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Richard Abrams recently posted the results of a study which concluded
that the ONE celiac to complete the trial showed no ill effects from
eating buckwheat.  I am very hesitant to base recommendations for gf
diet foods on such a small sample.

Donald Kasarda has pointed out that in the 1991 survey of the Canadian
Celiac Association published in the Journal of the Canadian Dietetic
Association (52:162-165), 26% of biopsy proven celiacs experienced
celiac-type symptoms after eating buckwheat.  For millet, the results
were similar, at 26% having symptoms.  Kasarda cautions that it was not
clear in this study "that people understood about looking for pure
buckwheat as opposed to buckwheat-wheat mixtures."

Though some people may have tried buckwheat mixtures, or used buckwheat
flour contaminated in the field with wheat, the fact that a good
quarter of the biopsy proven celiacs reacted to these foods supports
the policy of putting buckwheat and millet on a cautionary list for
celiacs.

Mike Jones' 12/13/94 article on celiac blood tests states that
"histological evidence of mucosal response can appear from 2 months to
2 years or more after reintroduction of gluten" to a celiac's diet.
The brazilian study cited by Abrams talks about a month-long study.  It
sounds to me as though some celiacs would not show a deleterious effect
in a blood test after a month eating gluten, so the fact that one child
didn't show any effect after a month of eating buckwheat is
inconclusive.

It may well be that a majority of celiacs can tolerate millet and
buckwheat fairly well, just as some people can and cannot tolerate msg
or any other food.  However, I think it is wise for doctors and other
dietary specialists to point out that many celiacs do have problems
with millet and buckwheat, just as they point out that many celiacs
have problems with lactose intolerance.  Maybe these foods do need to
be removed from the "never eat" lists to the "eat at your own risk"
lists, along with dairy products, to allow for these individual
differences.  Saying that people "shouldn't" react to eating millet and
buckwheat when some obviously do is too terribly reminiscent (at least
to me) of the doctors who say that an individual can't possible have cd
because it is such a rare condition, or the individual doesn't show
stunted growth, etc. etc.

Laura Johnson-Kelly
Ithaca, NY, USA
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