Gluten Free Oats

I started ordering Gluten Free Oats a few months after I went on a gluten free diet. I love Oats and when I found out there was gluten in oats, I got a little depressed. After reading the labels on all of the cereals in the supermarkets and realizing that all of them had gluten, I thought that I would never be able to eat cereal or oats every again. At the beginning, I was confused as to why Oats would have gluten. Gluten is a "protein found in wheat and related species, including barley and rye"(Wikipedia). After reading that line you would think that oats suppose to be gluten free but sadly, it isn't. The reason why oats have gluten is from contamination.  According to Diana Gitiq Ph.D., she stated that
"pure oats are safe for most, but not all, people with celiac. Since oats can easily be contaminated with wheat during harvest, storage, or other stages of processing, it has been stressed that the oats be certified as pure."
I found some gluten free oats and cereals in Trinidad.
In SuperPharm, you can get, Bob's Red Mills Gluten Free Steel Cut Oats and Bob's Red Mills Mighty Tasty GF Cereal. I prefer the Steel Cut Oats over the Might Tasty GF Cereal.

 bob's red mills steel cut oats gluten freebob's red mills gluten free mighty tasty gf hot cereal 

In Tru-Valu, there is Bob's Red Mills Gluten Free Whole Grain Rolled Oats.
bob's red mills gluten free whole grain rolled oats
Most of the time I order oats online, in bulk. On average, a bag of gluten free oats in the local stores are around TT$56-TT$60 and it might last for a week if I eat it everyday. I like to order Gluten Free Oats Gluten Free Old Fashioned Rolled Oats from Amazon [link]. These oats last for about 3 months. I spend about TT$350 in total for the order and shipping and delivery. Gluten free Oats are generally expensive.

Last year, I decided to try out wheat to see if I really had gluten intolerance or celiac disease. Since the rest of my family have no problems with gluten maybe it wasn't so bad for me. I think I was in denial or I missed eating bread, cake, etc. I could deal with the dairy free diet but to have a gluten free and dairy free diet is very difficult. I could eat very few things. For the experiment, I bought wheat germ and added 1 tsp to a bowl of gluten free oats for breakfast. After I ate it, nothing happened for the day. It was the next day that everything appeared. I got really bad abdominal pains that I couldn't walk or move. It took a lot of effort and time to get up off the bed. I had to miss work to visit my doctor. There was nothing much that could be done. I had to wait till the pain passed. I took some pain killers, and that helped a little. I learned a lesson that day. I have to accept the fact that I cannot eat gluten and I will feel much better in the end if I avoid it.

gluten free oats gluten free old fashioned rolled oats


References
Gluten. Wikipedia
Diana Gitiq Ph.D.Should Celiacs Eat Oats? Depends on the Oat. Celiac.com.Web. 16/03/2011

Comments

  1. I can't handle even gluten free oats so I am obviously sensitive to the avenin ( the gluten-like protein in oats) Research I have read says about 10% of coeliacs cant eat even uncontaminated oats.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, I know about that. They mentioned it on the celiac.com site about how some people still cannot eat pure oats. I am so glad I could handle oats. So what kind of cereals do you eat?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Nyasha

      My 7 year old son has severe allergies including an allergy to wheat. I found a cereal called Envirokidz Koala Crisp Cereal. It is similar to that of Kellog's chocolate rice crispies.

      Delete
  3. Interesting... Thanks for the information

    ReplyDelete

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