Do you eat oats as part of your Gluten-free diet ???

[**Jubes**]

I've noticed on the site that there has been a lot of debates and opinions on oats and the gluten-free diet. Many of these debates have been part of recipe reviews

Oats are wheat free....so they definitely can be eaten on a wheat free diet.

The Coeliac Society of Australia have considered the oats question but follow the beliefs of 'where there is doubt....leave it out". They advise oats are a no-go food for the gluten-free diet.

Celiac Sprue Association/United States of America discuss the oats issue in detail on their website. They also advise against the introduction of oats to the gluten free diet. They do state thoug that reasearch and studies have come up with mixed conclusions.

What do you think?
Do you eat oats or not?

[**Jubes**]

Here's another link with an interesting read on oats being both gluten free and containing gluten from Dr McDougall

[Perfect Pixie]

Personally I eat oats myself, the only gluten as such that i cut out was wheat, I think it depends all upon what your allegy is, because if you can't eat gluten, i was told that it meant you wern't allowed - wheat, rye, oats, barley and i think that was it, but if you are on a wheat free diet then i was sure you could eat all the others.

Maybe i was wrong? who know?

Miss Pixie x x x

[Houmous Monster]

I found oats gave me really nasty headaches similar to rye, so I cut them.

[**Jubes**]

Hi Miss Pixie

Glad to see you here
I'm thinking along the same lines as you.

I think personally that total gluten free diet would have to not include oats or any of the other foods that you mentioned. Being totally gluten-free is not running any risk of eating gluten at all.

For wheat-free diets or wheat intolerances I think oats, rye and even barley can be OK.

I noticed that there are heaps of recipes containing oats on Zaars. Maybe these shouldn't be listed as gluten-free.

Pixie....I noticed that you have some great gluten free recipes
What foods do you miss the most or find the hardest not eating?

[Perfect Pixie]

**Jubes** wrote:
Hi Miss Pixie

Glad to see you here
I'm thinking along the same lines as you.

I think personally that total gluten free diet would have to not include oats or any of the other foods that you mentioned. Being totally gluten-free is not running any risk of eating gluten at all.

For wheat-free diets or wheat intolerances I think oats, rye and even barley can be OK.

I noticed that there are heaps of recipes containing oats on Zaars. Maybe these shouldn't be listed as gluten-free.

Pixie....I noticed that you have some great gluten free recipes
What foods do you miss the most or find the hardest not eating?

Well I have tried introducing wheat in again recently, but it is not working so i am guessing i will have to stick to wheat-free permanent.

I miss - Dougnuts, bakery cookies, pies, pastry's, pasta (although wf is not that bad, it's just trying to convinve my parents to eat it), chicken noodle soup, ice cream in a cone, pretzels, raisin bread, sultana cake and basically the freedom of eating out without having to order salad after salad.

I must admit, I have started to get into rice to find proper meals that i like and that i can eat, the best ones i have are:
So Simple Chilli Con Carne
Pea and Parmesan Risotto
Seafood Risotto
Shrimp Stir-Fry
Pork With Apricot Glaze

and I am about to post a recipe which is in the aga right now for tonights tea, which is my Gran's chicken with apricots - it does have miminul wheat in it, - but only in the soup mix.

Miss Pixie x x x

[bearhouse5]

A major problem with oats is cross contamination, both in the fields and in the processing. I believe Irish oats plus a couple of brands are free from these contaminates.

I personally avoid oats and prefer to substitute them with poha (bashed rice) or quinoa flakes.

[LARavenscroft]

I have never been diagnosed with Celiac Disease, but do have an allergy to wheat and barley. Wheat and barley cause me to have severe upper respiratory issues and oats don't seem to do that so I do eat them from time to time.

Lori

[Perfect Pixie]

A really good cereal that isn't porridge that I got hooked on for the past year was oatabix. They are just like weetabix - but in my eyes better. I have also became fond of their oastabix bitesize and oatabix flakes. (Oatabix bitesize sultana and apple contains wheat however)

Also these cereals don't contain wheat and are amazing http://www.jordans-cereals.co.uk/page.asp?partid=18

MissPixie x x x

[pixieglenn]

I have a 2 year old with gluten intolerance (still working on the celiac dx) and his gastroenterologist said that basically some people can tolerate oats and some can't. If you buy it from a certified gluten free dealer, then go ahead and try it. He said you never know til you try. At this point I will do anything to get some fiber in my toddlers diet So we are going to try.

Hope that helps.
Kitty

[**Jubes**]

pixieglenn wrote:
I have a 2 year old with gluten intolerance (still working on the celiac dx) and his gastroenterologist said that basically some people can tolerate oats and some can't. If you buy it from a certified gluten free dealer, then go ahead and try it. He said you never know til you try. At this point I will do anything to get some fiber in my toddlers diet So we are going to try.

