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Medicine Gluten free for healthy is not recommended
Anyone who suffers from gluten intolerance (celiac disease) has to eat a consistently gluten-free diet for life, in order to have no complaints and avoid long-term consequences. However, many healthy people are now turning to gluten-free foods. For them, however, this diet brings health disadvantages, as has now been shown in a study.
Avoid foods containing gluten for life
It is estimated that about one percent of the German population suffers from gluten intolerance (celiac disease). Therapy is currently not available. Can only help a strict Glutenverzicht. Supermarkets now have a large assortment of products that contain no gluten. Even healthy people often resort to it. But gluten-free foods are not healthy for everyone. Researchers recently reported that such a diet significantly increases the risk of diabetes. And now scientists in the US have found that gluten-free diets can harm our heart.
Gluten-free foods are also popular with many people who do not suffer from intolerance. For these people, however, a gluten waiver can bring health disadvantages. (Image: Marco2811 / fotolia.com) Connection between a gluten-free diet and heart problems
Although some people believe gluten-free diets also bring health benefits to people who do not have celiac disease, researchers from Columbia University Medical Center, New York and Harvard Medical School, Boston, have found that eating this diet does not help for the health of the heart.
The experts now publish the results of their study in the medical journal "British Medical Journal" ("BMJ").
In their analysis, the researchers also found that a gluten-free diet in people with celiac disease or a wheat allergy is associated with an increased risk of heart disease. While there is a widespread belief that gluten-free diets help those affected, this does not seem to apply to the human heart, scientists say.
Those affected can reduce the risk by changing their diet
About one percent of people in the United States suffer from celiac disease. The excessive autoimmune response can lead to damage to the small intestine. Researchers have already found that people with celiac disease are at an increased risk for heart disease.
However, this risk can be reduced if those affected reduce their gluten-free diet, explains author Dr. Benjamin Lebwohl from the Columbia University Medical Center based on the new study results.
Many people try to avoid the consumption of gluten
There is virtually no evidence that people without celiac disease and similar illnesses benefit from the reduction in gluten intake, the researchers claim. Nevertheless, some people believe that eating gluten increases the risk of adverse health effects, including obesity and heart disease.
Most people who followed a gluten-free diet suffered from celiac disease, the study authors explain. A 2013 national survey has already found that one-third of people in the United States are trying to minimize or even eliminate the consumption of gluten, the researchers add.
Slightly more heart disease has been noted in people with gluten-free diets
For the current study, the researchers examined data from 121,700 female nurses. In addition, a group of 51,529 male volunteers was examined. In addition to the collected data on their health, participants regularly filled in so-called food questionnaires.
Subjects were divided into five different groups based on the amount of gluten in their diet. The people who consumed the least amount of gluten during that period consumed about three grams of the protein daily, according to the medical profession. The people who consumed the highest amounts consumed about eight to ten grams per day.
In total, there were 352 coronary events related to heart disease per 100,000 people per year. By contrast, among the people with the highest gluten consumption, there were only 277 incidents per year per 100,000 people.
Protects whole grains from heart attacks?
When people avoid gluten, they usually consume little wholemeal bread with their diet. That's what can cause negative health effects, says author Andrew Chan of Harvard Medical School in Boston. In particular, the risk of heart attacks seems to decrease as people eat more whole grains.
That a diet high in whole grains can protect against disease has also been shown in various other scientific studies.
For people who restrict their diet, this can lead to various deficiencies, adds Chan. These deficiencies can then have a negative impact on the entire body, the study author continues. (as, ad)