Gluten Free Diet Lowers Risk of Type-1 Diabetes in Mice

A study conducted on mice reveals how mothers lower the risk of type-1 diabetes in their pups by adhering to a gluten-free diet. This finding might be applicable in humans.

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen revealed how mothers can protect their offspring from developing type 1 diabetes. According to the researchers, eating gluten free diet eliminates the risk of developing diabetes mellitus.  This finding comes as good news as researchers find the association is applicable to humans too.

According to the report, over 1 percent of the Danish population have type 1 diabetes and this is known to be one of the highest incidence rates globally.  This new finding emphasizes that simple diet change increases the hope of  preventing the disease on a large scale.

"Preliminary tests show that a gluten-free diet in humans has a positive effect on children with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes. We therefore hope that a gluten-free diet during pregnancy and lactation may be enough to protect high-risk children from developing diabetes later in life," says assistant professor Camilla Hartmann Friis Hansen from the Department of Veterinary Disease Biology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences.

This study supports previous claims that suggest gluten free diet offers beneficial effect on type 1 diabetes. 

Gluten is a protein that is present in certain types of food grains that includes wheat, barley and rye. Gluten is the substance that gives the dough its elasticity.

"This new study beautifully substantiates our research into a gluten-free diet as an effective weapon against type 1 diabetes," Professor Karsten Buschard from the Bartholin Institute at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, another co-writer on the study.

Based on the experiments conducted, the intake of gluten free diet altered the intestinal bacteria in both mother and pups.  These bacteria play a crucial role in the development of immune systems and also development of type 1 diabetes.

"If we find out how gluten or certain intestinal bacteria modify the immune system and the beta-cell physiology, this knowledge can be used to develop new treatments," she says.

The researchers conducted a study on 30 mouse pups whose mothers were fed a gluten diet and they also had 30 mice from mothers who were given a gluten free diet. They noticed that mothers who were fed the gluten free diet during pregnancy and lactation protected their pups from developing type 1 diabetes later. The pups were, however, given a normal diet that had gluten in it.