In recent years, scientists have started to think that
gluten-free diets could be helpful for treating type 1 diabetes, and now it
seems following a gluten-free diet in pregnancy could prevent it in babies.
A University of Copenhagen study into diabetes-prone mice
found that those that ate gluten-free diets were less likely to have babies
with type 1 diabetes, and they think the findings may apply to humans.
"Preliminary tests show that a gluten-free diet in
humans has a positive effect on children with newly diagnosed type 1
diabetes," study leader assistant professor Camilla Hartmann Friis Hansen
said in a media release.
"We therefore hope that a gluten-free diet during
pregnancy and lactation may be enough to protect high-risk children from
developing diabetes later in life."
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and oats.
Type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas stops making
insulin, a hormone that helps the body turn sugar into energy.
It typically starts early in life, so the authors think
starting preventative measures when at-risk babies are in the womb could be
beneficial.
"Early intervention makes a lot of sense because type 1
diabetes develops early in life," said study co-author Professor Axel
Kornerup.
"We also know from existing experiments that a
gluten-free diet has a beneficial effect on type 1 diabetes."
The study showed that gluten-free diets changed intestinal
bacteria in the mother and the baby mice, which the authors said could play a
direct role in protecting against type 1 diabetes.
Professor Merlin Thomas, from the Baker IDI Heart and
Diabetes Institute, told ninemsn that animal studies make a good starting point
for future clinical studies in humans.
"Our diet and its composition can have profound effect
on our health," he said.
"What we eat can change our metabolism, our body
composition, our mood, our immune system and our microbiology – especially that
of our gut. All of these have the potential to influence not only our own
health, but in pregnant women, diet and lifestyle can have a major influence on
the development and subsequent health of their baby."
Professor Thomas said this is not the first study to find a
link between gluten and diabetes, however said a gluten-free diet is not a
single solution.
"No single dietary or environmental factor can or will
explain why some children develop type 1 diabetes," he said.
"[German researchers] tried to delay the introduction
of gluten in infants with a genetic risk of type 1 diabetes … but it had no
effect on the factors implicated in diabetes development in these children.
However, a gluten free diet is safe and well tolerated. So it won’t hurt."
The study was published in the journal Diabetes.
Susan Taylor
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