Oatmeal

[culpusa]

Is it correct that oatmeal, irrespective of how it is milled and or that it may be kept free of other grains residues as contaminants, has been discovered to be a source of harmful gliaden proteins that are antagonistic to intestinal villi of persons with celiac sprue disorder ?

What is the supporting scientific finding(s) on this? What citation ?

Jim Culp,

GatorCity

Florida

[RJARED]

I don't know that ALL oats contain gliadin in the gluten. I'm extremely sensitive - have 2 of 2 genes for Celiac. I eat McCann's Irish Oats and they don't give me any trouble at all. I buy them in WA state at Tidyman's - a regular grocery chain. They're more than $3.00 per box, but they're good.

[angel-jd1]

I am also extremely sensitive to gluten, and McCains's oats DO bother me terribly. I have the rumbley tummy and pain and diarrhea just shortly after eating them.

So I think it's really a thing that you personally have to try for yourself to see if you have a reaction or not. Research lately has said that Oats are ok for SOME Celiacs. You have to see if you are one of them. (I'm not!)

-Jessica

[mysterypain]

I just wanted to ask you guys if you eat oatmeal? I read that it was alright for celiacs but it made me feel a little ill. I also had a bad attack the other night and was shocked because I had been really good all day.....thought I had avoided gluten. The only thing that I might have ate to cause it was salsa. It had tomato paste but I thought that was o.k. I'm learning, but when I get sick I am very frustrated over not knowing what is safe. It is a real learning process! Wow. Also do you find that it takes a long time for the effects of a gluten incident to wear off. I am angry at myself because I was feeling so good and now I am suffering and don't know what to put the blame on.

[judy04]

mysterypain,

I have been gluten-free for three months and I cannot eat oatmeal, nor dairy.

I usually use goat milk for cooking. Not all tomato products are

gluten - free, but I think Contadina products are. I also reacted to

Pace Picante (which I love) and am now avoiding any tomatoes

right now because I must be allergic to them also.

I try not to eat too many things at one time so that I can find out

which foods I can tolerate. I usually get a bad taste in my mouth,

followed by... diarrhea! Hope this helps.

[tarnalberry]

After reading as much of the research on oats as I could, I came to the conclusion that the answer to the question "Are oats safe for celiacs?" is answered only by "it depends."

Assuming you find a source of uncontaminated oats (which limits your selection of brands to - from my understanding - pretty much just McCann's), it appears that some people react to oats, and some don't. Just that simple. Some celiacs are sensitive enough to a wide enough range of peptide sequences that avenin (the oat gluten) is close enough to gliandin and horedin (the wheat and barley proteins) to cause a reaction.

I still haven't tested myself to see if I'm sensitive, but given the state of medical testing, I think the only way to find out _your_ answer, is to try uncontaminated oats and see how you respond.

[kejohe]

As far as I have read and researched oats are okay, as long as they come from an uncontaminated source... and tarnalberry is correct, that's pretty much McCann's and that's about it. There are a few here on this site who say that they still have probalems with oats, but I think there are even more who enjoy them on a regualr basis with no problems. I feed them to my 3 y/o who is very sensitive nad he has no problems.

As far as the tomatoes go, some products if not made in the US can be processed with citric acid that can contain gluten, but that's generally only foriegn products. I wouldn't jump to conclusions about being allergic to other things, even after three months, because many celiac take several months, up to a year even to heal the gut and in that time it can be very difficult to digest certain foods, such as dairy. Tomatoes may be another one because of the high amount of acid in them, so you might try to let your gut heal for a bit longer and then re-introduce them slowly, if you are still having problems, then you can assume that you are allergic, but it would be a bummer to cut them out so soon (especially something you love) if it's simply a matter of giving your gut a little more time to heal up. Just a suggestion of course.

[Lily]

Mystery,

Oats give me a terrible stomach ache and any type of tomatoes make me feel like I drank a poison. The acid kills my intestines. I'm hoping once I heal more that I can re-introduce them and just not overdo it.

