Health benefit from vegan diet

[Posted: Wed 19/03/2008 www.irishhealth.com]

A gluten-free vegan diet may improve the health of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according to new research 

The diet is believed to have a beneficial effect on several risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Rheumatoid arthritis is associated with an increased risk hardening of the arteries and cardiovascular diseases.

A research team at Karolinska Institute in Sweden has shown  that a gluten-free vegan diet has a beneficial effect on cardiovascular risk factors in people with rheumatoid arthritis.

In the study,a group of patients who kept to a gluten-free vegan diet for a year were compared with a control group which had followed ordinary dietary advice.

Vegan food had a positive effect on symptoms of the disease, which were more pronounced in the control group. Blood levels of oxidised LDL-cholesterol, a risk factor for atherosclerosis, were also lower in the group which kept to the vegan diet.

The vegan group also had higher levels an antibody that the researchers believe has a protective effect against atherosclerosis.

The findings suggest  that diet can have effects on the immune system with implications for the incidence of disease, the researchers said.