Gluten Free Oats?
You can buy certified gluten free oats now. This wasn’t the case in the recent past.
You might be able to find them at your local grocery store.
If not you can order them online.
Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Oats, above, are very fresh tasting with a nice hearty chew. Great for a hearty bowl of oatmeal or to use in baking. Good price if you buy 4 or more packages at Amazon.
Celiac support and research groups have different views about oats. Some groups feel that oats that aren’t certified gluten free should be avoided, but certified gluten free oats, like the ones on this page, are safe. Others feel that most oats are safe, but it’s wise to limit their use because some Celiacs and gluten intolerant people report having “gluten” reactions when eating them. Still others, notably Paleolithic diet researchers, feel that all grains, including oats, should be avoided.
Recent testing revealed that oat products that aren’t certified to be gluten free are contaminated with wheat which led to the development of certified gluten free oats.
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine by Trisha Thompson, M.S., R.D., showed that none of the main commercial brands of oats in the U.S were truly gluten-free. Nine of the twelve samples from three major brands of oats showed gluten levels ranging from 23 ppm to 1,807 ppm. * To be considered gluten-free, a food must have less than 20 ppm.
Why can oats be contaminated with wheat? Oats are usually grown, processed and packaged alongside wheat and other gluten grains, leading to cross-contamination.
Certified gluten free oats, in contrast, are grown, processed and packaged in facilities where there is no risk of cross contamination with wheat.
Cross contamination is a serious problem for anyone who wants to follow a gluten free diet successfully. You can’t wash it off foods that you eat. For that reason, you must be careful when buying anything from bulk bins and when you dine in restaurants or eat at other people’s homes.
The popular Lara’s Gluten Free Oats from Cream Hill Estates can also be purchased online
Oat flour can be a handy ingredient for gluten free baked goods. It’s available online, but for better taste and savings consider grinding gluten free oats to create your own oat flour. See my post: Best Grain Mills to Make Gluten Free Flour
Note: Some people don’t do well eating oats, certified gluten free or not. They seem to be reacting to the proteins in oats, known as avenins.
I enjoy the taste of oats, but I do better if I avoid grains of all kinds, including corn. If you feel that you might do better on a grain free diet, then a Hunter Gatherer Diet might be a natural fit for you.
And to learn how to make oats more digestible, whether you’re gluten free or not, please see my post: How to Make Nuts, Seeds, Beans and Whole Grains More Digestible
* Thompson T. Gluten Contamination of Commercial Oat Products in the United States. N Engl J Med 2004; 351:2021-2022
