Oats

[annelb]

I think oats needs its own thread. Although, thought to be safe, there is still concern about adding oats into one's diet. There is no disagreement that if oats are to be added they must be "pure" oats.

Two companies that offer GF oats are
McCanns: http://www.mccanns.ie/index.html
Gluten Free Oats: http://www.glutenfreeoats.com/- this has been certified by GIG through its The Gluten Free Certification Organization (http://www.gfco.org/)

Here is the newest abstract about oats. It is an analysis of other studies and says procede with caution when adding oats.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17068278&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsum

Postgrad Med J. 2006 Oct;82(972):672-8. Links
Coeliac disease and oats: a systematic review.

* Haboubi NY,
* Taylor S,
* Jones S.

Department of Adult Medicine, Nevill Hall Hospital, Abergavenny NP7 7EG, UK. nadim.haboubi@gwent.wales.nhs.uk

A systematic review of the literature related to the inclusion of oats in the gluten-free diet for patients with coeliac disease to assess whether oats can be recommended. A computerised literature review of multiple databases was carried out, identifying 17 primary studies, 6 of which met the criteria for inclusion in this review. None of the six studies found any significant difference in the serology between the oats and control groups. Two studies, however, identified a significant difference (p<0.001; p = 0.039) in intraepithelial lymphocyte counts between the oats and control groups. Oats can be symptomatically tolerated by most patients with coeliac disease; however, the long-term effects of a diet containing oats remain unknown. Patients with coeliac disease wishing to consume a diet containing oats should therefore receive regular follow-up, including small bowel biopsy at a specialist clinic for life.

PMID: 17068278 [PubMed - in process]

Anne

[Electra375]

Oats can be equally as damaging as the gluten protein in Wheat. I came across an short article on this subject about 6 months ago or so, I can't find that exact article, but I thought it was in Gluten Free Living. The article indicated that it was more prevelent in DQ2 Celiacs. However, PUBMED does have an abstract that relates to the article I read.

In brief, those with Celiac Disease may also react to the protein in oats similar to the reaction with gluten. It is separate from a "cross contamination" issue.

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=523824
We conclude that some celiac disease patients have avenin-reactive mucosal T-cells that can cause mucosal inflammation. Oat intolerance may be a reason for villous atrophy and inflammation in patients with celiac disease who are eating oats but otherwise are adhering to a strict gluten-free diet. Clinical follow-up of celiac disease patients eating oats is advisable.

And from Celiac.com a brief with the same study. http://www.celiac.com/st_prod.html?p_prodid=1051&sid=8b17zz1FGE-kDQF-01105178821.38

From my own children, I can tell you they do not digest oats at all. My dh tells me know that he will eat oats just to go. My dh, ds1 and ds2 have all be tested and are DQ2 gene carriers. My dd has not been tested yet and she does not tolerate oats, I'd be willing to bet money she is also a DQ2 carrier.

I hope and pray they do not take oats off the No, No list. Imagine my dismayif one day GF products had oats -- it's my nightmare. Even pure oats are out for my Celiac and especially being a child since the studies all indicate that adults should heed caution.

[SleepingBean]

There are two other companies that sell certified Elisa tested gluten free oats here. One is Lara's out of Canada and the other is Gifts of Nature.

Now I was super excited when I tried these because I thought it was entirely the cross contamination issue at hand, but we found out quickly that there is a reaction to the grain for my mom. The girls didn't care for oats, so we really didn't test them out too much. I read on the Lara's oats packaging that if you have Celiac disease, you should not exceed 1/4 cup of oats (dry weight) per day (or maybe it was 1/2? I can't remember for sure).
And those were the certified gluten free oats, so that really had me even more confused.

I am comfortable eating the certified GF oats from time to time in baking, but I won't be dishing up a bowl of them for breakfast anytime soon.

[annelb]

Here is the newest article on Oats. Good news for those who want to include oats into your diet. One caution. The study is small and almost half of the people stopped eating oats as they were concerned about the safety of consuming oats. Why were they concerned? Were they having symptoms? Might have been interesting to do a biopsy on these people when they stopped eating oats. I need to read the complete study to see if the 10 who stopped eating oats early were excluded or biopsied.
Anne

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17190763&query_hl=5&itool=pubmed_docsum


Scand J Gastroenterol. 2007 Jan;42(1):54-9.No observed local immunological response at cell level after five years of oats in adult coeliac disease.Kemppainen T, Janatuinen E, Holm K, Kosma VM, Heikkinen M, Maki M, Laurila K, Uusitupa M, Julkunen R.
Department of Clinical Nutrition, University of Kuopio and Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland.

