| Black Americans exhibit high risk for hypertension (HT) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). A vegetarian diet and high normal plasma ascorbic acid concentrations are associated with lower CVD risk in Caucasians, but these relationships have not been adequately studied in the Black population. Therefore, dietary intake and plasma AA were examined in sequential studies to determine their contribution to CVD risk factors among Black Americans.;Study 1, Part 1: Blood pressure (BP) and blood lipids were examined among vegetarian (n = 66), semivegetarian (n = 56) and nonvegetarian (n = 45) Black Americans. Independent of differences in body weight and fat distribution, the vegetarians exhibited less HT, and lower concentrations of serum total cholesterol (STC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG) compared to the nonvegetarians.;Study 1, Part 2: Plasma AA concentrations and CVD risk factors were examined in the same population of Black Americans. AA was inversely related to STC, LDL-C, TG, and BP and positively related to high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Malondialdehyde (MDA) equivalents (indirectly indicating lipid peroxidation), were inversely related to AA and HDL-C, but positively related to TC, LDL-C, TG, and BP.;Study 2: Plasma AA and MDA concentrations and CVD risk factors were examined in long-term vegan and lacto-ovo vegetarian Black Americans. Independent of differences in body weight and fat distribution, the vegans (n = 46) exhibited lower concentrations of STC, LDL-C, TG, and the ratio STC/HDL-C compared to the lacto-ovo vegetarians (n = 149). Ascorbic acid was inversely correlated (and MDA positively correlated) with BP, with AA emerging as an independent predictor of systolic and diastolic BP (MDA was an independent predictor of diastolic BP).;Among Black Seventh-day Adventists, the vegetarian diet is associated with lower levels of several known CVD risk factors, and plasma AA is inversely related to BP. Future research must determine whether these relationships are causal or coincidental. |
