| 
      Missing  values (3 for HDLC, 14 for dietary factors and 1 for presence of metabolic  syndrome) were excluded.
        | Characteristics | Men    (n=291) | Women    (n=627) | P-value a |  
        | Demographic    characteristics |  |  |  |  
        | Age, years, mean (SD) | 59.1    (10.0) | 57.0    (9.8) | <0.001 |  
        | Education, junior high school or above, n    (%) | 245    (84.2) | 456    (72.7) | <0.001 |  
        | Family history of diabetes, n (%) | 25    (8.6) | 63    (10.1) | 0.485 |  
        | Prior history of hypertension, n (%) | 106    (36.4) | 187    (29.8) | 0.046 |  
        | Prior history of dyslipidemia, n (%) | 20    (6.9) | 41    (6.5) | 0.85 |  
        | Current smoking, n (%) | 134    (46.1) | 6    (1.0) | <0.001 |  
        | Current alcohol consumption, n (%) | 113    (38.8) | 21    (3.4) | <0.001 |  
        | Body    measurement, mean    (SD) |  |  |  |  
        | BMI | 25.1    (3.1) | 25.0    (3.3) | 0.365 |  
        | WHR | 0.88    (0.06) | 0.84    (0.06) | <0.001 |  
        | SBP, mmHg | 134.1    (16.4) | 129.5    (17.1) | <0.001 |  
        | DBP, mmHg | 85.2    (9.0) | 81.6    (9.6) | <0.001 |  
        | Biochemistry    indicators, mean    (SD) |  |  |  |  
        | Fasting glucose level, mmol/L | 5.4    (1.0) | 5.3    (1.2) | 0.101 |  
        | HbA1c, % | 5.9    (0.5) | 6.0    (0.8) | 0.023 |  
        | HDLC, mmol/L | 1.1    (0.3) | 1.4    (0.3) | <0.001 |  
        | LDLC, mmol/L | 2.7    (0.7) | 2.9    (0.8) | 0.001 |  
        | TC, mmol/L | 4.3    (0.8) | 4.6    (0.8) | <0.001 |  
        | TG, mmol/L | 1.6    (1.2) | 1.4    (0.8) | 0.244 |  
        | Dietary    intake, mean    (SD) |  |  |  |  
        | Energy, kcal/d | 2019.7    (604.7) | 1758.6    (470.5) | <0.001 |  
        | Fat, g/d | 45.3    (22.7) | 42.0    (18.2) | 0.139 |  
        | Average GI | 62.1    (7.8) | 60.4    (7.3) | <0.001 |  
        | Metabolic    syndrome, n (%) | 110 (37.8) | 249 (39.8) | 0.568 |  a P for χ2 test (categorical variables) or non-parameter  Wilcoxon test (continuous variables).
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