A VEG diet is associated with a more favorable cardiovascular diseases biomarker profile and better vascular structural and functional parameters., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)