High Doses of Gluten in the Infants’ Diet Might Prevent Them from Celiac Disease, Study Suggests

Jan, 2021 - By SMI

According to a collaborative study led by the researchers of King's College London, St George's, University of London, Benaroya Research Institute, Seattle, and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust have suggested that early introduction of high doses of gluten in the diet of infants such as from four months have the potential to prevent children from developing coeliac disease. Moreover, coeliac disease can be defined as autoimmune disease, where gluten consumption drives body's immune system to attack its own tissues.

In the study, researchers involved around 1,004 children who were tested for antitransglutanimase antibodies, an indicator of coeliac disease, at three years of age. Researchers observed that children who were introduced to gluten very late such as after six months of age, incidence of coeliac disease among those children was higher at three years of age, in comparison to children who were introduced to  gluten from four months of age, exhibited no cases of coeliac disease.

Professor Gideon Lack, Lead author stated, “This is the first study that provides evidence that early introduction of significant amounts of wheat into a baby's diet before six months of age may prevent the development of coeliac disease. This strategy may also have implications for other autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes.”

Researchers also informed that early gluten introduction and its role in the prevention of coeliac disease needs to be investigated further by utilizing the findings of the EAT Study for larger clinical trials. Further studies are required before it is applied in practice.