Type One Diabetes Risk Increases with Later Gluten Introduction

People avoid gluten in their diet for a variety of different reasons. The most important reason for avoiding gluten is in the presence of Celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity.  However, many people avoid gluten in their diet simply because they believe it to be a healthy choice. A new study, conducted by the TEDDY study group, has recently been published and suggests that the later gluten is introduced into the diet of infants, the higher the risk is for developing type one diabetes. This article looked at 7,563 infants from Finland, Germany, Sweden, and the U.S that had a high genetic risk of developing type one diabetes. Through the collection of blood samples, they were able to look at the amount of insulin autoantibodies within their blood. A higher amount of autoantibodies indicated a higher risk for type one diabetes later in life. This study's results state that, “The later that gluten was introduced into the infants’ diets, the higher the risk of developing insulin autoantibodies. For each one-month delay in introducing gluten there was a 5% increase in risk of developing the autoantibodies. Children that had gluten introduced before four months of age, showed a 32% lower risk of developing the autoantibodies.” When it comes to type one diabetes, the introduction of gluten into the diet is not the only factor, but it does appear to have some impact. Despite the findings of this study, this topic should be further researched. 

Find this research and more at: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/news/2018/jan/late-introduction-of-gluten-linked-to-higher-risks-of-type-1-diabetes-91747596.html