[jkmunchkin]

I went to a meeting yesterday where Dr. Peter Green from the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University was the main speaker. He and Anne Roland Lee, the expert celiac nutritionist, said that it is infact safe for us to have oats. They suggest introducing them in very small quantities to start with but say it is a good idea to eat them if you can as it is a good source of fiber.

The 2 brands that Anne said are safe are McCann's Irish Oats and Country's Choice.

I know a lot of people are still unsure of whether to eat oats but if Dr. Green and Anne say it's ok I trust them more than any other source.

[Carriefaith]

From what I understand, pure uncontaminated oats are safe for most celiacs to eat. However, some celiacs will react to the safe oats since the protein is so similar to the protein in wheat barely and rye. The body mistakes the oat protein for the other. I would persoanlly never eat oats because with my luck, I would be the 10-20% or whatever it is that reacts to oats.

This post has been edited by Carriefaith: 05 December 2005 - 08:37 AM

[VydorScope]

If I turn out to be celiac disease, I would be willing to try it, but only after being gluten-free for a while so that I can see if I react at all.

[Jnkmnky]

I've decided to wait till my son is a lot older so he can really describe to me how his body reacts. I'd hate to mistake a stomach bug for a neg reaction, or to not quite get a clear understanding from him if he reacts badly.

[RiceGuy]

jkmunchkin, on Dec 5 2005, 10:04 AM, said:

The 2 brands that Anne said are safe are McCann's Irish Oats and Country's Choice.

Interesting. I saw some Scottish oats and wondered if they might be safe. I don't know where they are grown or processed though. I'll ask the company and post about it if they're definitely ok.

[jkmunchkin]

Yeah I saw a brand in the store last night, Breadshop - that all the ingredients seemed ok. I called the company but they wouldn't say if it is gluten-free or not because under their guidelines oats are not ok. But she said if Oats are ok then it seems they would be fine. I think I'll get the ingredients and send Anne and e-mail to see what she thinks.

[CeliaCruz]

jkmunchkin, on Dec 5 2005, 10:04 AM, said:

The 2 brands that Anne said are safe are McCann's Irish Oats and Country's Choice.

It's funny. Back when I thought I only had a wheat allergy, I used to eat oatmeal and never had a reaction.

Now that I think about it, I only ate McCann's. I didn't know it was "safe", I just liked the way the can was designed.

[RiceGuy]

jkmunchkin, on Dec 5 2005, 04:10 PM, said:

Yeah I saw a brand in the store last night, Breadshop - that all the ingredients seemed ok. I called the company but they wouldn't say if it is gluten-free or not because under their guidelines oats are not ok. But she said if Oats are ok then it seems they would be fine. I think I'll get the ingredients and send Anne and e-mail to see what she thinks.

Ingredients? You must be looking at a flavored one, yes? While that's good to know if you plan to buy them, the real concern with oats is the cross-contamination issues, which isn't going to show up on the ingredients list.

[bean]

I would *love* to have oats again. But I don't think I will. Before being diagnosed with celiac disease, I was completely asymptomatic - well, except for the osteoporosis I might be one of those people who react to oats - but asymptomatic there as well And wouldn't that suck? All this stuff I'm doing to fix my bod tossed away for a handful of granola.

The other food intolerances/allergies I have also come without severe intestinal symptoms. I'm afraid that my body would react just enough inside to cause damage, but not enough for me to realize it.

Mmmm granola though

Best wishes to those of you who try it! I think I'll opt out until I have free access to an endoscopic clinic - then I'd love to have one done, eat some oats, and have another one done. I think that would be the only way for me to know enough to decide it was okay for *me*

- Michelle

[jnifred]

Well I went out and bought some McCann's Oats. I am going to make oatmeal choc chip cookies, and pray HARD!!! The stuff I read about McCann's is still iffy, but I am going to try it and see.......I'll let you know if it turns out bad....

[tarnalberry]

From the studies on oats in celiacs, a small percentage of celiacs DO get intestinal damage (as determined by biopsy) when eating oats. The number is small, but the avenin protein is very similar to the gliandin protein, and it's thought that the similarity causes the immune system in some celiacs to still recognize it as "evil". It's very much a "eater beware", even outside of contamination issues.

In tests, both Country Pride and McCann's has samples of oats that were found to be contaminated above the CODEX standard of 200ppm, so there is no guarantee with those as well. Don't forget that many doctors believe the diet is so hard to follow that they'll err on the side of allowing some stuff that the stricter people wouldn't want in their diet. Not saying not to trying, just saying to be careful.