Going gluten free may help protect you from heart disease,
particularly those with rheumatoid arthritis. A new study
published in Arthritis Research and Therapy showed that
rheumatoid arthritis patients lowered their risk of
cardiovascular disease, particularly atherosclerosis, by
following a gluten-free, vegan diet. Atherosclerosis is the
build-up of arterial plaque. Researchers at the Karolinska
Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, put 38 patients with rheumatoid
arthritis on a gluten-free, vegan diet for one year. Meanwhile,
28 patients with rheumatoid arthritis ate a well-balanced,
nonvegan diet for the same time period. Not only did the
patients following the vegan diet lose weight and lower their
body mass index—a measure of body fat—but total cholesterol and
LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels also decreased significantly. In
addition, patients practicing a vegan diet experienced an
increase in certain antibodies—called anti-PCs—which, according
to the study, may protect against atherosclerosis.