Oats and coeliac - are they really ok?

[aamia]

I remember hearing it was all about oats having been classified as 'gluten containing' due to contamination only, and have seen new 'gluten free' oats and flapjacks etc in Free From sections of supermarkets. Thing is, I'd love to be able to eat oats again but am SO nervous that somehow, maybe they've got it wrong and I'll be ill.

So looking for experiences, esp from super sensitive people (as I seem to be). Have you tried the 'gluten free' oats, and was it ok?

My DF is coeliac and we were talking to some people at the allergy show at Olympia last year. They told us that oats don't actually have gluten in but that you can't eat bog standard oats as there will be contamination with other grains due to the way they are harvested and processed.
They said that for most people GF oats are ok if they have been certified GF. BUT they also said that some people are sensitive to even the V small amount in Parts per million that are allowed in the certified stuff and they can be ill after eating them.
So if you want to try, proceed with caution seems to be the advice from the Coeliac society.

My DD's dietician told us to avoid all oats, including gf, as she's a super sensitive coeliac and can't tolerate Codex wheat starch. The protein in oats is very similar to gluten and there is some research that suggests that while it doesn't give coeliacs the same symptoms as gluten, it may cause similar damage to the gut, especially in the most sensitive coeliacs.

Agree with freefrommum. Our dietician told us last month that they have been observing a sample of coeliacs who have reintroduced oats into their diets and they have found damage to the gut (gave patients endoscopy) in some patients who had reported no physical side affects from consuming GF oats. This is not the case for all patients, but they currently considering wether they should advise an endoscopy 6 months after introduction to oats for parients who wish to reintroduce them into their diet.

Thanks for the advice - think I'll give them a miss then! My gut has never fully recovered, so don't need to do any more damage than has already been done!!

Not coeliac, but gluten intolerant (large intestine inflammation if I eat gluten). I tried GF oats a few times, but I definitely react, so I am avoiding them.

Super sensitive coeliac ds - he has only had oats once since diagnosis and he got 5 mouth ulcers in a few hours, never dared since ! Thought if that's what I can see what damage are they doing I can't see.

OP - have a look for Bob's Red Mill porridge (I get it from Ocado) - it has no oats in it (it's a mixture of other grains including quinoa). It's gluten-free, oat-free and really yummy. I was missing porridge too - this tastes different, but I like it and it fills that porridge gap. I also made breakfast muffins with it (substituting it for the oats in the recipe) and they tasted great.