Table 1.
Characteristics of the study population across tertiles of dietary L-arginine intakes
| Dietary L-arginine | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tertile 1 | Tertile 2 | Tertile 3 | P* | |
| L-arginine (g/d) | ||||
| Range | < 3.31 | 3.31–4.45 | > 4.45 | |
| Median | 2.69 | 3.77 | 5.40 | |
| Age (y) | 40.6 ± 12.8 | 39.4 ± 12.3 | 38.5 ± 12.6 | 0.006 |
| Men (%) | 35.1 | 45.6 | 55.5 | 0.001 |
| Current smoker (%) | 10.2 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 0.011 |
| Physical activity (MET-h/week) | 30.4 ± 45.0 | 33.7 ± 52.0 | 36.8 ± 57.0 | 0.086 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 27.0 ± 4.8 | 26.8 ± 4.7 | 27.1 ± 4.7 | 0.448 |
| FSG (mmol/L) | 4.81 ± 0.47 | 4.80 ± 0.44 | 4.84 ± 0.47 | 0.186 |
| 2-hPCG (mmol/L) | 5.36 ± 1.41 | 5.21 ± 1.31 | 5.28 ± 1.37 | 0.098 |
| TG to HDL-C ratio | 1.66 ± 0.2 | 1.65 ± 0.2 | 1.68 ± 0.2 | 0.680 |
| Diabetes risk score | 9.3 ± 10.0 | 9.1 ± 10.0 | 9.7 ± 10.1 | 0.564 |
| Dietary intakes | ||||
| Carbohydrate (% of energy) | 57.0 ± 7.5 | 57.7 ± 6.5 | 58.1 ± 7.4 | 0.030 |
| Fat (% of energy) | 32.4 ± 7.5 | 31.3 ± 6.6 | 29.9 ± 6.6 | 0.001 |
| Protein (% of energy) | 12.9 ± 2.2 | 13.6 ± 3.1 | 14.5 ± 2.6 | 0.001 |
| Total fiber (g/1000 kcal) | 15.9 ± 6.9 | 16.5 ± 3.4 | 17.0 ± 6.8 | 0.001 |
| L-arginine to protein ratio | 0.051 ± 0.01 | 0.052 ± 0.01 | 0.054 ± 0.01 | 0.001 |
Data are mean ± SD unless stated otherwise (Analysis of variance and chi-square test was used for continuous and dichotomous variables, respectively)