Many professional athletes are singing the praises of going gluten-free, but new research has found that adhering to diets without wheat and other sources of the protein may not do anything to improve athletic performance.

Eliminating wheat, rye, and other grains that contain gluten has become a trendy extension of popular carb-cutting diets, particularly among athletes. But Australian researchers who put 13 elite cyclists on a gluten-free diet for one week, found their performance was no better than it was during a week of eating foods containing wheat, Fox News reports.

“There is no evidence to suggest that gluten removal itself is linked to improved health or performance outcomes,” said lead researcher Dana Lis, a health sciences researcher at the University of Tasmania.

Gluten-free diets are used to treat people with celiac disease, a digestive disorder that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients when people eat foods containing gluten.

About one in 141 Americans have the disease, which can be diagnosed with a blood test, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Because athletes in the new study didn’t have celiac disease, Lis said researchers were note surprised that a diet free of this protein had no benefit.