Last Updated: 12/08/2020
With winter setting in many folks on a gluten-free diet are going to be asking if oatmeal is gluten free -- particularly, those who love oatmeal cookies or a large bowl of hot cereal for breakfast.
In this post, I want to talk about oatmeal as there seems to be a lot of confusion about whether oatmeal is really gluten free, or not. I'll also go into how safe gluten-free oatmeal is, and when is the best time to introduce it into your gluten-free diet.
The Problem with Regular Oatmeal
Years ago, those with celiac disease reacted strongly enough to oatmeal for medical professionals to make it completely off limits – the same as for wheat, barley, and rye.
They did that by placing it on the list of foods that contain gluten.
While all grains technically contain gluten, the particular type of protein molecule currently known to be toxic to those with celiac disease is gliadin. Or at least, that's the only protein scientists have studied so far.
When people speak about gluten in connection with celiac disease, gliadin is usually what they mean.
Oatmeal does not have the gliadin protein molecule, and yet, folks with celiac disease were having autoimmune responses when eating oatmeal.
Why?
Because of the way oats are grown and processed.
Barley, oats, and wheat are rotation crops. Farmers may grow oats this year in the same spot where they planted wheat or barley last year. Or, they may grow oats side by side with either wheat or barley.
Often, farmers harvest, mill, and transport wheat, barley, and oats with the exact same equipment that they use for gluten-containing grains. So, while oats themselves are gliadin free, gliadin finds it's way into the finished product in a variety of ways.
Is Gluten-Free Oatmeal Safe for Celiacs?
The discovery that the protein in oatmeal was not problematic for celiacs and that the issues came from cross contamination with wheat or barley suddenly opened up a market for gluten-free oatmeal.
Today, due to the availability of several brands of certified gluten-free oats that use a purity protocol, the oatmeal recommendation has changed.
However, the question still remains:
Is gluten-free oatmeal safe for super sensitives?
One of the mistaken notions common among newbies is that manufacturers have their best interest at heart.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
While a small handful of companies may start out with good intensions, the bottom line always comes back around to business. Manufacturers put “gluten free” on the label not to help consumers find safe products, but because they can sell more products that way.
Whether we want to admit it or not, gluten free is currently a fad diet. While it helps those of us with celiac disease, if we aren’t careful to educate ourselves about what can and cannot be done legally, it can hurt us too.
When it comes to buying safe gluten-free oatmeal, it's best to only buy oatmeal that is “certified” gluten free.
At the moment the legal definition for traditional gluten-free products defines gluten free as a finished product that tests to have up to less than 20 ppm of gluten.
Certification often comes with a lower threshold than that.
Each certification agency certifies the product to a different level of gluten. Some certify to less than 20 ppm, some to less than 10 ppm, and others to less than 5 ppm (undetectable).
So while a gluten-free oatmeal may carry proper certification, and be called gluten-free oatmeal, that particular brand might still be too contaminated with gluten to be safe for you.
Safety depends on the amount of gluten it takes for your immune system to target gluten as a threat and go into attack mode.
That amount differs for everyone.
In addition, some celiac-disease organizations like The Gluten Free Society question the wisdom of changing the no-oatmeal recommendation.
Most scientific research so far has focused on gliadin rather than other gluten protein molecules like that found in oats, corn, and rice. In their clinical experience, many individuals with celiac disease react badly to all grains, not just wheat, barley, and rye.
Although their celiac clients carefully followed what was considered a gluten-free diet, they remained sick.
Many did not begin to heal until they eliminated all grains from their diet, even the so-called gluten free ones, such as rice and quinoa.
Whether that’s due to some type of cross contamination with gluten or something else that’s triggering their immune system into action is unknown. Either way, it makes returning oats to the diet risky due to individual sensitivity as well as differences in the manifestation of symptoms.
Always remember that a lack of symptoms never signals that a particular food is safe.
When to Introduce Gluten-Free Oats
While The Gluten Free Society does not support returning any type of grain to the diet, not even white rice, most celiac disease specialists disagree. The majority feel the mixed result seen in scientific testing supports the idea that not all celiacs react to oats.
Therefore, introducing gluten-free oatmeal should be done slowly and carefully.
There are way too many bloggers and forum participants telling newbies that oats are a viable option from the very start.
This is absolutely not true!
The problem is that many individuals new to a gluten-free diet do not understand that oatmeal comes with particular recommendations and restrictions.
Often, dieticians simply tell their clients to eat gluten free -- without giving any help in how to do so.
Thankfully, most physicians who specialize in celiac disease caution their patients to avoid introducing oatmeal until their damaged intestines have healed. This means no gluten-free oats (including certified, purity protocol oats) for the entire first year -- and sometimes much longer.
In addition, celiac foundations and associations take the amount of gluten-free oats used in research studies as a guide for how much is safe to eat per day.
The maximum amount they recommend for adults is 50 to 70 grams per day. The maximum for children is 20 to 25 grams. That translates into 1/2 to 3/4 cup of dry oatmeal for adults and 3 to 4 tablespoons of dry oatmeal for children.
They also recommend getting good follow-up care by a physician, to avoid any potential problems with allergy and food sensitivities.
You don't have to be a super sensitive celiac for oats to be problematic!
Please, don’t interfere with the healing process by experimenting with gluten-free oats too soon. It’s better to wait longer than a year to be sure than it is to risk irritating and inflaming your intestinal lining.
Especially, since many manufacturers are beginning to mix the types of oatmeal they are using in their products.
Gluten free oats doesn't mean purity protocol. It can mean mechanically sorted oats that test within the certification company's policy guidelines.
Rushing the process can give you a false response.
If you’re missing oatmeal in your diet, it’s best to wait so that its re-introduction will be as accurate a reaction, as possible.
Person who suffers from Celiac disease can't eat all the foods in the table. They have to assure that what they eat is gluten-free, if not it will trigger their disease to attack. This oatmeal is one of the foods that we eat every breakfast and one of the foods that a person with Celiac disease must be aware of whether it is gluten-free or not.
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