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Part 1 of summary of replies from the List to my question about how safe are
oats for celiacs. Lots of intelligent, authoritative -- and some
contradictory -- information follows....
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I don't know for sure if Oats contain gluten but have heard that they do not
if they are pure. The problem with oats seems to be that they are grown,
harvested and separated in the same equipment as wheat, rye or barley...thus
contaminated. I tried to eat oatmeal a couple of times but unfortunately
couldn't digest it...would have liked the variety in my diet.
* * *
They are g/f IF they are uncontaminated. I eat Cream of Buckwheat mixed
with grits every AM. It is g/f as well as sugar/free since I have T-1
diabetes as well as DH and CD. You can find hundreds of discussions about
oats in the archives.
* * *
I experiment [with] it myself, that clean oats are OK for me, but is
virtually impossible to get it on this planet.
* * *
I eat oatmeal in the morning and I have no reactions at all. But then again
I am not very symptomatic when I eat something with gluten I will usually
just get a lot of gas. Which is enough reason for me not to eat what I am
not supposed to.
* * *
[A]ll the literature I have read/researched says that oats do contain
gluten, albeit much less than the three other grains (wheat, barley and
rye). It also seems that in general, UK coeliacs used not to be able to eat
oats, but following increased research into the condition, some are now
allowed to do so. I think the situation may be different in the USA.
I was diagnosed last year following almost 3 years of incredibly severe
illness, but since April '99 I have followed a strict GF diet, and now seem
to be fully "recovered". Following a biopsy this summer, my specialist (the
top man in the UK for CD) told me that I can now eat small amounts of oats -
provided that they are uncontaminated by other grains, i.e. that they
haven't been milled in the same equipment as wheat, say. I have a list of
companies (from the Coeliac Society) that produce oats - and nothing else,
so am trying these, with no obvious side effects so far, thankfully.
I seem to have a pretty swift reaction to gluten intake, not dissimilar to a
histamine reaction. This has happened once in the past 18 months, when
dining in a restaurant where I was told that the sauce did not contain flour
- it certainly did! What happens is that I turn bright red in the face, feel
rather hot and uncomfortable for an hour or so, and then the redness
dissipates. Having had this reaction on and off for the past 30 years, I now
realise that this is what gluten does to me in the first instance (before
all the other nasty stuff!). I do not suffer this reaction following an
"oat" intake.
* * *
There are several research studies which are the current basis for this oat
question being raised. All had very small numbers like 12 or 20 and were
only followed for a relatively short time. If you like me are on this diet
for the next 30 or so years, long term results are just not known. All the
studies were done with special oats not available to consumers. Cross
contamination with other grains is an issue.
I miss oatmeal. To my surprise, it is one of the things high on my miss
list. But I have concluded that at this point it just isn't worth it.
Especially your first year. Walk the straight path and let your insides
heal. It took about 9 months for me to start feeling not like the walking
dead. Your villi need to heal; then absorb iron again and then it takes 3
months to make a mature red blood cell that will have an effect on your
fatigue.
* * *
No matter how many people say otherwise, they are forbidden. This question
came up when Dr. Joe Murray of Mayo Clinic spoke to our support group last
month. He said, "The simple answer is: oats - NO."
* * *
Teff should be okay--barring any contamination issues. Absolutley no
relation to gluten containing grains. Just another grain that was given the
no-go by some Celiac support group. Oats is another issue. Some people say
they are GF, but may be contaminated. Others say they have gluten to start
with. I wish there was some scientific evidence on this.
* * *
I have an article from Gluten Free Living Magazine ... which states that
"oats in the gluten-free diet seem to improve the gluten-free diet
nutritionally and symptomatically as well as provide a tastier and more
varied diet." There is supposed to be another article about oats in an
upcoming issue. I am a newly diagnosed celiac, so at this time I am not
"experimenting" with oats, but I too have heard conflicting info about oats.
I know of someone who was diagnosed at age 2 and is EXTREMELY sensitive to
gluten, and she eats oats on a regular basis. Perhaps ingesting oats in an
individual thing, affecting some but not others.
* * *
Even if oats are gluten free, they are always contaminated with wheat due to
the farming practices
* * *
I am a classically symptomatic Celiac. I eat oats regularly, but ONLY from
trusted sources. Quaker claims to have clean processing lines, and I have
had no problem with their products. I NEVER, NEVER touch "open bin" oats,
like in some health food stores.
* * *
My clear understanding is that oats, wheat, barley and rye are NOT gluten
free, and definite No NO's Oats are what set me off a year or so ago. Take
it from me - a definite NO NO
* * *
it was eating oatmeal for breakfast that first made the reactions strong
enough that my doc recognized celiac. Many people say the avenin gluten in
oats is not nearly so bad as that in wheat; and some say it's no problem at
all. That may be true. But the real problem is that almost ALL commercially
grown oats are rotated periodically in the field with wheat. So when wheat
is harvested it scatters lots of grains all over the ground, then the next
year when they plant oats the wheat sprouts along with the oats. The oat
grain and the wheat grain are about the same size and look similar so it's
almost impossible to ever separate them on a mass scale. So this
contamination exists in almost all commercially grown oats. Perhaps if you
grew some yourself you might be safe.
