Comparison of Erythrocyte Fatty Acid Composition of Lacto‐ovo Vegetarians and Non‐Vegetarians

Abstract

Long chain n‐3 fatty acids are known to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Since vegetarians do not have a direct dietary supply of these fatty acids, namely 20:5 n‐3 and 22:6 n‐3, it is not clear if the intake of 18:3 n‐3 from plant sources result in sufficient incorporation of these long chain n‐3 fatty acids in the erythrocytes. Since erythrocyte membrane fatty acid composition influences cardiovascular health outcomes, we compared the erythrocyte fatty acid composition of a convenient sample of 25 healthy lacto‐ovo vegetarians with 36 healthy non‐vegetarians living in Southern California. After adjusting for age and body mass index, the vegetarians had significantly higher erythrocyte saturated and polyunsaturated fat but lower monounsaturated fat compared to the non‐vegetarian group (p<0.005). The total n‐6 fatty acid was significantly higher for the vegetarians (p<0.005), but no differences were seen for total n‐3 fatty acid or individual fatty acids 18:2 n‐6, 20:4 n‐6, 18:3 n‐3 or 20:5 n‐3 between the groups. Vegetarians however did have a lower amount of 22:6 n‐3 (p=0.018) than non‐vegetarians. No significant gender effects were found. Our findings suggest that the lacto‐ovo vegetarians may not be eating sufficient 18:3 n‐3 fatty acid to have similar concentration of 22:6 n‐3 fatty acid incorporated in the erythrocyte membranes as non‐vegetarians.