Gluten-free diet could protect arthritis sufferers from heart disease

Rheumatoid arthritis patients who follow a vegan diet and avoid gluten can lessen the risk of a heart attack or stroke, a new study has found.

People who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis are at high risk of getting cardiovascular diseases, but as a gluten-free diet can lower cholesterol and raise levels of natural antibodies found within the body.

The leader of the study, Johan Frostegard of the Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden, gave 38 of his arthritic patients a gluten-free and vegan food plan to follow, whilst another 28 ate a well-balanced but non-vegan diet for a year.

Blood tests at regular periods during the year charted the progress of each group by measuring levels of fatty, lipid molecules.

Natural News tell how the non-gluten and vegan diet followers had lower LDL levels (bad proteins) as well as heightened production of natural antibodies. They also saw a decrease in their average Body Mass Index (BMI). The group who ate a normalised, non-vegan diet saw little or no differences in their protein and antibody levels.

For many years, natural health experts have been suggesting that arthritis can be brought on by consuming too many gluten and dairy products. Dairy produce becomes eliminated in a vegan diet and going gluten-free is often recommended by health professionals when diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis.

Source: Natural News

Pic: Morguefile