Objective. Our earlier 5-year follow-up study produced the first evidence to show the long-term safety of oats as part of a coeliac diet. The objective of the present study was to clarify its applicability by analysing local cellular immunological responses after 5 years' consumption of oats by adult coeliac patients. Material and methods. Forty-two coeliac patients took part in an earlier oats intervention study for 6-12 months. Twenty-two of these patients originally consumed oats as part of their gluten-free diet. During the 5-year follow-up 10 patients had felt uncertain about the safety of long-term consumption of oats and gave up this part of their diet. Finally, 12 of the 22 patients consumed oats for the whole 5-year period. The control group consisted of the remaining 20 coeliac patients using a strict, conventional, gluten-free diet without oats. Intraepithelial CD3, alphabetaTCR (alphabetaIEL) and gammadeltaTCR (gammadeltaIEL) T cells were counted after specific staining of small intestinal biopsy specimens. Results. There were no differences in the densities of CD3, alphabetaIEL and gammadeltaIEL T cells between the oat and the control groups. Conclusions. Long-term use of oats included in the gluten-free diets of patients with coeliac disease does not stimulate an immunological response locally in the mucosa of the small intestine.

PMID: 17190763 [PubMed - in process]

[diamondheart]

There are two companies in the US that are using dedicated fields, combines and factories to process certified gluten free oats, one in Montana and one in Wyoming. I believe the one in Montana is Gifts of Nature (http://giftsofnature.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=GON&Category_Code=CGFO), which is the one I purchased. There isn't too much on their website about GF oats. Gluten Free Oats (http://www.glutenfreeoats.com/) is the other company in Wyoming. Their oats are <10ppm GF. I checked out their field inspection report on their website, and it said that two durum wheat plants were found during that particular inspection and were removed. It made me wonder how many other wheat plants were missed. It's not like these inspectors walk through the whole field, they just walk through a sample of it.

From reading the McCann website, I didn't get the feeling that they made an effort to keep wheat out of their oat fields. They also are not certified gluten free by a third party, so I personally wouldn't trust them. The problem is getting oat seed that doesn't have any wheat seed since the two seeds look a lot a like. I also don't buy what their website says about the cleaning process would get rid of the wheat. If you look at a wheat berry and oats before it is rolled, they look similar and are about a similar size.

Even if the oats are gluten-free, there is another protein sequence in the oats, avenin, that some gluten intolerant people also react with. It seems that the protein sequence in avenin is similar, but not exact, to gliadin. Here's information from the Celiac Sprue Association's website:

http://www.csaceliacs.org/library/useofoats.php

BTW, the CSA position is no oats, GF or not.

I bought Gifts of Nature GF oats for a hefty price of $11 for 2.75 pounds. I had oatmeal for breakfast, and thought, "What's the big deal?" But now that I have all these oats, I've been eating oatmeal about twice a week for about a month. I could live without oats, but they don't seem to be bothering me. I like the idea of having diversity in my diet, as oats are high in fiber.

At our local CSA support group meeting, some people said they were ok with GF oats, and others reacted badly to them. The recommendation was to eat only twice a week, not more than 1/4 cup initially. If there are any negative changes, then blame the oats.

I think if you are really sensitive to gluten, you might want to stay away from certified gluten free oats. I think it would be really hard to get all of the wheat out of the fields. But, if you can tolerate very small amounts of gluten, then I think it's safe to take a chance. I think with certified GF oats that some batches might be more gluten free than others, depending on how much of the wayward wheat in the fields they can clean out. I seem to be ok with the batch I bought from Gifts of Nature. One thing for sure is that I can not tolerate regular oats.

More reading on GF oats:
http://www.celiac.com/st_main.html?p_catid=14

Claire

[loisba]

OK, guys, is there a difference for someone who is gluten sensitive as opposed to celiac? Being just sensitive, can I get away with eating oats? There seems to be so much contradictory info, yes it's OK, no it isn"t! :confused:
Would I just have to conduct my own little trial to se if I (me, myself and personally) can eat oats where someone else can't?
Hugs, (but totally confused!)

[annelb]

OK, guys, is there a difference for someone who is gluten sensitive as opposed to celiac? Being just sensitive, can I get away with eating oats? There seems to be so much contradictory info, yes it's OK, no it isn"t! :confused:
Would I just have to conduct my own little trial to se if I (me, myself and personally) can eat oats where someone else can't?
Hugs, (but totally confused!)

Make sure you choose GF oats and add them in slowly. Seems as though many with CD/GS have other food intolerances. It is thought that about 25% (maybe that is too low???) have dairy intolerance even afte the villi are healed, 25% have sensitivity to yeast. A poll on delphiforums about corn shows 27% of the 119 people that answered cannot eat corn. I know people who cannot tolerate quinoa, buckwheat, seseme seeds etc, etc. If oats are considered "safe" for us I would think not everyone would tolerate them.

