It’s gaining popularity, but how does the trend stack up to painstaking research?
By RX FOR READERS/JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICHBREAD IN Jerusalem’s Mahaneh Yehuda market(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
I am a 52-year-old man who is generally healthy. I do not suffer from celiac disease or any other gastroenterological problem. But recently, friends and relatives of mine who do not have a celiac problem have started to eat baked goods free of gluten, which are now very common in the stores.They claim, on the basis of what they read on the Internet, that not eating gluten in wheat and other grains reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. I wonder if they’re right and I’m missing out. I would like to know if there is any benefit – including a lower risk of heart attacks – to people without celiac disease who eat gluten- free food, or does this harm their health?N.D., Tel AvivJudy Siegel-Itzkovich comments: A recent article in the British Medical Journal discussed this very issue. Titled “Long-term gluten consumption in adults without celiac disease and risk of coronary heart disease,” the painstaking study by leading researchers at hospitals and medical schools in Boston and New York looked at nearly 100,000 women and men in the Nurses’ Health Study over a period of 26 years and focused on eating gluten and any connection with heart disease.The authors noted that there had been claims that gluten may promote inflammation in people who are not sensitive to gluten and could raise the risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome, neuropsychiatric symptoms and cardiovascular disease among healthy people. The rationale for this concern includes the observation that foods containing gluten often have a high glycemic index, which has been linked to cardiovascular risk. As a result, they wrote, diets that limit gluten intake in non-celiac patients have gained popularity.However, the researchers said they “found no significant association between estimated gluten intake and the risk of subsequent overall coronary heart disease, non-fatal myocardial infarction and fatal myocardial infarction. The lack of association was consistent in both men and women, as well among other subgroups defined by cardiovascular risk factors.”They added that “long-term dietary intake of gluten was not associated with risk of coronary heart disease.However, the avoidance of gluten may result in reduced consumption of beneficial whole grains, which may affect cardiovascular risk. The promotion of gluten- free diets among people without celiac disease should not be encouraged,” they concluded.I am in my third month of pregnancy and have a three-year-old daughter in a daycare center. Winter is coming, and I want to prevent her and me from getting sick so that the fetus is not affected. Do you have any advice?A.C., Ma’alotProf. Efi Bilavsky, an infectious disease expert and senior physician in the Pediatrics C department of Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikva, responds: You are right to be concerned, but there are numerous things you can do to protect yourself and your daughter. Influenza and its complications are even more common in children than in adults, and they usually get sick with it before adults, so it is vital that both you and your daughter get vaccinated immediately, for free, at your health fund.The flu shot, which is made from killed virus, is not harmful. Its efficacy varies from year to year, but even when it is lower (around 60% to 70%), it is vital that everyone in the family from the age of six months and over get the shot so it doesn’t “sneak into” your home.This year, there is no nasal spray vaccine for children, so the shot is necessary for your child.Also make sure that your daughter has had all the recommended vaccinations from her tipat halav (well-baby) center so she is protected, and ask your obstetrician if you need any booster shots, such as against whooping cough. Your fetus can get passive protection from diseases while in the womb.It is unfortunate that numerous parents send kids with a cold, fever or other condition to preschool, kindergartens and daycare centers because they have to work and don’t somehow manage to leave them at home with a caregiver.Be careful to wash your hands with soap and water after touching objects – including surfaces in a bus or train, door handles, keyboards and the like), because pathogens can remain alive and infectious for some time.If you or your child get sick with a virus, do not give antibiotics, as they do not help and can cause the bugs to become resistant. After the birth, protection is transferred best by breastfeeding the baby.Rx for Readers welcomes queries from readers about medical problems. Experts will answer those we find most interesting.Write Rx for Readers, The Jerusalem Post, POB 81, Jerusalem 9100002, fax your question to Judy Siegel-Itzkovich at (02) 538-9527, or email it to jsiegel@ jpost.com, giving your initials, age and place of residence.
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