There may be some wheat free oats, I think I may have seen that Quaker's
oats were GF, but don't act on that because I'm not sure.
* * *
OATS Made me and my whole family gasly ill
* * *
oats are not gluten-free! If someone is only wheat-intolerant, and not
gluten-intolerant then perhaps they are OK with oats.
* * *
Oats themselves are inherently gf. The problem is that they are milled,
ground, whatever in the same factory as wheat. Therefore the problem is in
the contamination. If you can find a "clean" source for oats then they are
okay. My daughter's GI told me I could try her on oat flour, but my GI said
I should not. After reading up on this subject I decided to continue to
exclude oats. At my last celiac support group meeting (last Friday) someone
presented a talk and mentioned the oats controversy. She had gone to the
International symposium in Baltimore this summer. The doctors there
mentioned the problem with oats is the cross-contamination issue and felt
that there would be "clean" oats available within the next 10 years.
(Hopefully sooner!)
* * *
Oats are usually grown alternately with wheat and hence some of the wheat
"volunteers" are in the oats when they are harvested. If one could find
oats that were not contaminated, were not shipped in the same shipping
containers as wheat, they would be gluten free..
* * *
I just went to the international conference in Baltimore, and got the MOST
ACCURATE UP-TO-DATE INFO!! They have done tests and they think that oats
are safe to eat BUT BUT BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You cannot safely eat them yet
because of contamination!!! Oats are almost always milled, transported and
grown with wheat, and it is impossible to find a non-contaminated source. I
personally got up at the conference and asked the WORLD'S EXPERT ON GRAINS:
Dr. Karsarda, "Do you know of any place we can get non-contaminated oats?"
He said immediately "NO". So, it is not worth the risk, although probably
in the future we will be able to eat them.
* * *
Check this out...http://www.celiac.com/oats.html#Cross
Be sure to read the orginal NEJM article. Very sensitive celiacs were not
included in the study. Anyone who got sick on the oats was taken out of the
study. They also said that children should be used as guinea pigs.
The new study from Denver has children who included oats when they began
their diet did not react. I have found that the more gluten you take out of
your diet, they more sensitive you become. If you have already been ultra
g.f., it suspect it might not work add oats back in.
If you have read the Eat Right for Your Type book, oats are not included on
the diet for those w/ Type O blood. It is okay on the type A diet.
* * *
It is my understanding that oats themselves are safe, but that oats
purchased in this country are contaminated with other grains and therefore
are not safe. Apparently it is not possible to purchase pure oats here in
the US.
* * *
Out of date information has a very long half-life. Oats were thought to be a
problem for celiacs for many years, but no one had really tested them. In
the last ten years at least a half-dozen studies have been done that show
that oats are definitely not a problem for celiacs. The stubborn who refuse
to accept new information still raise the red herring of "contamination".
Dr. Donald Kasarda, USDA grain chemist and world's foremost authority on
Celiac grains, however, has measured contamination levels in oats from a
wide variety of sources and says they are safe. Personally, I have eaten
oats for years with no problems, and I react strongly to small amounts of
gluten.
* * *
We had our thirteenth annual Celiac Conference on Saturday, Nov. 12. There
were many references and questions regarding oats. Most of the research done
thus far has shown no ill effects from Celiacs eating oats, however, because
there is not a consensus it is still recommended that oats NOT be included
in the Celiac diet. I received the Gluten Free Living today and the American
Dietetic Association has agreed on new standards for a gluten free diet. It
does include vinegar, alcohol, (rum, gin, whiskey, vodka) but not oats.
* * *
Oats is a very controversial subject. ... I too was told by my doc that Oats
are GF and therefore safe. So, it was Ok to continue to give my celiac
daughter her oatmeal for breakfast. Then we started reading stuff about oats
and became so confused. I called Quaker oats and the woman I spoke with
gave me what I thought was the best (and most logical) answer to the oat
question.
She said: Oats are GF. BUT, oats are grown in fields next to other gluten
containing grains. The farmers generally rotate the crops in the fields.
Rotating crops and growing multiple types of grains is sensible for the
farmer from an agricultural and economic perspective. The fact the the oats
are near gluten containing grains does not contaminate the oats. The fact
that the field the oat is grown in last year may have been a wheat field
also does not contaminate the oats. Harvesting is what contaminates the
oats. The farmer will harvest all the grains simultaneously using a combine
harvester. The grains are mixed in the harvester and sorted in the barns or
grain silos. When the grains are separated the farmer uses a machine that
uses grain size to sort. This machine sounded like the coin sorting
machines at banks where the quarters and the dimes do not get mixed up
because they are different sizes. However, coins do not bend and break,
grains do. So, once the grain is broken it has changed size and can be
sorted into the wrong grain type. Thus, contaminating the oats with gluten
containing grains.
If you were to purchase oats or oat based products from a farm that is a
dedicated oat farm, you could eat the oats with no concern. However, that
is easier said than done.
-- END OF OATS/GLUTEN SUMMARY --
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