Hope that helps.
Kitty

Hi Kitty

I've just been reading a new book out "Low GI gluten-free living" that has been endorsed by the Coeliac Society of Australia.
There's a chapter on being sure not to miss out and adding fibre to a gluten-free diet. States that there are two types of fibre-soluble and insoluble.

Soluble fibres help slow down the time it takes food to pass through our bodies and can help lower glycemic response.
Soluble fibres are found in nuts, seeds, legumes (peas, beans & lentils), apples ,pears, strawberries, blueberries & psyllium.
Insoluble fibres are the 'roughage' fibres. Good gluten-free sources are quinoa, buckwheat, millet, brown rice, rice bran, nuts, seeds and most vegetables.

I guess for children eating fresh fruit and vegetables is easily done. Try adding in brown rice and quinoa. Quinoa makes a great breakfast porridge too. A little psyllium can be soaked in warm water for 10 minutes and then added to most baked goods (it helps add some body to your GF products as well). Buckwheat pasta can be pruchased and used wherever you would use regular pasta- its a light brown pasta but quite OK tasting. There are some good GF cereals available here to that have added fibre.(even yummy chocolate coated rice puff cereal thats a special treat)

The more I am reading this book the more I see the importance of being aware and adding extra fibre into a gluten-free diet.

Hope that this might help you -it must be so difficult having a gluten-free child.

Julie

[pixieglenn]

Thanks Jubes Great advice!

You would think that getting him to eat fruits would be easy, but no. He hates them. I have discovered that if I hand feed him banana chunks he will eat them though. Not something I am fond of doing, or necessarily agree with parentally speaking, but you do what you gotta do to get them to eat, ya know?

I will definitely be buying some psyllium next time I go to the store! I have some buckwheat flour so I will add that to some pancakes or something too

Thanks again
Kitty

[**Jubes**]

My daughters loved this smoothie that we tried last week.
Had bananas, strawberries and watermelon. It disappeared super fast too

"Berry & Watermelon Smoothie"


The psyllium goes to a thick gelatinous goo that you can add in your baked items. Also flax seeds/linseeds are GF so can add them or grind them into a meal/flour. Even coconut will add some fibre too.

Here's some recipes with buckwheat included

[DriveThruDodger]

I try to lay off the oats. But sometimes I let them sneak in!

But then let me describe my main complaint with wheat... I become "foggy". It takes time. If I eat lots of wheat I find that over the weeks I notice fatigue and memory problems. Maybe it is all in my mind (ha ha) but I find that a wheat-free diet makes me perky.

Last time I decided to give up wheat, I was really down. Didn't want to get out of bed in the AM. Couldn't concentrate at all. I knew that I was going to give up wheat again, so I went and got the bloodtest. I was almost hoping it would come back and tell me I have a gluten allergy. But..no..it came back negative.

But I gave up wheat anyway. My brain likes me off wheat.

So if some oats sneak in every once in awhile, I don't panic.

Anne.

[LARavenscroft]

DriveThruDodger wrote:
I try to lay off the oats. But sometimes I let them sneak in!

But then let me describe my main complaint with wheat... I become "foggy". It takes time. If I eat lots of wheat I find that over the weeks I notice fatigue and memory problems. Maybe it is all in my mind (ha ha) but I find that a wheat-free diet makes me perky.

Last time I decided to give up wheat, I was really down. Didn't want to get out of bed in the AM. Couldn't concentrate at all. I knew that I was going to give up wheat again, so I went and got the bloodtest. I was almost hoping it would come back and tell me I have a gluten allergy. But..no..it came back negative.

But I gave up wheat anyway. My brain likes me off wheat.

So if some oats sneak in every once in awhile, I don't panic.

Anne.

Anne,

This is one of the things that I noticed as well. While I do not have celiac disease, I did test positive to a wheat allergy. Along with causing me to have severe upper respiratory issues, I've noticed that if I allow myself to eat too much wheat (several days in a row), I begin to start feeling really down and depressed - not a good thing. Several years back, I suffered from depression and was on four different medications (one was for ADD) and since being tested for allergies, I no longer take any medications. The attention issues that I have are for the most part gone.

One other thing that I need to mention is that my youngest son (now 22) used to suffer from migrane headaches. Since I found about all my food allergies and changed the way I cooked, he has not had a migrane in almost 5 years. I suspect he was having issues with a preservative or possible msg. Regardless of why we do it, cooking from scratch is the way to go - no processed or packaged foods for this family.

In the end, we all need to do what is best for us.

Lori