New Celiac With Two Questions- Corn And Oatmeal

[TexasJenn]

I was diagnosed last week with Celiac by a positive EMA and a tTG-IGA level of 92.

Question #1: My doctor keeps telling me I can't have corn. Everything I've read says that the gluten in corn is totally different than in the "gluten grains" and that it's just called the same name. I can still have corn, right???

Question #2: I had just bought a giant box of Quaker Old-Fashioned oatmeal at Costco. I love oatmeal! The package does not say gluten-free or anything about being processed in the same facility as wheat. Do I need to take this back, or can I eat it? I wasn't sure about cross-contamination during processing. Any idea if Quaker oats are ok? If not, what oatmeal do you recommend?

And a bonus question: How do you afford to eat gluten-free??? It's all so expensive! My husband and I have sticker shock!

Thanks,

Jenn

[kareng]

Take the oatmeal back or give it to the food pantry. Quaker will tell you it is not gluten-free. Oats are harvested, transported & processed on the same equipment as wheat and usually contains some wheat. You have to get certified gluten-free oats.

That said, it is usually not recommended that you eat oast until you have healed. About 10% of Celiacs react to the gluten in the oats just like the gluten in wheat.

All grains have gluten. Its not all the same. Corn is not the same and can be a part of a gluten-free diet. Some people do find corn hard to digest or react to it. It isn't part of the Celiac.

Most doctors don't really know much about Celiac or nutrition in general. The fact that he got the corn & the oats reversed just shows that you have to research for yourself.

Welcome

[kareng]

Should have added: Most gluten-free foods do not say gluten-free on them. Meat, fruit, beans, veggies, most ice cream, dairy products, etc. Just bread, cookies, pasta, etc. Try sone of the things you put on pasta on brown rice or quinoa.

[sdaniel95]

When I was diagnosed I made a trip to a Whole Foods Market, and attended a Celiac meeting where we were given a guided tour of the store and the gluten-free items were pointed out to everyone.

My next venture was spending about an hour in my regular grocery store reading labels. (I'm still a label reader)

There are a lot of items out there, but you have to hunt them.

(You also have to be willing to pay twice the price for many processed gluten-free foods.)

Take back the Oats. You can buy gluten-free Oatmeal, or find a substitute breakfast food that you like.

[Monklady123]

1. corn -- You can eat corn. Unless you happen to be allergic/reactive to it, which has nothing to do with celiac. Corn tortillas with melted cheese are one of my standby meals. They also make a sort-of pizza -- sauce, cheese, pepperoni...

2. oats -- as people have already said, regular oats are contaminated. Some people even react to the certified gluten free ones, but I don't. I bought a big bag of them at Target -- Bob's Red Mill I think, but don't quote me. lol..

3. price -- yes, process/baked gluten free things are expensive. But most food is naturally gluten free -- eggs, dairy, nuts, legumes, fruit, vegetables, meat, rice, quinoa, buckwheat (despite its name), potatoes. You don't have to buy any of the processed stuff, although you'll probably want to find a bread. (Udi's, or Against the Grain baguettes would be my two recommendations.) Glutino also makes a good "real" cracker (as opposed to those slippery rice crackers.) I still buy these things but just eat much less of them than I used to.

Hope that helps.

[lynnelise]

1. Corn...there is an organization called the Gluten Free Society that says you cannot have corn but I think for most people they are fine with it. I personally think if you react to corn that is a separate issue from celiac. I personally have no issues with corn and eat a decent amount of it.

2. Oats. Bob's Red Mill has certified gluten-free oats. Also for flavored oats I think Gluten Freeda makes some. I do seem to have slight reaction to oats, nothing like I see with gluten so I will eat them on occassion, but if you find you react try other hot cereals. Bob's Mighty Tasty hot cereal is really good. I've also tried Quinoa flakes which are similar to oats but a lighter texture.

As for the cost of gluten-free food try limiting processed stuff. Cookies can be made fast and easy with Pamela's gluten-free baking mix and you can make several batches for a lot less than buying a premade box. Though I've got to say the Udi's cookies are worth $5 for a tiny box. A lot of mainstream stuff is safe: Success (and most other brands) rice, Hormel lunch meat, Oretega taco kits, some Chex cereals, most pasta sauces, beans, veggies, fruits, Wishbone (and a lot of other brands) salad dressing, ect...just read labels. Kraft and ConAgra I know will always list on the label if something is from gluten (ex.if it says modified food starch then you will know it's not wheat unless it says so!). Seriously other than an occassional Udi's bread or bagel, gluten-free pasta, and gluten-free baking mix I'd say the check out people don't even notice I'm gluten free!

Another way gluten-free can save you money is that you don't impulse buy as much! No throwing the new processed food nightmare into the cart like everyone else!

[love2travel]

Oats - I recently attended an interesting conference on Celiac where a leading Canadian expert said now that once diagnosed those with celiac are not to have any oats, even those certified gluten-free at a gluten-free facility (i.e. Gluten Freeda) for at least two years, whether you have a reaction or not. She said we need time to heal before introducing them into our diet. I am eliminating them from my diet for two years just to be on the safe side.

[cassP]

do NOT eat the oats-they're contaminated.

as far as eating Certified Gluten Free Oats, and Corn- that will be for you to find out. technically, the glutinous protein in oats and corn is not the same as gliadin. the reality is- that even tho it is not the same gluten, a good percentage of Celiacs and those with Gluten Intolerance cannot tolerate one or the other or both. (i can eat gluten-free oats just fine, but i canNOT do corn). this will be for you to figure out.

[TexasJenn]

Thanks everyone. I think I will eliminate oats for now. One week gluten-free, and I am feeling no different. If this continues, I may eliminate corn, as well, just to see if it makes a difference. I don't want to limit what I can eat more than necessary, but I want to feel better, too!

Jenn

[cassP]

Thanks everyone. I think I will eliminate oats for now. One week gluten-free, and I am feeling no different. If this continues, I may eliminate corn, as well, just to see if it makes a difference. I don't want to limit what I can eat more than necessary, but I want to feel better, too!

Jenn

i know its really hard to eliminate more foods- i have my addictions- dairy, sugar, carbs.. but sometimes in the beginning- is when you need to be more strict- because you're so inflamed- then later you could add things back in- to see what the culprits are. the first month i went a little crazy with all the "gluten free" cookies, cereals, breads, etc, etc... i definitely felt a healing- but still had bloating and didnt feel great.... also put on 5 lbs. by the 2nd month, i was back to my normal diet... very low carb.. lots of meats & veggies, some fruit, some dairy... and kept my gluten free treats to a MINIMUM. i really try to avoid Corn as it affects me like gluten... i would splurge from time to time with corn chips, etc... but im starting to realize that i should rarely if ever do corn.

Good Luck