Wheat and lactase

While I'm trying to clear my desk top a little, with limited access to the net during an oncall weekend, I thought I might post this link as I'm thinking wheat at the moment.

I think I've discussed the role of gluten in trashing the brush border cells, again without need for any sort of immune system involvement. The present study did involve immune-injured people but I see no reason why exactly the same principle shouldn't apply to antibody negative "coeliacs" (suffering from "imagination" or even, gasp, orthorexia nervosa, another from Elizabeth. Apologies for the picture of the bowl of rabbit food).

Another aspect of normalising the brush border is that far less food is going to be left in the small intestine to feed a bacterial overgrowth. On a LC, low fibre diet there are likely to be massive changes in gut flora. I have an anecdote from several years ago given to me by a lady and her mother who had gone LC plus gluten free and, after quite some time, both suddenly became lactose intolerant. This is the last thing I would have expected.

Now, I'm no great enthusiast for pre- or pro-biotics, but I do eat a fair amount of cheese, soured cream and high fat yogurt. The last of those occasionally in large amounts. So eating real-food dairy accidentally includes plenty of germs. Germs to which we are well adapted. Gut bacteria are normal to humans and lactobacilli are amongst the first bacteria to colonise the gut of a healthy infant, presumably because its mother provides lactose (and pre-biotics too, hmmmm). For humans who are not genetically adapted to adult lactose intake, are we borrowing the gene for lactose tolerance from the microbiome in our gut? Is it possible to lose lactose tolerance if we lose lactobacilli during the major bacterial starve-out that LC probably produces?

Alternatively, as coeliac disease appear to require certain bacteria, does lactose intolerance REQUIRE certain non-lactobacilli bacteria? This would fit better with two people developing lactose intolerance at the same time in the same household, if they simultaneously picked up the same bacterial opportunist.

Answers on a postcard to........

Peter