From Dr. Mercola's newsletter

http://www.mercola.com/2001/jul/28/wheat.htm

How to Prevent Wheat Intolerance In Your Baby

                              Celiac disease, also known as "gluten
intolerance", is a genetic disorder that
                              affects about 1 in 40. Symptoms of celiac
disease can range from the classic
                              features, such as diarrhea, weight loss,
and malnutrition, to latent symptoms
                              such as isolated nutrient deficiencies,
but no gastrointestinal symptoms.

                              The authors performed a case control study
of 250 children and found the risk
                              of developing celiac disease decreased
significantly by nearly 2/3
                              for children breast-fed for more than 2
months.

                              The age at first gluten introduction had
no significant influence on the
                              incidence of celiac disease. The authors
concluded that a significant
                              protective effect on the development of
celiac disease is offered by
                              breast-feeding.

                              Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism
45:4:2001, 135-142



                              DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT:

                              Because celiac disease has been considered
rare in this country, it
                              often goes undiagnosed or is misdiagnosed
as irritable bowel syndrome
                              or lactose intolerance. My experience is
that the true incidence is
                              probably much higher still, perhaps on the
order of 1 in 10 people.

                              It is likely that as many as half of us
have subclinical celiac disease and
                              have health problems with wheat that we
just don't recognize.

                              There are many, many reasons why one
should breastfeed, but who
                              would have known that a lower risk of
developing celiac disease was
                              one of them?

                              My associate editor is actually compiling
a list of breastfeeding benefits
                              and we will hopefully post these reasons
along with literature
                              references in the near future.

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