**2. Characteristics of the monitored group of probands with different eating habits**

Our research included a randomly selected adult population from Bratislava and its surroundings. A database of volunteer addresses from previous solved research projects monitoring the health and nutritional status of the population was used. The number of probands in both research groups (non-vegetarian group/general population /and alternative diet group with predominance of plant food consumption/vegetarians)) as well as other characteristics of the groups are given in **Table 1**. Examinations were performed in the spring. The intake of vitamins, minerals and trace substances was only in its natural form (no supplementation). Another limitation of random selection was the requirement that probands be subjectively healthy, i. zn. without cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, kidney disease, digestive tract and thyroid disease.

Monitoring of health and nutritional status was performed by somatometric, dietary, biochemical and microbiological examination.
