Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the study population.

N (%)

9009

5699

2333

977

Demographics + biological data

 Age

63.0 {55.0, 69.0}

64.0 {57.0, 70.0}

60.0 {54.0, 67.0}

59.0 {53.0, 66.0}

 < 0.001

 Female

4610 {51.2}

3099 {54.4}

1148 {49.2}

363 {37.2}

 < 0.001

 BMI kg/m²

26.1 {23.5, 29.1}

26.0 {23.4, 29.1}

26.0 {23.5, 29.1}

26.7 {24.7, 29.5}

 < 0.001

 Obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m²)

1694 (19.9)

1047 (19.4)

445 (20.1)

202 (22.0)

0.193

 Smoking current

1731 {19.3}

827 {14.6}

558 {24.0}

346 {35.5}

 < 0.001

Cardiovascular diseases

 Arterial hypertension

5637 {65.6}

3732 {68.3}

1346 {61.0}

559 {60.8}

 < 0.001

 Diabetes mellitus

694 {8.4}

478 {9.1}

146 {6.8}

70 {7.8}

0.006

 Heart failure

203 {5.1}

59 {3.6}

31 {4.5}

0.047

 Myocardial infarction

266 {3.0}

176 {3.1}

56 {2.4}

34 {3.5}

0.147

 CAD

582 {8.7}

395 {9,4}

125 {7.1}

62 {8.4}

0.016

 PAD

827 {91.7}

528 {20.0}

213 {19.3}

86 {19.1}

0.833

Laboratories

 Cholesterol, mg/dl

208.0 {181.0, 237.0}

208.0 {181.0, 237.0}

208.0 {182.0, 237.0}

207.0 {182.0, 237.0}

0.947

 LDL, mg/dl

121.0 {96.0, 146.0}

119.0 {95.0, 144.0}

122.0 {97.0, 146.0}

124.0 {100.5, 149.0}

 < 0.001

 HDL, mg/dl

62.0 {50.0, 76.0}

63.0 {51.0, 77.0}

63.0 {50.0, 76.0}

57.0 {47.0, 70.0}

 < 0.001

 NT-proBNP, ng/l

80.0 {44.0, 145.0}

88.0 {49.0, 159.0}

70.0 {38.0, 126.0}

62.0 {34.0, 116.0}

 < 0.001

 Hemoglobin, g/dl

14.3 {13.6, 15.1}

14.3 {13.5, 15.1}

14.3 {13.6, 15.1}

14.6 {13.9, 15.3}

 < 0.001

Medication

 ACEi/ARBs

1820 {21.2}

1207 {22.1}

434 {19.6}

179 {19.4}

0.023

 Beta blockers

1475 {17.5}

1034 {18.9}

316 {14.3}

125 {13.5}

 < 0.001

 Diuretics

173 {2.0}

122 {2.2}

35 {1.6}

16 {1.7}

0.153

 Lipid lowering drugs

1542 {17.9}

1059 {19.4}

340 {15.4}

143 {15.5.}

 < 0.001

Additives

 Milk

5966 {69.8}

3803 {72.4}

1549 {66.7}

614 {63.0}

 < 0.001

 Sugar

1126 {13.2}

738 {14.0}

281 {12.1}

107 {11.0}

0.007

 Honey

76 {0.9}

60 {1.1}

15 {0.6}

1 {0.1}

0.002

 Sweetener

419 {4.9}

261 {5.0}

104 {4.5}

54 {5.5}

0.411

 No additives

2842 {33.2}

1566 {29.8}

855 {36.8}

421 {43.2}

 < 0.001

Black/green tea

 Never

1480 {16.6}

872 {15.4}

423 {18.3}

185 {19.1}

 < 0.001

 1–3/week

4150 {46.4}

2326 {41.1}

1261 {54.5}

563 {58.0}

 < 0.001

 ≥ 4/week

3311 {37.0}

2457 {43.4}

631 {27.3}

223 {23.0}

 < 0.001

Carbonated drinks

 Never

4338 {48.5}

2886 {51.0}

1060 {45.7}

392 {40.6}

 < 0.001

 1–3/week

4031 {45.1}

2439 {43.1}

1098 {47.3}

494 {51.1}

 < 0.001

 ≥ 4/week

576 {6.4}

333 {5.9}

163 {7.0}

80 {8.3}

 < 0.001

 Decaffeinated coffee

0.131

 < 3/week

776 {97.5}

464 {98.1}

231 {96.7}

81 {96.4}

 3–4/week

12 {1.5}

4 {0.8}

7 {2.9}

1 {1.2}

 > 4/week

8 {1.0}

5 {1.1}

1 {0.4}

2 {2.4}