Breastfeeding and Celiac Disease

I've been reading The Gluten-Free Bible by Jax Peters Lowell - navigating my new gluten-free lifestyle is a little intimidating, and this book has been highly recommended. You can imagine my delight when I scanned the table of contents and discovered a section on breastfeeding!

The good news? Lowell comes down firmly on the side of the benefits of breastfeeding, listing many reasons why breastfeeding is best for your little one.

The disappointing news? Lowell appears unaware of the research which supports her advice, and misses a great opportunity to educate her readers. Given how much work went into the book, I'm fairly astonished at the oversight.

So, for your reference, here are a couple of the research articles on the topic:

Breast-feeding protects against celiac disease. (Ivarsson A, Hernell O, Stenlund H, Persson LA)

Effect of breast feeding on risk of coeliac disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies (A K Akobeng1, A V Ramanan, I Buchan and R F Heller)


Reading up on celiac disease in Sweden has proved fascinating. In the mid-eighties Sweden experienced a significant spike in the cases of celiac in children two and under; the spike resolved itself within ten years. In trying to figure out what caused the dramatic rise, researchers identified three key factors - the age at which gluten was introduced into the diet, whether the infant was being breastfed at the time of gluten introduction, and how much gluten was given to the infant.

Basically, the younger the child was when gluten was introduced to the diet (typically through cereal), the higher the risk of developing celiac disease. Breastfeeding appears to provide protection; nursing children who were consuming gluten were 40% less likely to develop celiac disease than their weaned counterparts. At the beginning of the time period studied, Swedish breastfeeding rates were at a low (37%); at the end of the time period, breastfeeding rates had increased to 76% and the incidence of celiac disease had decreased.

One of the theories is that the IgA antibodies in human milk provide protection to the infant's gut when gluten is introduced.

Yet another reason I'm glad I breastfed my daughter!

Breastfeeding and probiotics may protect children from allergies, finds NoE (Cordis News)

The Network of Excellence (NoE) GA2LEN has presented evidence that breastfeeding, early diet and probiotics may have an effect on the development of allergies in children.

GA2LEN is funded under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) and brings together 26 research centres from around Europe, as well as the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) and the European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients' Associations (EFA).

The number of people suffering from allergies has increased dramatically over the past few decades. The phenomenon is particularly evident in children, with one in three now suffering from some sort of allergy. GA2LEN predicts that by 2015, half of all Europeans will have some sort of allergy.


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Cow's milk allergy prevalent among children but often misdiagnosed (Singapore News)

SINGAPORE: Cow's milk allergy is one of the most common childhood allergies but it is often misdiagnosed, say doctors.

It is believed that 3.5% of all children who have severe reactions to food are allergic to cow's milk.

Angry rashes plagued Charlotte Lum from the time she was just five weeks old.

Doctors she went to told her parents it was eczema.

The girl continued to suffer till she was three.

Her mother, Stella Lum, said: "We didn't think it was an allergy. We thought it was an eczema problem, that was the diagnosis from the paediatricians from the very beginning. So, we made sure that everything was clean and we gave her the appropriate cream for her bath and daily use. In terms of food allergy, it didn't occur to us, until it was highlighted by her teacher and also when I shared this information with my friend who has been treating skin problem. She said that maybe we should do a test on the food."

Looking back, her parents realised the allergy started at the same time they began supplementing Charlotte's diet of breast milk with formula milk.


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