If you are someone who loves to gorge on breads and pastas, then here's a little bad news for you. According to a latest study, published in the journal JAMA, consuming heavy amounts of gluten or rather higher-than-normal levels of gluten from an early age may result in gluten intolerance and children might develop celiac disease. Celiac disease is a digestive disorder that causes an impact on the small intestines and intake of excess gluten during the first five years of your life is associated with the likelihood of developing this disease. In celiac disease, consumption of gluten damages the lining of the small intestine and prevents nutrient absorption.
For the study, researchers analysed more than 6,600 newborns who were born between the years 2004 and 2010 in the United States, Finland, Germany, and Sweden. All of the children carried a genotype associated with Type-1 diabetes and celiac disease. Until the age of five, the researchers of the study recorded the children's gluten intake for every few months and compared the levels to reference amounts of gluten intake in healthy children at each age.
Celiac disease is a digestive disorder that causes an impact on the small intestines
As per the findings of the study, higher gluten consumption was linked with a 6.1 per cent increased risk of celiac disease autoimmunity, immunological response to gluten and a 7.2 per cent increased risk of the celiac disease per each additional gram of gluten per day.
Over the course time, till the study continued, 1,216 of the children amounting to nearly 20 per cent developed celiac disease autoimmunity, the first sign of the body's negative response to the protein, said study author Carin Andren Aronsson, study manager at the Unit for Diabetes and Celiac Disease at Lund University in Sweden.
According to the study, another 7 per cent developed celiac disease, wherein majority of the diagnoses happened between the ages of 2 and 3. A daily intake of 2 grams gluten- or the equivalent of one slice of white bread, would also bring in noticeable changes and increase the risk.
"Our study shows a clear association between the amount of gluten the children consumed and the risk of developing celiac disease or pre-coeliac disease," said Daniel Agardh, associate professor at Lund University and consultant at Skane University Hospital in Malmo.
"A daily gluten intake over 2 grams at the age of 2 was associated with a 75 per cent increase in the risk of developing coeliac disease," said Carin Andren Aronsson, a dietician at Lund University.
Here Are 5 Most Common Symptoms Of Celiac Disease:
- Weight loss
- Constipation
- Fatigue
- Gas
- Diarrhoea