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I'm responding to this list not the celiac-diabetic list because I
disagree strongly with the diabetic connection for Diane's thesis that a
GF diet helps in the treatment of lots of other autoimmune diseases. There
may indeed be some sort of gluten connection in these other diseases, but
no reliable evidence today. Anecdotes are not evidence.

In <[log in to unmask]>, on 05/23/99
   at 05:24 PM, Diane Holmes <[log in to unmask]> said:

>>Here is Don Wiss's post re Diabetics being helped by a gf diet.
>>> There is the connection that 7% of Type 1 diabetics also have celiac
>>> disease, mostly undiagnosed. Having both and not treating the celiac
>>> will make it harder to control the diabetes.

I know of no evidence for the last named. I suspect it dates from the
early days of knowing of the connection between the two autoimmune
diseases. Any diabetic with  long enough duration of undiagnosed celiac to
finally reach the phase of vomiting and/or diarrhea would indeed have
trouble balancing carbohydrate absorption against injected insulin. Though
the subtler onsets of celiac go undiagnosed among diabetics, apparently
most of those diagnosed today don't reach that extreme GI phase. For them,
the effect of going on a GF diet is merely to slowly increase their
insulin needs due to more efficient absorption of carbohydrate. Such slow
changes do not disturb the control of blood sugar.

(For Type 2 diabetics who develop celiac, the GF diet makes it HARDER to
control their disease. They're supposed to be on a low-calorie diet with
nearly zero fats to hold insulin resistance in check. Yes, their blood
sugars gradually start to soar and they have to gradually reduce their
diet, increase exercise, and or increase medication. )

>>> But there is a diet connection for diabetes. This is the book they
>>> should get:
>>>
>>> Diabetes Solution, by Richard K. Bernstein, M.D.

Dr. Bernstein, a Type 1 diabetic himself, advocates a low-carb, not
necessarily GF, diet.  The difficulty with this diet is that low carb,
means high protein and/or high fat. These stress the kidney and the liver,
two common sites of long term damage in diabetics. I asked Dr. Bernstein
if there were any long term studies of such diets to see what the effects
were on kidney and liver. He said there were none, but that in the above
book he cites the only evidence he could find.

Diabetic buyers of this diet beware.

                                      Kemp Randolph
                                      Long Island

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