Rheumatoid Arthritis sufferers may be able to reduce their risk against heart attacks and strokes by eating a gluten-free, vegan diet, a new study has found.
The research carried out by doctors at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden – published yesterday in the journal Arthritis Research and Therapy – found that the specialised diet reduced levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol which is linked to heart disease .
The diet, which excludes all animal products, also boosted levels of natural antibodies to fight compounds in the body that are implicated in rheumatoid arthritis, the researchers claimed.
Rheumatoid arthritis, which is distinct from the more common osteoarthritis, is a degenerative inflammatory disorder that causes the body’s immune system to attack joint tissues, leading to swelling, tenderness and increasing disability.
The condition affects nearly 400,000 people in the UK, and as a result is more likely to suffer from heart attacks and strokes – among the leading causes of death for arthritis sufferers, as the inflammation caused by the disease affects the arteries.
For at least three months, doctors at the Institute fed 38 patients with rheumatoid arthritis a vegan and gluten-free diet, which contained vegetables, rice, nuts, fruits and corn among others, while a further 28 were place on a healthy non-vegan diet made up from all food groups.
The findings showed a decrease in the total level of cholesterol and a reduction in the amount of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) – also known as bad cholesterol – among those on a vegan diet .
In contrast, those on the non-vegan diet showed no significant variations in these levels.
The vegan volunteers also had a rise in levels of natural protective antibodies and a lower Body Mass Index (BMI) at the end of the 12 week period, while the control group remained the same.
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