Relationship Between Gluten And Milk Intolerance.

[brigala]

Ok, this is NOT about the "temporary" lactose intolerance caused by damaged villi from Celiac, but a different question entirely.

They say milk does not contain gluten, and that even when cows are fed wheat it does not pass through to the milk.

And yet, at least some researchers (and many parents) believe that gluten DOES pass through into HUMAN milk.

In practice, it seems some breastfed babies react to gluten in their mothers' diets, and others don't show signs of Celiac until gluten is introduced directly.

That got me thinking -- is it possible that some people who have Celiac react badly to milk because of wheat in the cows' diets, and other people who have Celiac simply don't react to whatever trace of gluten might be in the milk?

Has anybody ever really studied gluten in cow's milk, or has it just been assumed all this time that it doesn't pass through? Does anybody have even anecdotal stories (I can drink milk from my grandpa's farm because he only feeds corn to his cows, but not from the dairy across town because they feed wheat...)?

Am I just totally out to lunch wondering about this? (I usually do fine with milk, by the way.)

-Elizabeth

[VioletBlue]

If you're gong to follow that line of thinking than you will also have to give up eating chicken, pork, beef, turkey and pretty much any other meat product that might have been grain fed. Wouldn't it stand to follow that if milk is tainted the animal's meat would be as well?

But most commercial milk cows are not fed wheat rye or barley grains anyway; that would be a very expensive diet. Most of them are probably eating corn hay and soy products.

Ok, this is NOT about the "temporary" lactose intolerance caused by damaged villi from Celiac, but a different question entirely.

They say milk does not contain gluten, and that even when cows are fed wheat it does not pass through to the milk.

And yet, at least some researchers (and many parents) believe that gluten DOES pass through into HUMAN milk.

In practice, it seems some breastfed babies react to gluten in their mothers' diets, and others don't show signs of Celiac until gluten is introduced directly.

That got me thinking -- is it possible that some people who have Celiac react badly to milk because of wheat in the cows' diets, and other people who have Celiac simply don't react to whatever trace of gluten might be in the milk?

Has anybody ever really studied gluten in cow's milk, or has it just been assumed all this time that it doesn't pass through? Does anybody have even anecdotal stories (I can drink milk from my grandpa's farm because he only feeds corn to his cows, but not from the dairy across town because they feed wheat...)?

Am I just totally out to lunch wondering about this? (I usually do fine with milk, by the way.)

-Elizabeth

[brigala]

If you're gong to follow that line of thinking than you will also have to give up eating chicken, pork, beef, turkey and pretty much any other meat product that might have been grain fed. Wouldn't it stand to follow that if milk is tainted the animal's meat would be as well?

But most commercial milk cows are not fed wheat rye or barley grains anyway; that would be a very expensive diet. Most of them are probably eating corn hay and soy products.

I don't know, I'm not really thinking of giving up milk at this point. I have enough other dietary issues to deal with. I'm not sure it would follow that it would end up in meat if it ends up in milk. I was just curious about whether it had actually been studied. I'm just trying to figure out why it would pass into human milk but not cow's milk. I wonder if it's just an assumption.

I think my chicken feed contains wheat, but I don't have any trouble with eating their eggs.

My uncle has a farm and raises wheat and cattle (not dairy). He grass-raises them but sometimes will finish them on his own wheat that he raises instead of buying commercial feed.

[Ahorsesoul]

I do agree with you on this issue. I do have problems with meat sometimes. Especially pork in this area where a lot of farmers feed wheat and old bakery items to their hogs.

We had a patient who needed a few units of blood. Not problem but as I looked over her allergies, a lot of common foods, I suggested to the doctor that he order something in case she reacted to the blood. He laughed at me because no way did that pass over into the blood but he did but in an order. A few minutes after we stated the blood she had an allergic reaction. Like I told the doctor the donor of the blood probably ate at least one of the items on her allergy list. My suggestion saved her life. I was right and he learned a very valuable lesson. At one time washing the germs off your hand was thought to be senseless.

[RollingAlong]

tough to do any lit searching for this because the terms are so commonly used together.

Might be worh trying the Elisa gluten home test kit.

[deditus]

I believe that gluten in breastmilk is caused by mom's leaky gut, as proteins should be hydrolyzed prior to circulating in the body and thus ending up in breastmilk. Levels of nutrients in breastmilk are mostly the same as whatever is in mom's blood (exception being most minerals which are generally steady in breastmilk unless mom is severely deficient). So if one drank milk from a cow eating wheat with a leaky gut then there could be wheat proteins in the cow's milk. So if cow's get leaky gut, I would guess yes this could happen.

I would also guess that this would be less likely to cause issues with meat since it is bled.

Emily

[brigala]

Emily --

Interesting hypothesis. It sounds logical and it would be a great thing to research.

It all makes me wish I had any aptitude in biology. I'd love to research it. But biology is the only class I've ever had that I had to struggle to get a C... honestly, all microscopic things look pretty much the same to me.

-Elizabeth