Hope this helps.

Lily

[KellyR]

Now that they are saying oatmeal is safe would you give your child Maple and brown sugar Quaker oatmeal? How about HealthValley Maple and Brown sugar granola bars? Because my daughter is symptom free I never know if her body is having a reaction to these............Kelly

[GFdoc]

Kelly, I've been eating a combo of maple and brown sugar and plain Quaker oatmeal daily for the last month or so, and I've been just fine! It makes me happy, and no bad reactions.

Sara

[Kim]

I would strongly advise against this. Even if you choose to give your child oatmeal, it should be Irish Oatmeal that has not been cross-contaminated. (I think McCann's is the brand - white canister with green print). Quaker and HealthValley would not be.

Kim.

[gf4life]

Kelly,

I've only been gluten-free for a little over 6 weeks, and when I first went gluten-free I was eating oatmeal. I didn't notice an obvious reaction to McCann's oats, and I was also eating some of Barbara's Puffin's cereal that contained some oat flour. I did have a few other gluten accidents, so I really can't say if I had a reaction then or not, at least not for sure. So I haven't had any gluten or any oatmeal/oatflour for the past two weeks. Yesterday I had a bowl of the Puffin's cereal and within half an hour I had some pretty severe brain fog and have been very tired ever since and also quite grumpy. These are my usual early signs of gluten cantamination, so I am sure now that I shouldn't eat oats. I would be careful if I were you. Your daughter may not be able to tell you about obscure symptoms(especially if she doesn't usually react to gluten with symptoms), but the damage may still be happening. It seems everyones reaction to oats is different and some don't appear to have a reaction at all. I am now of the opinion that I would rather be safe than sorry.

God bless,

Mariann

[GFdoc]

Mariann, elsewhere on this board (I think under cold cereals section?) there are several reports of people having reactions to Puffins cereal - they are puffed in a factory where nonGF stuff is also puffed and there's tons of wheat "dust" in the air - a probable contaminant...so it may not be the oats...it may be the contamination in the factory....(check under forum for gluten-free foods, medications, shopping, etc.)

I don't eat any oats except from a company that makes only oatmeal in the factory (Quaker is OK for me)

[kejohe]

I read a study not too long ago... I think on celiac.com, that gave a percentage of gluten contamination for different brands of oats. The only two I reemember are the ones that are most common in my town:

Percentage of gluten contamination of oats:

Quaker Oats 0.006%

McCanns 0%

Don't take this to mean that you will not have a reaction, some people still do, but I think there are even more who don't have any problems at all with oats. I feed them to my 3 y/o son with out any problems at all.

[gf4life]

there are several reports of people having reactions to Puffins cereal - they are puffed in a factory where nonGF stuff is also puffed and there's tons of wheat "dust" in the air - a probable contaminant...so it may not be the oats...it may be the contamination in the factory....

I can eat the Puffin's Honey Rice (gluten-free-no oat flour) without a reaction. So I think it might be the oats. I can try again with the McCann's oats and see, it also might be that the oat flour they use is contaminated. But the fact remains that the jury is still out on whether oats are safe for Celiacs and I can live without oats. There are enough other foods out there....

Thanks for the input though. I don't eat a lot of other cold cereals that are labeled gluten free for the same cross-contamination issue, so it's rates about the same for me with oats. They are often contiminated in the fields by wheat growing right next to the oats and some wheat gets harvested with the oats. There is no way for them to remove all of the wheat. But that is pretty much a risk we take with almost everything we eat. There is no way to guarantee 100% that it is gluten-free, unless we grow it, harvest it, and prepare the food ourselves.

Sorry if I sound like I have a bad attitude, I'm pretty down today, and not feeling very good.

God bless,

Mariann

[mannabbe]

A doctor friend of mine explained to me that there's a protein in oats that is very similar structurally to the protein in wheat gluten - and that's why some people are sensitive to both. I have met a few celiacs (including my friend's daughter) who get horribly sick from oats (even uncontaminted oats).

