Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of study participants (n=710)
| Characteristic | Low-Fat, Average Protein (n=182) |
Low-Fat, High Protein (n=177) |
High-Fat, Average Protein (n=172) |
High-Fat, High Protein (n=179) |
P value |
Overall (n=710) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics: | ||||||
| Age (yrs) median (IQR) | 52 (46, 58) | 51 (44, 57) | 53 (46, 58) | 52 (46, 57) | 0.40 | 52 (45, 58) |
| Female sex – no. (%) | 108 (59) | 113 (64) | 125 (61) | 112 (63) | 0.76 | 435 (61) |
| Race/ethnic group – no. (%) | ||||||
| White | 144 (79) | 146 (82) | 140 (81) | 149 (83) | 580 (82) | |
| Black | 30 (16) | 23 (13) | 23 (13) | 24 (13) | 100 (14) | |
| Hispanic | 5 (3) | 4 (2) | 8 (5) | 4 (2) | 21 (3) | |
| Other | 3 (2) | 4 (2) | 1 (1) | 2 (1) | 0.80 | 10 (1) |
| Education – no. (%) | ||||||
| High school or less | 22 (12) | 13 (7) | 17 (10) | 17 (10) | 76 (9) | |
| Some college | 40 (22) | 40 (23) | 30 (17) | 32 (17) | 179 (22) | |
| College grad | 120 (66) | 124 (70) | 125 (73) | 130 (73) | 0.57 | 554 (68) |
| Household income – no. (%) | ||||||
| <50K | 50 (27) | 38 (21) | 39 (23) | 40 (22) | 195 (24) | |
| 50–100K | 72 (40) | 72 (41) | 66 (38) | 72 (40) | 321 (40) | |
| 100–150K | 39 (21) | 39 (22) | 37 (22) | 30 (17) | 164 (20) | |
| >150K | 26 (10) | 26 (15) | 29 (17) | 36 (19) | 120 (15) | |
| Refused | 2 (1) | 2 (1) | 1 (1) | 3 (2) | 0.70 | 9 (1) |
| Cardiac risk factors/modifiers: | ||||||
| Smoking status – no (%) | ||||||
| Current smoker | 7 (4) | 3 (2) | 4 (2) | 9 (5) | 30 (4) | |
| Former smoker | 74 (41) | 51 (29) | 69 (40) | 66 (37) | 298 (37) | |
| Never smoked | 101 (55) | 123 (69) | 99 (58) | 104 (58) | 0.07 | 481 (59) |
| Use of lipid-lowering agents no. (%) | 29 (16) | 42 (24) | 36 (21) | 29 (16) | 0.17 | 136 (19) |
| Use of anti-hypertensives no. (%) | 51 (28) | 52 (29) | 51 (30) | 56 (31) | 0.93 | 210 (30) |
| Post-menopausal status among women – no. (%) | 57 (53) | 58 (51) | 62 (50) | 64 (57) | 0.74 | 241 (55) |
| Hormone use among postmenopausal women – no. (%) | 24 (42) | 20 (34) | 18 (29) | 18 (28) | 0.35 | 80 (33) |
| Baseline pedometer steps median (IQR) n=475 | 6750 (4596, 9173) | 6481 (4535, 8612) | 6469 (4366, 9196) | 6748 (4781, 9196) | 0.68 | 6720 (4540, 8682) |
| Metabolic/Lipids: | ||||||
| Fasting glucose (mg/dl) median (IQR) | 91 (86, 96) | 90 (85, 97) | 91 (85, 97) | 90 (83, 98) | 0.92 | 90 (85, 97) |
| Fasting insulin (uU/ml) median (IQR) | 11 (7, 16) | 11 (7, 15) | 11 (7, 17) | 10 (7, 15) | 0.35 | 11 (7, 16) |
| HOMA median (IQR) | 2.3 (1.5, 3.8) | 2.4 (1.5, 3.3) | 2.6 (1.6, 4.0) | 2.3 (1.5, 3.5) | 0.36 | 2.4 (1.5, 3.7) |
| HbA1c (%) median (IQR) | 5.3 (5.1, 5.6) | 5.4 (5.2, 5.6) | 5.4 (5.1, 5.6) | 5.3 (5.1, 5.6) | 0.89 | 5.3 (5.1, 5.6) |
| Total cholesterol (mg/dl) median (IQR) | 201 (176, 222) | 203 (176, 225) | 198 (176, 225) | 200 (180, 228) | 0.82 | 200 (178, 225) |
| LDL cholesterol (mg/dl) median (IQR) | 122 (105, 146) | 124 (100, 147) | 122 (102, 150) | 124 (104, 143) | 0.99 | 123 (103, 146) |
| HDL cholesterol (mg/dl) median (IQR) | 47 (38, 57) | 45 (40, 56) | 46 (39, 53) | 50 (39, 61) | 0.14 | 47 (39, 57) |
| Triglycerides (mg/dl) median (IQR) | 112 (82, 157) | 129 (90, 186) | 128 (97, 189) | 119 (81, 185) | 0.16 | 123 (86, 181) |
| Inflammatory: | ||||||
| hsCRP (mg/l) median (IQR) | 1.70 (0.79, 3.53) | 1.98 (0.86, 3.44) | 1.72 (0.90, 3.80) | 2.08 (1.15, 3.50) | 0.37 | 1.84 (0.89, 3.53) |