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WEDNESDAY, Sept. 19, 2018 (HealthDay News) – If a pregnant woman consumes a lot of gluten-rich foods, the likelihood of her child suffering from type 1 diabetes increases dramatically, suggests a new study.
In the study, pregnant women who ate the most gluten were twice as likely to have a child with type 1 diabetes compared to those who consumed the least amount of gluten. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye and barley.
However, the authors of the study noted that it is too early to recommend to pregnant women to modify their diet based on the results of this study.
"The study brings new insights into the development of type 1 diabetes. We did not know that the pregnancy period is important for the development of the disease [or] that the development of the disease begins early in life, "said co-author of the study, Dr. Knud Josefsen.
"And this also has the potential to reduce the frequency of the disease by simply altering the diet during pregnancy," added Josefsen, senior scientist at the Bartholin Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark.
However, "the study is an observation and the link we describe is an association", and not a cause-and-effect relationship, said Josefsen. Research must also be repeated in other populations.
According to JDRF (formerly Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that causes a mistaken attack of the body's immune system against insulin-producing cells. in the pancreas. Insulin is a hormone that allows you to introduce food sugar into the body's cells to use as a fuel.
The attack of immune system cells leaves little or no insulin in a person with type 1 diabetes. Without insulin injections – by multiple injections a day or an insulin pump – a someone with type 1 diabetes does not have enough insulin to survive.
Gluten is found in many foods – including bread, pasta, cereals, crackers and cookies – according to the Celiac Foundation. Gluten triggers an immune system disorder called celiac disease, which damages the small intestine when gluten is consumed.
There is already a known link between celiac disease and type 1 diabetes – about 10% of people with type 1 diabetes also have celiac disease, Josefsen said.
The latest study included data from nearly 64,000 pregnant women enrolled between 1996 and 2002. Nearly 250 of these children developed type 1 diabetes.
The women answered questions about foods eaten when they were 25 weeks pregnant.
The average consumption of gluten was 13 grams per day. The range was less than 7 grams per day to more than 20 grams per day. Josefsen said that a slice of bread contains about 3 grams of gluten. A large portion of pasta – about two-thirds of a cup – contains 5 to 10 grams of gluten, he added.
The researchers found that the risk of type 1 diabetes in a child increased proportionally with every 10 grams of the mother's daily gluten intake.
Josefsen said that there are some theories about how gluten might contribute to the rise of type 1 diabetes. First, gluten can cause inflammation and an immune response.
Maija Miettinen, co-author of an editorial that accompanied the study, said that most theories about how these two conditions can be linked come from animal models. Like Josefsen, she said more research is needed.
"This study is the first to suggest an association between high gluten intake during pregnancy and the risk of type 1 diabetes in offspring, so it is too early to change dietary recommendations for gluten consumption." Miettinen is a researcher at the National Institute for Health and Wellbeing in Helsinki, Finland.
Miettinen also pointed out that women who have a high-gluten diet during pregnancy can also continue to serve their children with gluten-rich foods. "We do not know if the risk associated with high gluten intake is due to prenatal exposure, a diet for children or both," she said.
The study was published online on 19 September in the BMJ.
More information
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has more information on gluten.
SOURCES: Knud Josefsen, M.D., Ph.D., Principal Investigator, Bartholin Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark; Maija Miettinen, Ph.D., researcher, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland; September 19, 2018, BMJonline
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