Outi Vaarala,

Anyone follow the work of Finnish researcher Outi Vaarala? She has undertaken some interesting work in relation to gut microflora and T1D.

Check out her article "The Perfect Storm for T1D" at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2551660/

Lot's to read here. Look forward to it. Understanding that health begins in the gut certainly connects Type 1 gut microbes. No one know what the perfect storm may be that creates Type 1, but cleaning up the body and body systems is key. My son was diagnosed less than a year ago. I have cleaned up the diet and I am looking at gut health. And liver health (our largest cleaner).

Thank you for the share. I will pass it on.

I read the article. Published in 2008. All the info out there that many have followed for years. The Milk Connect. The Wheat/Gluten Connect. The Gut Connect. There isn't a Naturapath or Holistic Practitioner that would disagree. Mainstream Endocrinology is a profitable industry. Directing the masses with the Standard American Diet and Insulin is the majority. Looking at Causality and cleaning up the body is the minority.

I am happy I am part of the minority.

I am interested to see what her current work speaks of.

Thank you.

T1D has been known and written about since ancient times (Egyptian, Greek and Indian manuscripts in particular.) That is long before the advent of the "Standard American Diet." Clearly there is more at play here than what you are suggesting.

Yes, I agree with you; I too believe that there is way more at play than the standard western diet. I do believe that improving intestinal permeability could better the management of autoimmune conditions. Along with Dr. Vaarala, Alessio Fasano, MD, a world-renowned pediatric gastroenterologist, research scientist, and founder of the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research, believes all autoimmune conditions have three factors in common: a genetic susceptibility, antigen exposure, and increased intestinal permeability.

My own lay person, personal belief, is that our diet leaves us with too few "good bacteria" and too much "bad bacteria". Then, if and when people with the suceptible genetic profile get exposed to an everyday enterovirus (like coxsackie) it can really take hold, as we do not have the right bacteria to fight it.

Enteroviruses make the intestine more permeable. Once the intestine is leaky, all manner of proteins can escape, like milk, wheat and viruses. That is why I personally (again, no medical qualifications) believe that celiac, thyroid, etc are commonly linked with T1D. Wheat proteins are apparently pretty large, so I would hypothesize that people with celiac disease have significant intestinal permeability that should be tested for by a health professional.