Celiac Disease Associated with Higher Risk for Cardiovascular Disease

There are possible indirect factors from Celiac disease that can be affecting the rate of heart disease. Having Celiac disease significantly impacts one's ability to eat out even at friends' houses, which impacts a person's social life negatively. Also more time is required to prepare meals since a gluten free diet requires more food to be prepared from scratch from whole foods and more money and time to shop for items which are not made from scratch. Also many Celiac's have other food allergies which exacerbates of cost and time of finding, preparing and socializing where food is involved.The total impact is less socialization, more stress do to greater costs for food and less free time because of the greater time needed to shop and prepare meals. The impact of less socialization and more stress could be a major factor impacting the risk associated with heart disease.

Very interesting and very possible theory, Patricia! You just described me to a “T”. I have additional food allergies (corn & soy) which are in just about every packaged food. All of the planning and prepping…. It’s stressful and exhausting in every way. Socially, physically, mentally, and financially. And stress definitely has an effect on the heart! 

I've often wondered if this association exists due to several factors but one that I have seen and heard of so often.  Many celiacs, especially newly diagnosed ones seem to work hard at first and foremost replacing the favored and dearly missed junk foods and other not so healthy processed foods, etc. I'm on a few celiac support groups on FB and the most often asked for recipes are where to buy the closest resemblance to old favorites like cookies, cakes, breads, donuts, pizzas, and other high fat and sugar snacks. I think of it as the addiction withdrawal phase of suddenly having to give up the junk foods with gluten. Much of the processed gluten-free snacks are even higher in fats and sugars than the gluten included ones, as it seems something has to go into the products to replace gluten and enhance flavor. I rarely hear of anyone rushing to seek out the healthy side of the gluten-free diet until later when it dawns on them they are not feeling much better or feeling worse and wondering why. We have an incredible food industry in the US that is ever so happy to meet those unhealthy demands but it's the individuals who create that demand. 

8 minutes ago, Guest Kate said:

We have an incredible food industry in the US that is ever so happy to meet those unhealthy demands but it's the individuals who create that demand. 

I'm actually not so sure I buy that last part. We are marinating in a soup of highly processed carbohydrates. They're plentiful and they're cheap and often the only thing people can afford. It's a mix, at best. But not all countries allow their food industries to get away with what we in the US allow ours to get away with.

I agree with Guest Kate. The heart of the problem lies with the consumer, not with food companies or with government regulations. Food companies are in business to make money. They will give the public whatever the public wants and will buy. And the government is pretty responsive from a regulation standpoint if voters put pressure on them through representatives. Look at the progress the celiac community has already made with regard to labeling regs. And I believe that some in the celiac/gluten intolerant community have unreasonable expectations when it comes to labeling and regulations.

You cannot categorically say that with any accuracy, @trents

I work day in and day out with people with metabolic disease. I've done education on this. There are truly things like food deserts. And there are things like government regulation.

The celiac community is compared to the people I work with, very wealthy. People who have economic means are without question healthier and able in every single way to make better food choices than those without.

The highly processed food industry is out of control. Yes, individuals can and absolutely should try as hard as they can to make good food choices.

50 Years Ago, Sugar Industry Quietly Paid Scientists To Point Blame At Fat

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/13/493739074/50-years-ago-sugar-industry-quietly-paid-scientists-to-point-blame-at-fat

Hopefully the above link makes it into this comment.

It behooves us not to speak categorically, I should think.

@plumbago, thanks for the link. An interesting read indeed. Not sure what you mean when you say, "There are truly thinks like food deserts. And there are things like government regulation." Seems obvious to me that deserts are food and that we do have government regulation.

Of course I meant what I said: food deserts; 'deserts,' as in the Sahara. The spelling is correct 😀

What I mean is - and I'm not sure, but we may be talking about two different groups of people (those dx with Celiac, as in the participants here, and those suffering from metabolic diseases, the people I work with who are primarily on public health insurance) -  I liken sugar consumption with smoking. The US government came in big time on smoking and it has had a major impact. In that instance, like the one I'm referring to here (primarily ultra processed carbohydrates), individuals were smoking and individuals were buying the (bad) product in question. But the government intervened and impact was made. Leaving it up to individuals only (like with drug use, smoking, energy consumption, pollution) will not get us far. It may get those on higher end of income level far, but that's a tiny minority of the overall population and the overall numbers are what we need, to get that needle to shift. I work with it and am up to my elbows with it every day. At best, as I said, it's a mix.

1 hour ago, plumbago said:

 Leaving it up to individuals only (like with drug use, smoking, energy consumption, pollution) will not get us far. It may get those on higher end of income level far, but that's a tiny minority of the overall population and the overall numbers are what we need, to get that needle to shift. I work with it and am up to my elbows with it every day. At best, as I said, it's a mix.

I do not believe that is a tiny minority of the overall population. Are you talking about the USA population? Certainly there is a segment of the population in the USA that cannot afford to make good food choices but I believe they are the minority at this point. If the current administration remains in power much longer that may change, however. I think the population you must work with must not represent a cross section of the public. And I don't think you have to be wealthy to eat healthy. I believe that is within range of the middle and lower middle class of people at least. Government regulation and taxing structure drove up the price of cigarettes such that many could no longer afford it. But I think that wasn't the only factor. I think many just came to the conclusion that it was bad for their health and unattractive, no longer fashionable. But it took a lot of years to get there.

With smoking it was (and still is) a massive publicly funded education campaign; regulation; withholding of federal funds to the states unless they enacted restrictions. It was massive federal involvement (including lawsuits) and it is working. You do not need to be wealthy to eat healthy. No. But it helps. And having a little bit more helps. Many came to the conclusion that it was not healthy precisely because of the efforts made by federal and state governments. The comparison to smoking is a good one, I think, and the sooner we can get the government involved to enact requirements on limitations on the amount of HFCS and fructose in general the better off we will all be. Of course, I work with sick people, often very sick people. But all you have to do is make a little bit of effort to find out the amount of metabolic disease among the American public and we are number one without a doubt. Individual education is a drop in the bucket. Give it a try some time, and you will see.

Those who 1. have the time to learn about 2. the education to understand and 3. the time and energy to enact positive changes are indeed usually on the upper income scale and are a small minority of the overall American population.

Again, I ask that you just look into the metabolic disease rates among American adults AND children.