This is a reply to letters published in The Weekend Sun on May 29 from Fiona Boyle ‘A serious autoimmune disorder is what it is' and Pip McKay ‘The right facts about coeliac' about their response to my column concerning my daughter's coeliac disease and accompanying leaky gut.

Firstly, the inclusion of the coeliac logo was editorial design of the page – my column was about my personal experience.

When it became clear my daughter had a major problem, the first thing she removed from her diet was gluten. I failed to mention this fact and that was a mistake. There's no question gluten is the cause of coeliac.

Prior to the discovery of gluten as the cause, various diets were tried. Those that were successful contained gelatin. It was found to be of great value as an adjunct in the treatment of coeliac disease, supplying much-needed nutrition, controlling hydrochloric acid, it's colloidal qualities blandly soothing, providing an abundant flow of gastric juice thus relieving nerve irritation.

What is gelatin? Gelatin is flavourless, translucent and a processed form of the structural protein collagen. It is obtained from the connective tissue, bones and hides of animals. It varies greatly in quality, which is why there has always been an inconsistency with research results. The better the quality the better the result. Gelatin contains nine of the 18 necessary amino acids – glycine 35 per cent , proline and hydroxyproline – 21 per cent, alanine – 11 per cent.

Glycine is anti-inflammatory required by the liver for toxin elimination. Gelatin does not contain tryptophan found in muscle meat - an inflammatory.

As far as the use of gelatin for coeliac I have only my own and my daughter's experience to recount.

So far it has certainly helped her.

Whether it will get her well again, time will tell. It seemed to help many prior to 1950 – their stories are still available on the internet – all now in their eighties. They believe Gelatin was a major contributor to their complete healing.

Finally, there's an implication the sole reason for my column was to ‘flog' product. Would I risk the life of my daughter and my grandson purely to ‘flog' product? Here's a woman with three growing sons and a high profile husband travelling most weeks - one of her son has a serious ailment. When the call went out I was relentless in my search for an answer. At this stage it appears to be gelatin. Perhaps, just perhaps, Grandma was right!

Bruce Hart, Hardy's Papamoa.