CSA is the only national group that does not recommend oats. They give a molecular reason for not eating oats. http://www.csaceliacs.org/oatintolerance.php
http://www.csaceliacs.org/library/useofoats.php

Here is GIG's position on Oats: http://www.gluten.net/diet.htm

I could not find anything about oats on CDF's website other than it is not mentioned: http://www.celiac.org/cd-main.php

NFCA doesn't mention eliminating oats either http://www.celiaccentral.org/Do_I_Have_Celiac_/13/

I don't think anyone has THE answer yet. I am sure there will be more studies to come.

I choose not to add oats into my diet, but that was easy for me. The only way I liked oats was in cookies :rolleyes:

You ask if it makes a difference if you have GS or CD. IMO it does not make a difference. I think that CD is just a small part of the whole spectrum of GS.

If you do decide to add them into your diet, let us know how you do.
Anne

[loisba]

Thanks, Anne! I may try adding oats back in, when I have a day free for the bathroom, just in case I'm in the 25%! :D I love them in cookies, but I also like oatmeal for breakfast.
Hugs,

[annelb]

This is not a new study but they looked at all the old studies. Sure looks like oats are safe for most of us. We all know that any food can be a problem food.
Anne

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17327936&query_hl=3&itool=pubmed_docsum
Scand J Gastroenterol. 2007 Feb;42(2):171-8.Can oats be taken in a gluten-free diet? A systematic review.Garsed K, Scott BB.
Department of Gastroenterology, Lincoln County Hospital. Lincoln. UK.

Objective. There has long been doubt about the need to exclude oats from a gluten-free diet (GFD). The objective of this study was to review the literature in order to arrive at a firm recommendation. Material and methods. Electronic databases were searched up to February 2006 using the terms "oats" and "coeliac disease". Results. Twenty relevant studies were found and presented. Early studies were small and uncontrolled and mostly indirect. In 10 studies involving 165 patients, only 1 patient was shown to have histological damage as a result of consuming oats. Conclusions. Coeliac patients can, to some advantage, include oats in a GFD although there may be the occasional patient who is also oats sensitive. Previous conflicting results may have been partly due to contamination of oats by wheat. Lest contamination is present and exceeds the safe threshold, we recommend that coeliac patients should only add oats to their GFD when they are established on a conventional GFD, and stop eating oats if they develop any symptoms.

PMID: 17327936 [PubMed - in process]

[BeanTree]

I dont know if it was teh fiber or what...but the gifts of nature oats did give my daughter diarrhea.

Oatmeal was our standard breakfast before going gluten free. I do miss it.

[annelb]

When they do these studies on the safety of oats, would be interesting to know how many people get symptoms when eating them. Why do so many people stop eating oats in the studies that have been done. Why not report on these people.

Anne

[annelb]

How do you know what variety of oats you are eating? :confused:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17376046&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsum

J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2007 Apr;22(4):528-31.In vitro tests indicate that certain varieties of oats may be harmful to patients with coeliac disease.Silano M, Dessi M, De Vincenzi M, Cornell H.
Division of Food Science, Human Nutrition and Health, Higher Institute of Health, Rome, Italy.

Background: The presence of oats in gluten-free diet is controversial. The aim of this work is to evaluate if different varieties of oats exert different toxicity in coeliac disease. Methods: Three varieties of oats were tested by two in vitro assay based on the known ability of peptic-tryptic digests of coeliac-active proteins to agglutinate K562 cells and to disrupt lysosomes, respectively. Results: Avenins from the Italian variety Astra and the Australian variety Mortlook were much more active than the Australian variety Lampton. Gliadin, digested in the same way, certainly displayed more activity than all three avenins, but rice (var. Roma) did not have measurable activity. Conclusions: The results indicate that some varieties of oats may be potentially harmful to individuals with coeliac disease and therefore should be excluded from the gluten-free diet required to maintain good health in coeliac disease. It is important to realize that constant, small amounts of active proteins in the diet, such as certain avenins, may prevent complete recovery of the intestinal mucosa in this disease.

PMID: 17376046 [PubMed - in process]

At the International Celiac Symposium a physician mentioned they had found some protein sequences in oats that are similar to those found in wheat.
Anne

[Marciab]

Thanks for posting this. Someone else will be eating my free sample of gluten free oats. : ) Marcia

[canoe]

Thanks for everyone for this very interesting discussion. I had planned on trying some of the GF oats, but since I am GS with DQ2 gene, it is probably not a good idea.

Oatmeal used to be one of my mail breakfast foods before going GF, but I have lived without it for 2 years, and it can just stay on the NOT LIST.

Marilyn

[Hanna]

As you know Passover is coming. I had a conversation with the Oat Matza factory in England. In 2004, his oat matza's gluten was tested at 200ppm, this year it is 115ppm. So how can we use European articles as a standard except Finland that is so advanced?