HEMOSTATIC FACTORS AND BLOOD-LIPIDS IN YOUNG BUDDHIST VEGETARIANS ANDOMNIVORES

A comparison was made between the hemostatic and lipid profiles of 55 young Chinese Buddhist vegetarians (23 men, 32 women) and 59 Chinese m edical students (20 men, 39 women) aged 20-30 y. The modern Buddhist v egetarian diet is high in carbohydrate (63% of energy in men. 58% in w omen) and has a high polyunsaturated-saturated fatty acid ratio. with moderate fat content (25% for men, 30% for women). Rice and soybean pr oteins are the major protein sources. This study demonstrated that the major beneficial effects of a modem Buddhist vegetarian diet are on b lood concentrations of cholesterol. the ratio of apolipoprotein A-I to apolipoprotein B. glucose, and uric acid. but not on most hemostatic factors studied, which included fibrinogen. factor VII(c), factor VIII (c), and plasminogen. Vegetarian men had significantly higher concentr ations of antithrombin III than nonvegetarian men.