Study Finds Celiacs Who Don't Cheat Live Longer

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Study Finds Celiacs Who Don't Cheat Live Longer

 

Enjoy a longer, healthier life! A recent study has found that people with

celiac disease who follow a strict gluten-free diet might live longer than

non-celiacs, and almost certainly live longer than celiacs who cheat. The study

by Dr. Giovanni Corraro and his colleagues followed up on 1,072 Italian adults

who were diagnosed with celiac disease between 1962 and 1994 and compared their

mortality rates with the general Italian population. The findings were published

in the respected British medical journal The Lancet.

 

Celiacs in the study were divided into two groups: likely and not likely to be

following a strict gluten-free diet. There was good news for celiacs who follow

the diet consistently: their mortality rate was below the national average!

(Only 5 died, compared with the 10.5 that would have been expected for people in

the same age groups). Celiacs who did not consistently follow the gluten-free

diet paid a heavy price: their mortality rate was six times the national

average. (The most common cause of death was Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma).

 

When combined with other recent discoveries, the study's findings provide

important insights into the nature of the celiac condition. The genes associated

with celiac condition give individuals an especially strong immune system. This

is an advantage when fighting off illnesses caused by viruses and bacteria. It

probably helped our ancestors survive for many thousands of years before the

invention of things we now take for granted-such as antibiotics, filtered water,

sanitary sewer systems, and germ-killing methods of food preparation. But there

is a catch! A couple of thousand years ago (long after the strong-immunity

gene developed), wheat became a major food source. For some reason, the same

immune system that is so good at fighting disease is also less discriminating:

it can mistake the gluten proteins in wheat, rye, and barley for an invader.

Ongoing gluten exposure can trigger active celiac disease, which if untreated

can lead to a variety of other serious medical conditions.

 

That's why the typical rationalizations of weight-loss diet cheaters don't apply

to celiacs. ( Some common rationalizations are: " It's only a little bit. "

" I'll make up for it later. " It's a special occasion. " and " It wouldn't be

polite to say no. " ). Part of the gut's job is to screen out minute quantities

of germs that might be present in food or water. In the celiac gut, even a few

parts per million of gluten can provoke reaction, putting the celiac's strong

immune system into overdrive. Avoiding gluten allows the immune system to work

properly.