Table 1 Characteristics of the study population across tertiles of dietary L-arginine intakes

 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

 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