Kim HS, et al. – The physicians conducted this study to evaluate metabolic and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk profiles among gluten–free followers without celiac disease (CD). In terms of prevalence of metabolic syndrome and CVD risk score, there was no significant difference in gluten–free followers without CD although being on a gluten-free diets (GFD) could be beneficial in weight management.

• The physicians obtained data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2009–2014.
• There were 13,523 persons without CD who had GFD information.
• They excluded people with known CVD.
• Using survey-weighted generalized logistic regression, they compared gluten-free followers without CD and the general population by selective metabolic and CVD risk profiles.

• Corresponding to a weighted prevalence of 1.3% (3.2 million Americans), there were 155 gluten-free followers without CD and CVD.
• Gluten-free followers were likely to be women with smaller waist circumference and higher HDL cholesterol.
• Also, they had a lower BMI with a borderline p value (0.053) and significant self-reported weight loss (-1.33 kg) over 1 year.
• Furthermore, gluten-free followers were more inclined to consider their weight appropriate.
• The physicians found no statistical difference by age, smoking, hypertension, total cholesterol, triglyceride cholesterol, HbA1c, or fasting glucose.
• There was no statistical difference despite a lower probability of having metabolic syndrome (33.0 vs 38.5%) and lower 10-year CVD risk score (4.52 vs 5.70%) in gluten-free followers.