Happy New Year! Could dropping gluten from your diet be your best change for the year ahead? Compelling evidence shows why it may help you conceive.

Irish people are genetically hard-wired for Gluten sensitivity. Most don’t realise they have it.

The link between gluten intolerance and unexplained infertility is compelling. A study from the Coeliac Disease Centre of Columbia University finds around 6% of women with unexplained infertility show a degree of Coeliac Disease. In this study of 188 women with unexplained infertility, researchers found the rate of Coeliac Disease was six times higher than expected. Simply by removing gluten from their diet these women went on to conceive healthy pregnancies.

Unexplained Infertility & the Gluten connection

Coeliac Disease is an auto-immune condition characterised by a sensitivity to Gluten. The protein causes inflammation and damage to the gut lining, interfering with absorbtion of nutrients.  The enzyme Transglutaminase (tTg) repairs tissue all around the body. It has a pivotal role in fetal growth. In coeliac disease antibodies to this enzyme are produced. This can interfere with proper development of the placenta, the baby’s lifeline until birth, and compromise the pregnancy.

Many people are unaware of being Gluten intolerant or being hyper-sensitive. to the protein. Symptoms are notoriously difficult to pinpoint. It’s possible to have this damaging condition without obvious signs. For many women it is only in retrospect that they can collate their symptoms and realize at a clinic visit that they have suffered the effects of  gluten sensitivity for years.

Symptoms

Bloating, diarrhoea and cramps and fatigue – symptoms are  diverse, inconsistent and attributable to many other causes. Untreated gluten intolerance leads to anaemia, nose-bleeds, hair-loss, hypoglycaemia and chronic fatigue. Testing for CD involves history, blood tests and maybe biopsy.

According to Dr Sheila Crowe, a gastrointestinal  professor says in the New York Times, ‘Coeliac Disease is most common in Irish people. This is underpinned by a  1970’s study in Galway which found a rate of 1:300 people  with the condition.

Not only bread

Gluten finds it’s way into bread, cakes, pasta pizza and noodles, as well as sauces, gravies,  soups and salad dressing. Processed foods are prime gluten culprits, from breakfast cereals to ready-made meals. It’s even found in Holy Communion wafers.

The only treatment for Coeliac Disease is to eliminate gluten completely from the diet and use gluten-free products.

Studies

The good news more studies to explore the link between Coeliac Disease and infertility. Researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre are teaming up with Boston IVF Fertility Clinic to find out more  about unexplained infertility and the gluten connection. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine are advocating for a coeliac disease screen to be made available to women with unexplained infertility.

An Irish gluten-free bakery makes amazing breads, delectable cakes and patisserie … my favourite! www.goodnessgrains.com

Information is available from The Irish Coeliac Society at  http://www.coeliac.ie