When is it Safe to Introduce Gluten to an Infant

It has always bothered me that research concerning introducing gluten to infants cited 4 months as a time to begin. It never rang true for me that it would be a good idea to introduce a potentially toxic substance to such a young body when the immune system isn’t at full strength and the liver doesn’t have its full detoxification abilities engaged.

Fortunately I found some new research to support my ‘gut’ reaction on this topic. Just a few months ago, March 2012, several researchers from the United States and Italy published a study titled “Proof of concept of microbiome-metabolome analysis and delayed gluten exposure on celiac disease autoimmunity in genetically at-risk infants”. While the title is a mouthful, the results are easy to understand. This study can be found in PLoS One, an open access peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Public Library of Science (PLoS).

Thirty infants were part of this study and each had the genetic markers that showed susceptibility to celiac disease. All infants were breastfed for the first 6 months of life and then they were put into two separate groups. The first group was exposed to gluten beginning at 6 months while the second group received no gluten until 12 months of age.

The researchers analyzed the types of bacteria that made up the microbiome or population of good bacteria contained in the gut. The techniques they used were very sophisticated in that they revealed the DNA make-up of the various species present.

All the children were tracked until they were two years of age.

There was a profound difference in the population of bacteria found in the two groups of infants. It was so much better and healthier in the group that did not receive early exposure to gluten that the researchers concluded that a benefit could be derived from delaying gluten exposure until at least 12 months of age. Perhaps another study will be done to see if waiting until 18 months or even 24 months would provide greater benefit.

The reason for the difference in bacterial health is not known at this time, although it could have something to do with the maturity of the digestive tract as time passes.

We know that abundant and strong good bacteria actually have the ability to keep ‘bad’ genes, such as those that cause celiac disease, turned off. If early exposure to gluten so weakens the good bacteria present that they cannot prevent bad gene expression, this study could be a landmark that will forever change the way our infant population is fed.

More research will tell, but in the meantime I will hold to my recommendation of waiting minimally a year, if not two, before introducing gluten to an at-risk infant. Also appreciate that this was a celiac-prone population. We have yet to get information on how this might relate to that greater population suffering from gluten sensitivity.

Have you had any experience with at-risk babies and introducing gluten? I’d love to hear from you.

If you have questions or would like a free health analysis, please give me a call. Awareness of gluten intolerance needs to be raised dramatically and I am committed to do so.

Visit us at www.RootCauseMedicalClinic.com. If you have questions or need any help, I’m here for you! Call 408-733-0400.

I look forward to hearing from you.

To your good health,

Dr Vikki Petersen, DC, CCN, CFMP


IFM Certified Practitioner

Founder of Root Cause Medical Clinic
Co-author of “The Gluten Effect”

Author of the eBook: “Gluten Intolerance – What You Don’t Know May Be Killing You!”

Reference:

“Proof of concept of microbiome-metabolome analysis and delayed gluten exposure on celiac disease autoimmunity in genetically at-risk infants”. M. Sellitto, G. Bai, G. Serena, W.F. Frickle, C. Sturgeon, P. Gajer, J.R. White, S.S. Koenig, J. Sakamoto, D. Boothe, R. Gicquelais, D. Kryszak, E. Puppa, C. Catassi, J. Ravel, A. Fasano, PLoS One. 2012/7(3):e33387. 

Celiac Disease Risk: Why an Emergency C-section is Healthier than an Elective One

When it comes to celiac disease risk, an elective or planned C-section creates a much greater incidence of celiac disease than an emergency one.

A natural, vaginal birth is probably every mother’s plan, but C-sections, at an increased rate, have become a fact of life.

In a recent study (October 2011) published in Gastroenterology, titled “Pregnancy outcome and risk of celiac disease in offspring: A nation-wide case-control study”, Dr Ludvigsson, an avid researcher in the field discovered a rather unexpected result associated with children delivered by cesarean section.

The study of over 11,000 patients with biopsy-proven celiac disease and close to 54,000 controls, were examined based on the type of birth they experienced. The study showed an outstanding 15% increase risk in those born through elective or planned C-section over those born via an emergency cesarean.

In fact there was no increased risk found for those individuals born from an emergency C-section.

Why the vast difference? The reason for the disparity lies in the vital exposure to the health-promoting probiotic organisms present in the birth canal that occurs in vaginal births as well as those who experience emergency C-sections.

Babies born after an emergency C-section typically reside in the birth canal for some time prior to the decision being made to perform the surgery.

Elective or planned C-sections afford the baby no time in the birth canal, in fact they are designed to occur before any major progression of labor has occurred. Therefore these babies are given no exposure to the healthy probiotic population that has recently been appreciated to be capable of keeping the celiac disease gene from expressing itself.

It is as if there is a switch for a disease that one is genetically programmed to be susceptible to, and it has an on and off position. Healthy probiotics can keep that switch in the ‘off’ position, despite the genetic tendency. Conversely, a lack of healthy probiotics allow that switch to move to the ‘on’ position, thereby allowing the disease to be expressed.

Let’s compare two children who both:

1.       Possess the genes for celiac disease

2.       Are exposed to gluten in their diet

The child born with exposure to the good probiotics in the birth canal won’t necessarily develop celiac disease, despite their genetic predisposition. The probiotics, if healthy and abundant, will suppress the expression of the celiac disease genes.

On the contrary, the child born via elective C-section and having no exposure to the probiotics, will not have the defense against the genetic predisposition to develop celiac due and will, therefore, be 15% more likely to develop the disease.

While avoiding a planned C-section is perhaps not a viable alternative for every expectant mother, this knowledge does seem vitally important for any expectant mother, who has celiac disease or any other autoimmune diseases present in their family.

If there is absolutely no recourse to a planned C-section due to whatever circumstance, I would strongly suggest that the mother takes all steps to optimize the health of their digestive tract and probiotic population such that when they nurse their newborn they can at least share their good bacteria through breast milk. This is, I believe, an extremely important practice for all newborns, but most especially in this circumstance.

If you need assistance in determining the best course of action to take to improve the health of your own small intestine such that your probiotic population provides the optimal health benefits to your future unborn children, or if you already have a child and want to ensure that their probiotic level is optimized, please feel free to contact me for a complimentary health analysis – call 408-733-0400.

The benefits to be obtained from keeping the 100 trillion probiotics (also known as the microbiome) in your small intestine healthy are quite remarkable. This is an emerging science, but one we know quite a bit about already.

Ensuring a healthy microbiome in yourself and your children is not difficult and the program is a natural  one. But each individual is unique and therefore the program must be designed on a personalized basis in order to achieve the greatest success.

I hope this was informative. We are here to help you, your children and family. Our destination clinic treats patients from across the country and internationally.

To your good health,

Visit us at www.RootCauseMedicalClinic.com. If you have questions or need any help, I’m here for you! Call 408-733-0400.

I look forward to hearing from you.

To your good health,

Dr Vikki Petersen, DC, CCN, CFMP


IFM Certified Practitioner

Founder of Root Cause Medical Clinic
Co-author of “The Gluten Effect”

Author of the eBook: “Gluten Intolerance – What You Don’t Know May Be Killing You!”