TABLE 1.
Characteristics and nutrient intakes of 379 men in EPIC-Oxford by diet group1
| Meat eaters (n = 95) | Fish eaters (n = 97) | Vegetarians (n = 91) | Vegans (n = 96) | P2 | |
| Participant characteristics | |||||
| Age at blood collection, y | 44 (37, 44)3 | 40 (36, 45) | 43 (36, 44) | 40 (35, 44) | 0.9 |
| BMI4, kg/m2 | 24.4 (22.4, 26.0) | 22.7 (21.1, 24.2) | 22.7 (21.8, 25.1) | 22.1 (20.5, 23.8) | 0.0001 |
| Current smoker, n (%) | 14 (14.7) | 9 (9.3) | 6 (6.6) | 7 (7.3) | 0.1 |
| Very physically active,4,5 n (%) | 57 (60.0) | 60 (61.9) | 61 (67.0) | 65 (67.7) | 0.3 |
| Nutrient intake | |||||
| Energy, kJ | 9198 (7997, 11,045) | 8751 (7518, 10,127) | 9,012 (7597, 10,971) | 7652 (6084, 8866) | 0.0001 |
| Protein, % of energy | 14.98 (13.61, 16.82) | 13.64 (12.29, 15.42) | 13.26 (11.86, 14.14) | 12.64 (11.68, 13.90) | 0.0001 |
| Carbohydrates, % of energy | 51.30 (47.19, 55.56) | 52.14 (48.32, 57.42) | 54.28 (48.56, 58.49) | 55.60 (52.27, 60.56) | 0.0001 |
| Fat, % of energy | 31.96 (28.61, 35.00) | 32.19 (27.22, 35.02) | 31.46 (27.43, 35.39) | 30.40 (25.39, 34.30) | 0.2 |
| SFA, % of energy | 11.18 (9.37, 13.15) | 10.38 (8.31, 12.42) | 10.47 (8.58, 12.60) | 6.21 (5.12, 7.66) | 0.0001 |
| MUFA, % of energy | 10.85 (9.45, 12.22) | 10.19 (8.63, 11.47) | 9.86 (8.64, 11.38) | 10.07 (7.90, 11.79) | 0.02 |
| PUFA, % of energy | 6.15 (4.77, 7.65) | 6.68 (5.52, 8.38) | 7.27 (5.43, 8.68) | 9.71 (7.63, 11.98) | 0.0001 |
| Alcohol, g/d | 2.68 (0.87, 5.40) | 3.40 (1.11, 6.88) | 3.35 (1.34, 7.66) | 1.92 (0.35, 6.04) | 0.04 |
| Blood sample characteristics | |||||
| Medication or supplement taken,4 n (%) | 57 (60.0) | 60 (61.9) | 61 (67.0) | 65 (67.7) | 0.3 |
| Time since last food or drink,4 h | 2.0 (1.0, 3.5) | 2.3 (1.3, 4.5) | 2.5 (1.5, 4.5) | 2.5 (1.3, 4.2) | 0.05 |
| Time of day of collection,4 h:min | 11:50 (10:10, 15:27) | 10:45 (09:28, 15:30) | 10:30 (09:40, 15:05) | 10:40 (09:45, 16:04) | 0.3 |
| Time from collection to processing,4 h | 25.8 (23.4, 67.1) | 44.1 (25.8, 71.9) | 43.7 (24.6, 71.4) | 41.9 (24.7, 72.3) | 0.006 |
| Lipemic, n (%) | 23 (24.2) | 13 (13.4) | 23 (25.3) | 17 (17.7) | 0.1 |
| Hemolysis, n (%) | 1 (1.1) | 6 (6.2) | 6 (6.6) | 3 (3.1) | 0.2 |
EPIC-Oxford, Oxford component of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.
Differences between diet groups were tested by using the Kruskal-Wallis one-factor ANOVA and chi-square test for continuous and categorical variables, respectively (except for hemolysis, for which Fisher's exact test was used).
Median; IQR in parentheses (all such values).
Information was missing for some participants: BMI, n = 20; physical activity level, n = 2; medication or supplement taken, n = 2; time since last food or drink, n = 11; time of day of blood collection, n = 10; and time from collection to processing, n = 10.
Defined according to a modified version of the Cambridge Physical Activity Index (25).