Healthier metabolic biomarkers seen for vegetarians vs. meat eaters, independent of BMI
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Vegetarians have a healthier metabolic profile than meat eaters, independent of BMI and other confounding factors, according to data presented at the European Congress on Obesity virtual meeting.
“We know that vegetarians will get metabolic benefits associated with not eating meat, especially red and processed meat; however, we did not know whether such benefits are explained by differences in the amount of body fat between vegetarians and meat eaters,” Carlos Celis-Morales, PhD, a research fellow at the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences at the University of Glasgow, U.K., told Healio. “Our study provides evidence that metabolic benefits are beyond differences in body fat.”
Researchers conducted a cross-sectional study analyzing dietary intake data from participants in the UK Biobank study who had no comorbidities and no major diet changes in the 5 years before the study. Dietary intake data were self-reported at baseline, with participants separated into a vegetarian diet group (n = 4,111) and a meat eaters group (n = 166,516). Nineteen blood and urine biomarkers associated with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, liver function, bone and joint function, and renal function were analyzed.
After adjusting for age, sex, deprivation, education, ethnicity, smoking, total sedentary time, physical activity type, alcohol intake, BMI and waist circumference, vegetarians had lower concentrations of total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, apolipoprotein A-I, apolipoprotein B, gamma-glutamyl transferase, alanine aminotransferase, insulin-like growth factor I, vitamin D, urate, total protein, creatinine and calcium compared with meat eaters. Vegetarians had higher concentrations of triglycerides and cystatin-C compared with meat-eaters. There were no associations found with HbA1c, systolic blood pressure, aspartate aminotransferase and C-reactive protein.
“We do know that stop eating meat may be related to some health benefits,” Celis-Morales said. “However, not all meat eaters would find stop eating meat that easy. We suggest that meat eaters could reduce their meat intake and increase other food items, such as [fruits] and vegetables or other sources of healthy proteins, such as oily fish. These changes could also provide metabolic and health benefits.”
Celis-Morales said the study data cannot prove causality since participants were only surveyed once about their diet.
“Futures studies should corroborate these findings from interventions where participants are allocated to a vegetarian diet,” Celis-Morales said. “However, we know that such studies are costly, and compliance is low, so an alternative will be to identify a biomarker signature of vegetarians and meat eaters that help us determine whether those who reported being a vegetarian are truly vegetarians.”
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Boonpor J, et al. Differences in health-related biomarkers profile of vegetarians and meat-eaters: A cross-sectional analysis of the UK Biobank study. Presented at: European Congress on Obesity Annual Meeting; May 10-13, 2021; (virtual meeting).
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