There was a link distruted on the St. John's celiac listserve a couple months ago that explained that oats can be sold in the US and identified as Oats even if they contain up to 1% other grains (e.g. wheat), which is certainly possible given the field rotations, shared equipement, etc.

Since I can't eat eggs or dairy products, and I do occasionally travel for work, breakfast is my most difficult meal on business trips. I stayed at the Chicago W Hotel last November for almost a week, and couldn't BELIEVE my good fortune to find that they served McCann's oatmeal for breakfast.

Happiness comes in unexpected ways and surprising places

Laurie

[oreyes]

I've a friend that is also gluten free who really likes oatmeal. I noticed on one site that McCann's Oatmeal was listed as a safe item. Can anyone tell me where this can be purchased. I went onto their web site but didn't really find any information that seemed helpful. Do health food stores carry it (our's doesn't) or have you ordered it from a web site?..............

Judy

[judy04]

judy,

I saw some in a catalog from the Vermont Country Store, it was kind

of pricey. I don't have the catalog anymore, but I know they are on the web...

[Terri-Anne]

"Now that they are saying oatmeal is safe would you give your child Maple and brown sugar Quaker oatmeal? How about HealthValley Maple and Brown sugar granola bars?"

KellyR

My son is supposedly (according to his pediatrician) allergic to wheat, but not celiac. Over the Christmas break we fed him Maple and Brown sugar, and Cinnamon Roll Quaker oatmeal most mornings for breakfast. He LOVED it! However, by each evening he was displaying his typical "allergic" symptoms, red face and ears, rashed inner thighs and abdomen, hyperactivity and diarrhea. I kept assuming he was "getting into" some other source of wheat, as 3 year olds can do sometimes. My husband suggested we cut out the porridge for breakfast, and ta-da! the nightly reactions ceased!

I had also been giving him Nature Valley crunchy granola bars, as they contain oats, and maybe barley-malt, but NO WHEAT, which is supposedly his only problem. For a few months he seemed to love them. Then he started refusing to eat them. I stupidly assumed he had just grown sick of them, (as in bored with them) and just last week conned him into eating two for a snack one afternoon. Guess what happened. He got the red cheeks, and face, rash, abdominal pains, hyperactivity and let's not forget the diarrhea!

I should have heeded Logan's own instincts as right from the time he was just over a year old, he avoided things that contained wheat, even though we didn't catch onto the fact he was reacting to wheat until after he turned two!

SO to answer your original question, as to whether we would feed the yummy Quaker oatmeal to a child with known celiac. MY answer is unfortunately an emphatic no! (if you are indeed sure your daughter has celiac)

There is obviously (obvious to me) something in it that would cause damage/reactions.

Sorry.

[plantime]

I called Quaker about their oats, and was told that they do process on a dedicated line. Quaker will not guarantee wheat contamination from the field, though. Does McCann guarantee no field contamination?

[webgyrl]

I do so miss oatmeal. With raisins. And white sugar. And butter. Sigh.

Before I was ever diagnosed with celiac disease, I knew I had issues with oatmeal. It made me sick to my stomach w/in 20 minutes of the first bite, and I would end up sick, bloated, drowsy and with what I called "big head." Basically feeling like my head was blown up, inflated...hard to hold up, difficult to think...ick.

Oddly enough rice gave me the same problem. And cream of wheat. Shwew. Sicker than a dog.

Of course, now I know why the c.o.w made me so ill.

I still can't eat oats. Tried a gluten-free brand a few months back and was sick again almost immediately. Fortuntely, I can eat rice now. Took a year of being gluten-free before my allergy to that went away. Even so, I can only eat so much at one time or I start feeling ill again. Hopefully that will go away completely over time.

But boy, do I ever miss oatmeal!

[willamina]

What brand of OATMEAL do you eat? Which is the kind that most likely doesn't irritate those w/celiac?

[tammy]

I have been successful with ONLY McCann's Steel Cut Oatmeal!

Enjoy!