Certified gluten free oats

[Matt13]

Hi guys! Can we eat them an can they cause villious atrophy? I saw multiple articles about it an they have very different opinions… so what did your doctor told you? Thanks!

[dublin555]

Yeah, it’s tricky. I’ve seen a lot of mixed opinions too. Some folks can tolerate certified gluten-free oats without a problem, but others with celiac still react. Honestly, it really depends on your sensitivity. Your doctor would be the best person to ask about your specific situation.

[trents]

Your doctor may or may not be well-informed about the issue you raise so I would not agree that he/she would necessarily be the best person to rely on for a good answer.

The question actually raises two issues. 

The first issue has to do with cross contamination and individual sensitivity as dublin55 alluded to. Oats and wheat are both cereal grains that are typically grown in the same areas, transported in the same trucks, stored in the same silos and processed on the same equipment. So, there is usually significant CC (Cross Contamination). With gluten free oats, there is some effort to separate these processes that would otherwise cause significant CC and "gluten free" oats should meet the FDA requirement of not exceeding 20 ppm of gluten. But this 22 ppm standard is not strict enough for more sensitive celiacs. "Certified gluten free" oats (and other food products are held to a stricter standard, that being not exceeding 10 ppm. But even that is too much gluten for some super sensitive celiacs and will cause a reaction.

The second issue with oats has nothing to do with gluten per se but with the protein found in oats called "avenin". Avenin has a structure similar enough to gluten to cause a reaction in some celiacs. This is called "cross reaction" not to be confused with "cross contamination" discussed in the previous paragraph.

So, for whatever reason, whether cross contamination or cross reaction, it is estimated that about 10% of celiacs react to oats.

[Matt13]

Thanks for the awnsers i understand there is maybe system reaction but do they create or cause villious atrophy? And igmf you it them for example a couple of days di they instantly induce marsh 3b?

[trents]

Yes, I would think that for the 10% of celiacs who can't tolerate oats it would cause villous atrophy just like gluten.

No, it would not produce marsh 3b villous atrophy in a couple of days. Nothing will produce measurable villous atrophy that fast. It takes at least two weeks of at least 10g of gluten consumption daily (10g is the amount found in about 4-6 slices of wheat bread) to develop measurable villous atrophy and even then probably not 3b villous atrophy.

Are you asking these questions in because you are considering taking on a gluten challenge?

[Matt13]

Thanks for the reply ! I am asking because tomorow i have egd and nobody told me not to eat gluten-free oats… and i was scared that it could ruin my biopsy results… 

[trents]

This thread is confusing. Apart from any kind of oats, whether gluten free, certified gluten free or just regular oats, you should have been consuming plenty of gluten for a period of weeks leading up to the day of the endoscopy. Consuming wheat products would have been the best choice as wheat is the grain highest in gluten. Once you begin to remove gluten from your diet, inflammation in the small bowel begins to subside and healing of the mucosal lining starts. If enough healing happens before the egd/biopsy there may be no damage to see and the procedure would have been invalid.

Recently updated "gluten challenge" guidelines call for the daily consumption of at least 10 g of gluten (about the amount in 4-6 slices of wheat bread) for at least two weeks leading up to the day of the procedure.

[Scott Adams]

Gluten-free oats can cause villous atrophy in people with celiac disease who are sensitive to oats (~10% of celiacs). While oats are naturally gluten-free and often safe for most individuals with celiac disease, a small percentage of people with the condition are sensitive to avenin, a protein found in oats that is structurally similar to gluten. For these individuals, consuming oats—whether labeled gluten-free or not—can trigger an immune response, leading to intestinal damage, including villous atrophy.