Friday, April 5, 2013

Spring Baby?

Celiac Disease, one of the most confusing diseases you can have. It is different with every person, some experiencing digestive symptoms, some have skin problems, some have mental issues (brain fog). The doctors are always discovering more links in the chain that is celiac disease.

However, nobody seems to know why certain people get celiac disease. We know it is genetic but it can skip generations, some people in a family are born with it, some develop it later in life and some never develop it at all.

I read an article today that noticed that in a study of 2,000 people with celiac disease, more of them were born in the Spring than any other season. This result has been confirmed in three other studies. They seemed to think that this was a very important finding, a possible clue as to why some people develop celiac disease!

The reason for this excitement is the theory that most babies are exposed to gluten at around six months. This would mean that spring babies are exposed to gluten at about the same time as the flu and other viral infections are at their most prominent. Their theory is that early exposure to viral infections can play a role in how the body reacts to gluten, that early life experiences can lead to an auto immune disease later in life.

I am not a doctor, I am not a medical researcher but I'm sorry! I find this to be an utterly ridiculous study.

In my family alone, we have five people with celiac disease. Birthdays are March, April, June, July and December. Two in spring, two in summer and one in winter.

There are three more in our family, they were born in May, December and February. None of them have celiac disease. All of us have had the same early life experiences!

Also in Ireland, no baby is exposed to gluten until they are at least one year old. All the baby cereal is made of rice. We were always told that babies under the age of one were unable to digest gluten as their digestive systems were not developed enough.

If the theory were to hold water, that would mean that in Ireland, most of the celiacs would have winter birthdays!

I am glad that doctors are studying celiac disease, I am glad that they are interested in trying to find a cure and a reason for it, but, like with autism, I would really prefer if they would not publish "theories" until they can be really sure that they make some sort of sense. It is a confusing enough disease, we don't need any more confusion around it.

Having said all that, it is good to end on a positive note. I just made the most delicious coffee cake, perfect with your cup of tea or coffee. The recipe comes from the Betty Crock gluten free cook book but you can use any all purpose gluten free flour.



1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup Nutella
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/4 cups gf all purpose flour blend
1 1/2 teaspoons gf baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray 8 inch square pan with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, mix brown sugar and Nutella. Stir in walnuts and chocolate chips, set aside for topping.

In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat eggs and sugar until smooth. Stir in butter and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients until just combined. Pour batter into pan. Sprinkle with topping mixture.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Easy and delicious!!!