Andrew Chan, MD, MPH, Stuart and Suzanne Steele MGH Research Scholar and Chief of the Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, recently released the results of a study investigating the widespread perception that a gluten-free diet (for reasons other than gluten allergy) can be beneficial to your heart health.
There is intense interest in the potential health benefits of going “gluten-free” even if one does not have a true allergy to gluten as we see in individuals with celiac disease.
For example, some diet books have recommended a gluten-free diet for longevity and heart health. However, there are surprisingly little data to support this recommendation.
In a large study which tracked the dietary habits of more than 100,000 men and women over the last several decades, we did not find any evidence that a low gluten diet was associated with a lower risk of heart disease.
In fact, a low gluten diet tended to be deficient in foods with whole grains that are actually associated with better heart health.
In some situations, pursuing a low gluten diet could actually be harmful. The lesson here is that the most healthful diets still appear to contain a balance of foods rather than being overly restrictive.
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Dr. Chan, you state that “The lesson here is that the most healthful diets still appear to contain a balance of foods rather than being overly restrictive”. Can you please define “overly restrictive”? Do you think that sugar is part of a balanced diet? Is avoidance of it another example of being overly restrictive? Thanks in advance.
Hi Elise,
Here’s what Dr. Chan had to say:
“I define an ‘overly restrictive’ as a diet that entirely excludes a major food group, such as gluten. I do not view refined sugar as a part of a balance diet. Sugar occurs naturally in most of our food — fruits, vegetables, etc, so this provides all of the sugar and carbohydrates that we need.”