GF Oats
 

I finally broke down and spent $11 on 2.75 pounds of "gluten free" oats.

There are two companies in the US that are using dedicated combines and factories to process GF oats, one in Montana and one in Wyoming. I believe the one in Montana is Gifts of Nature, which is the one I purchased. There isn't too much on their website about GF oats. Gluten Free Oats is the other company. Their oats are <10ppm GF. I checked out their field inspection report, and it said that two durum wheat plants were found during that particular inspection and were removed. It made me wonder how many other wheat plants were missed. It's not like these inspectors walk through the whole field, they just walk through a sample of it.

Even if the oats are gluten-free, there is another protein sequence in the oats, avenin, that some gluten intolerant people also react with. It seems that the protein sequence in avenin is similar, but not exact, to gliadin. Here's information from the Celiac Sprue Association's website:

http://www.csaceliacs.org/library/useofoats.php

BTW, the CSA position is no oats, GF or not.

On a personal note, I had GF oatmeal today for breakfast. I was all excited about it, and then I realized that I never really liked oatmeal all the much after I was done eating it! I always prefered Cream of Wheat :eek: ! So, I guess I'll just stick with my homemade cream of rice that I like better :o . I think I got it for the novelty factor, and plus, I don't like to be denied "normal" foods that everyone else is eating.

Also interesting is that when I first was contemplating buying the GF oats, I "tested" it on myself. What I do is I take whatever I want to test, hold it, ask myself, "Is this good for me?", and I see which way I fall. If I fall forward, it's good for me. If I fall backwards, it's bad for me. This is by no means a reliable test! With that caveat, the first time I tested the GF oats, it tested bad. The second time I tested it was when a different batch came in the store, and it tested good. Then, I tested myself against something I knew would be bad for me; I tested regular oats. When I did this, I felt an electric shock go through my body and immediately fell backwards! I have never had such a reaction when I've done a test like this. It was strange and I knew that regular oats is definitely a no-no for me. I also took my GF oats to have my acupuncturist test it with his machine on me, and he said it was ok. Only then, did I venture to eat it. So far, so good, but I won't really know for a couple of more days my reaction.

Based on my different reactions to different batches of GF oats, and the information I read on the Gluten Free Oats webpage, I think it would be possible to get a "bad" batch of GF oats that had some higher level of gluten in it.

At our local CSA support group meeting, some people said they were ok with GF oats, and others reacted badly to them. The recommendation was to eat only twice a week, not more than 1/4 cup initially. If there are any negative changes, then blame the oats.

More reading on GF oats:
http://www.celiac.com/st_main.html?p_catid=14

Has anyone else tried GF oats?

Claire

My son reacted so badly to oats that I've never had the 'guts' (teehee) to try them again.

I've been tempted to try oats, but then again, my life is just fine without them so I don't. I doubt my daughter would like oatmeal anyway. We did eat oats by accident when we bought a gf cookie frm a gf bakery, that used oats. But, we didn't have an obvious reaction.

Cara