Hello
I don't have diabetes. My wife had gestational diabetes which didn't go away after birth - doctors have told her she has prediabetes based on her follow up blood tests. She manages this by following a very low carb diet (any significant carbs send her blood sugar high and make her feel unwell). She is very slim. Anyway we are aware that she clearly doesn't have the beginning of type 1 diabetes or maybe not even type 2, just something off which is causing her high blood sugars.
The diagnosis was in a way a blessing in disguise as we both now follow a healthy diet but we are in no way obsessive about it. We are also very much more aware of the condition and this has led us to discover that early exposure to cows milk in children susceptible to type 1 diabetes can trigger the condition. My wife is still breastfeeding as we know it has a protective factor against diabetes. Now I know that our son (who is 9 months) is not necessarily susceptible (based on the fact nobody in our family has type 1), but I was wondering out of curiousity more than anything what early exposure constitutes. Does it mean the first few months of life (I.e. down to formula milk) or does the potential risk last longer (e.g. consumption of dairy products when weaning or introduction of full fat cows milk at the age of 1 as the main drink). I can't find anything that defines 'early exposure'. Apologies for the long story! We just want to make sure we are giving our boy the best start in life!
I don't have diabetes. My wife had gestational diabetes which didn't go away after birth - doctors have told her she has prediabetes based on her follow up blood tests. She manages this by following a very low carb diet (any significant carbs send her blood sugar high and make her feel unwell). She is very slim. Anyway we are aware that she clearly doesn't have the beginning of type 1 diabetes or maybe not even type 2, just something off which is causing her high blood sugars.
The diagnosis was in a way a blessing in disguise as we both now follow a healthy diet but we are in no way obsessive about it. We are also very much more aware of the condition and this has led us to discover that early exposure to cows milk in children susceptible to type 1 diabetes can trigger the condition. My wife is still breastfeeding as we know it has a protective factor against diabetes. Now I know that our son (who is 9 months) is not necessarily susceptible (based on the fact nobody in our family has type 1), but I was wondering out of curiousity more than anything what early exposure constitutes. Does it mean the first few months of life (I.e. down to formula milk) or does the potential risk last longer (e.g. consumption of dairy products when weaning or introduction of full fat cows milk at the age of 1 as the main drink). I can't find anything that defines 'early exposure'. Apologies for the long story! We just want to make sure we are giving our boy the best start in life!