Associations between plasma lipid concentrations and dietary, lifestyle and physical factors in the Oxford Vegetarian Study

Blood lipids data were available for 3773 subjects from a cohort study of 11 000 individuals, 6000 of whom do not eat meat. The effects of dietary, lifestyle and physical factors on concentrations of total and HDL cholesterol were investigated. Meat, cheese and dietary fibre, with smoking habit and height were found to be significantly related to total cholesterol in men. For women, meat, cheese, dietary fibre and tomatoes, and type of spreading fat were all significantly related to total cholesterol. Current alcohol consumption and body mass index were significantly related to HDL cholesterol concentration for men. The same factors, plus type of spreading fat, were related to HDL cholesterol levels in women. The findings provide further evidence of the hypolipidaemic effect of vegetarian or near vegetarian diets with a high fibre content and limited use of meat and cheese. The exclusion of meat from the diet might result in a 15-25% reduction in CHD risk.