Celiac disease, better known as “gluten intolerance”, affects approximately 1% of the world’s population.
Higher gluten intake during childhood is associated with an increased risk of celiac disease, according to new research. “We found that one-year-olds who had above-average gluten intake had twice the relative risk of developing autoimmune celiac disease,” says Dr Karl Marild, from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (Norway). “For me, it was a surprise to find an association of this magnitude, given the ubiquity of gluten in our diet.”
A 2.17 times higher risk
His team analyzed data from 1,875 participants. Compared to children who ate little gluten, those who ate a lot had a 2.17 times higher risk of celiac disease. This association did not change with the child’s genotype or family history of celiac disease.
“It is important to emphasize that we do not recommend a change in the diet of children,” says Dr. Karl Marild. “Because this is an observational study, there are many possible explanations for our results, including non-causal explanations related to bias,” he adds.
Abnormal autoimmune reaction
Gluten is a protein found mainly in many cereals, starting with wheat. It is therefore present almost everywhere in common foods: bread, pasta, pizzas, industrial prepared meals and even in certain deli meats.
Celiac disease is a chronic, autoimmune intestinal disease linked to the ingestion of gluten. It occurs in genetically predisposed people. During the absorption of foods containing gluten, the immune system of the persons concerned reacts to the presence of gliadin, a gluten protein, by producing various antibodies. Ultimately, this abnormal autoimmune reaction causes damage to the inner lining of the intestine, with two consequences:
– digestion is impaired;
– the body assimilates the majority of nutrients (proteins, fats, etc.), minerals and vitamins (iron, calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B9 or folic acid, etc.)
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