“Not only does gluten not cause heart disease in the general population, but people who go gluten-free seem to actually be putting themselves at an increased risk of heart disease, insofar as it means eating fewer whole grains,” says James Hamblin, MD, a senior editor at The Atlantic.

“This discovery is among those slowly painting a picture of a diverse array of harms that come with blindly avoiding gluten,”

Hamblin notes that “when someone with celiac disease eats gluten, it causes an immune reaction that destroys the lining of the small intestine. But as long as people with celiac disease avoid gluten, they’re fine.”