Gluten-free diet could raise heart attack risk in people without celiac disease

All study participants had no history of coronary heart disease nor celiac disease, and completed food frequency questionnaires every 4 years from 1986 through 2010. "Our findings show that gluten restriction has no benefit, at least in terms of heart health, for people without celiac disease. Overall, 2,431 women and 4,098 men developed coronary heart disease — defined as a fatal or non-fatal myocardial infarction — over 26 years of follow-up. In the JournalsResearchers found that long-term consumption of gluten was not associated with coronary heart disease risk, and recommended against a gluten-free diet for people without celiac disease as it could limit their intake of "heart-healthy" whole grains. Adjusted analysis showed there was no significant association between gluten intake and coronary heart disease.




Gluten triggers inflammation and intestinal damage in people with celiac disease and is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease. People who ate the least gluten were 15 per cent more likely to suffer from coronary heart disease than those who ate the most. Consumption of gluten and development of coronary heart disease was monitored over this 26-year period. Getty Images 5 Gluten-free diets made popular by Gwyneth Paltrow may increase risk of heart diseaseThey found those who avoided gluten typically had a lower intake of whole grains, which are known to be beneficial to cardiovascular health. Now academics at Harvard Medical School, in the United States, have found no such benefit in those without the disease.

Gluten-free diet could increase cardiovascular risk in people without celiac disease

However, the backing of celebrities from Gwyneth Paltrow to Novak Djokovic has led to more than a million Britons cutting… Scientists are warning that there is no evidence behind the clean-eating fad and that gluten-free diets may be putting millions of Britons at risk of heart attacks. Going gluten-free denies the body the heart benefits of whole grains and healthy people should not be tempted into it by celebrity health gurus, according to the Harvard scientists behind the first long-term study. About one in 100 people have coeliac disease, an autoimmune condition where eating gluten triggers harmful inflammation of the digestive system. Gwyneth Paltrow is among celebrities to have backed a gluten-free diet, which scientists say denies the body the heart benefits of whole grains JASON MERRITT/GETTYThe next time a dinner guest upends your carefully planned menu by announcing they have given up gluten, a riposte is at hand.


collected by :Lucy William