Effects of vegetarian diets on blood pressure

Figures & data

Table 1 Characteristics of the observational studies included in the review

Study (country)	Participants (N)	Groups	Age (years)	Men (%)	BMI (kg/m^2)	Sodium (g)
Adventist Health Study-2^Citation10	500	Vegan (n=49)	67.6	29	24.0	3.5^Table Footnotec
(US and Canada)		Lacto-ovo (n= 184)	63.5	37	25.1	3.9^Table Footnotec
		Partial vegetarian (n=69)	61.4	32	26.3	3.8^Table Footnotec
		Nonvegetarian (n=198)	61.0	38	29.5	3.8^Table Footnotec
EPIC-Oxford^11,Table Footnotea (UK)	8,663	Vegans (n=612)	40/37^Table Footnoteb	37.6	22.6/22.0^Table Footnoteb	2.8/2.5^Table Footnoteb
		Vegetarians (n=3,123)	45/41^Table Footnoteb	20.1	23.4/22.8^Table Footnoteb	3.0/2.6^Table Footnoteb
		Fish eaters (n= 1,404)	49/44^Table Footnoteb	16.6	23.5/22.8^Table Footnoteb	3.0/2.7^Table Footnoteb
		Meat eaters (n=3,524)	54/51^Table Footnoteb	19.8	24.6/24.1^Table Footnoteb	3.0/2.7^Table Footnoteb
UK Women’s Cohort^Citation12 (UK)	35,372	Vegetarians (n=6,478)	49	0	23.3	NR
		Other fish eaters (n=3,286)	50	0	23.3	NR
		Oily fish eaters (n=870)	51	0	23.2	NR
		Meat eaters (n=24,738)	54	0	25.0	NR

Notes:

a Blood pressures were compared for participants without self-reported hypertension.

b Male/female.

c This sodium intake data was only available from the overall Adventist Health Study-2 cohort (n=71,751), as reported by Rizzo et al.²⁸

Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; NR, not reported.

Table 2 Characteristics of clinical trials included in the meta-analysis

References (country; year)	Participants (N)	Groups	Age (years)	Men (%)	BMI (kg/m^2) or weight (kg)	Sodium (g)
Ferdowsian et al^Citation20 (US; 2010)	113	Vegan (n=68)	46.0	26.5	98.7 kg	2.0
		Omnivorous (n=45)	42.0	4.4	100.1 kg	1.9
Nicholson et al^Citation19 (US; 1999)	11	Vegan (n=7)	51.0	57.1	96.7 kg	NR
		Omnivorous (n=4)	60.0	50.0	97.0 kg	NR
Sciarrone et al^Citation18 (Australia; 1993)	20	Lacto-ovo (n= 10)	41.1	100	25.5 kg/m^2	2.6
		Omnivorous (n=10)	40.8	100	25.0 kg/m^2	2.2
Hakala and Karvetti^Citation16 (Finland; 1989)	73	Lacto (n=31)	Mean 38.0*	25.8	34.4 kg/m^2	NR
		Omnivorous (n=42)		23.8	34.4 kg/m^2	NR
Kestin et al^Citation17 (Australia; 1989)	17	Lacto-ovo (crossover)	Mean 44.0*	Mean 100*	Mean 25.5 kg/m^2*	3.4
		Omnivorous				3.5
Margetts et al^Citation15 (Australia; 1986)	39	Lacto-ovo (crossover)	Mean 49.9*	Mean 71.8*	Mean 27.6 kg/m^2*	2.9
		Omnivorous				2.7
Rouse et al^Citation14 (Australia; 1983)	38	Lacto-ovo (crossover)	Mean 40.1*	Mean 50.0*	Mean 23.7 kg/m^2*	NR
		Omnivorous

Note:

* Data was not available for individual groups, and is instead given as combined mean data for both groups.

Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; NR, not reported.

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