Plasma cholesterol and blood pressure in vegetarians.

Plasma cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) and blood pressure were examined in three hundred subjects with a special interest in 'health foods'. The 85 vegetarians showed on average a lower total cholesterol and higher HDL per cent than the 214 non-vegetarians. The vegetarians were also leaner than the non-vegetarians in each age group in both sexes. No consistent differences were found in blood pressure. The vegetarians took more dietary fibre than the non-vegetarians and the possibility that this may be relevant to the other differences found will be examined further.