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For those who have not had the time to read the oat study for themselves, I would like to highlight a few observations:
First, the study did last for two years, but it was a very small sample, with only 15 adults completing the study. The two who dropped out due to gastrointestinal symptoms did so at one month and at six months, and the follow-ups were not done immediately, such that the authors allow that no damage found could be from insufficient exposure; it could also be because the gut healed before the biopsy was done.
Second, the study mentions that studies from the 1950's of oat toxicity reported raised levels of fecal fat and or reduced xylose excretion - both symptoms that led to my son's diagnosis, and neither were considered in this study which only looked at bowel histology, serology, and nutritional status (and the body has tremendous reserves when healthy, so nutritional status would not necessarily deteriorate that quickly - I've read that you can go 12 months with no Vitamin B12 before you start to show any signs of deficiency, for example. Also, the more frequent and large stools may have been from fecal fat as well as from the increased fiber intake). What a shame that fecal fat and xylose excretion were not considered at least for the subjects that dropped out! (xylose, by the way, is a special sugar that does not require digestion. It is swallowed and then absorption is measured through blood and urine samples. Low excretion indicates malabsorption, not necessarily from atrophy of villi in the proximal jejunum, which is all this study looked at).
Finally, and most notably, I quote:
"All patients included in this study tolerated wheat starch and thus microscopic amounts of gluten. The results of this study can therefore be applied to coeliac patients using a wheat starch-containing gluten-free diet only."
I find this study to be unconvincing, particularly in the dismissal of the participants who suffered distention and flatulence and had to drop out. Maybe there are two categories of celiacs - those who can tolerate oats, and those who cannot, and this study does not "prove" that oats are okay for all celiacs - in fact it really raises the question for the 12% that had to drop out! Furthermore, the fact that these folks are doing fine with "microscopic  amounts of gluten" is a red flag for the highly sensitive who cannot tolerate any cross-contamination.
No need to flame me - just go read it for yourself!
http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?
file=/ejcn/journal/v57/n1/full/1601525a.html

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Take Care.
Hilary

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