Undergoing an Oats Challenge: A Gluten Free Guide Ep.182

Confused about the gluten free status of oats across the globe? You're not alone. Today I'm chatting about the confusion surrounding oats and their place in the gluten free diet world. You'll hear why oats are deemed gluten free in places like the United States yet face strict restrictions in Australia and New Zealand. I'll explain the mysteries of pure or uncontaminated oats and uncover the hidden dangers of cross-contact with gluten-filled grains during processing.

You'll also hear about the individual journeys of those navigating celiac disease and the personal challenges oats can present. I discuss how an oats challenge can be a game-changer for some.
Whether you're just starting your gluten free journey or assessing your current dietary choices, this episode includes actionable steps to determine whether oats can be a safe part of your journey.
You'll find out more about completing an oats challenge and who can react to oats.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

If you're confused by the whole oats saga in a gluten-free diet, I'm going to clear that up for you today and talk about how you might want to go about introducing oats into your diet. Now there's so much controversy around oats on a gluten-free diet and that's because there's so much confusion around oats, because in one country they are allowed on a gluten-free diet and then in another country, like Australia and New Zealand, they are not accepted as a part of our gluten-free food labeling. So it does get very confusing when you jump on the internet and you look up different ingredients or different products and you find all this overwhelming information about oats. Here in Australia, there are products that label their or brands, rather, that label their oats as wheat-free oats, and there's one brand that confuses people all the time. That calls itself GF oats, which most of us look at GF and assume that means gluten-free, but it actually stands for their brand, which I'm not even going to give them any airtime because they never answer the questions correctly around their oats. Now, the thing with oats is they contain a protein called avanin and when they are processed, they are usually processed alongside wheat barley rye and they get what we know as cross contact. So there is a lot of products out there where their oats are contaminated and therefore no longer gluten free. So those products we 100% need to avoid because you are going to get sick, you're going to get glutened from those products, however, 100% need to avoid because you are going to get sick, you're going to get gluten from those products.

Speaker 1: 2:12

However, saying that in some countries you can get what we call pure or uncontaminated oats and they can be safe for some people living with celiac disease on a gluten-free diet we're going to talk about that a little bit more in a moment and how you can come to that conclusion. So here in Australia it has always been Celiac Australia's stand that you need to avoid oats on a gluten-free diet and, as I mentioned, all of our products here in Australia cannot have a gluten-free label if they contain oats. That's against our labeling laws, whereas in the United States of America your products can have a gluten-free label and contain oats as long as they are pure or uncontaminated oats. So very different labeling laws and different restrictions for different countries. So Celiac Australia has recently lifted their stance on oats here in Australia and are now saying that it's basically up to the individual to see how their body reacts to oats and you may be able to tolerate oats on a gluten-free diet. But then again, having said that, they do not have any recommendations for any oats that may be safe for us here in Australia, because the oats that we have available to us the only labeling that we have access to is a brand that says it's wheat free. It could still be contaminated with barley or rye, so we don't really know a hundred percent which oats we can eat safely.

Speaker 1: 3:55

Now, when we talk about the risk of consuming oats, it's estimated that around 10% of people with celiac disease actually do also react to consuming oats. So for some people that may be very severe. For some people it may be just, you know, some bloating or some diarrhea. It totally depends on the individual. It totally depends on the individual and it's up to you to do your work to find out whether oats are for you. And I would also say to you, even if you live in a country where oats are allowed to be labeled gluten-free, I always say cut out oats completely when first starting your gluten-free diet. I have students in my program that are struggling with trying to feel better and I just say to them cut out oats for a little bit and see how you feel. And they are generally the ones that are the people that are intolerant to eating oats and they cut out oats and they feel better. So it's interesting that some people who are celiac still can't have oats. So, yeah, do your homework and see how you go with it. We're going to talk about that in a moment. So, yeah, about 10% of people with celiac disease do react to oats.

Speaker 1: 5:14

So here in Australia it's recommended that we do an oats challenge before consuming oats, and no matter where you live, I would recommend that for you also. So there's a couple of ways that you can do an oats challenge. You need to be making sure you are on a 100% gluten-free diet. If you are not strict, as there is no point even trying to do this because you're not going to get a true result. So one way is to take a diary or a health tracker, write down your symptoms when you start consuming oats. So start small quarter of a cup, half a cup of oats. Don't go crazy because you may have a reaction and then you're going to struggle. So see how you go. Maybe have it two to three times a week for breakfast and then gradually up it the next week. So increase the amount that you consume the following week and just go from there and do that for about three months and see how you feel. Make sure you track your symptoms. Make sure you track how you're feeling, because sometimes when we add things into our diet and we're not paying attention to how we're feeling, sometimes things can slip by us. Okay, especially if you're increasing the amount that you're consuming and you kind of get used to having symptoms symptoms so sometimes we can not notice that we're feeling more tired or sluggish or that you know we've got a little bit of an intestinal pain or some. You know our bowel movements are a bit softer than normal. So this is where I love tracking what you are eating and seeing how you're feeling responding to those oats.

Speaker 1: 6:59

Another really great way to actually test how you're going with oats is to do a biopsy. Now, I know this is extreme, but there have been studies done. There was a study done in 2007 and it showed that a girl that had celiac disease when she consumed oats, she got intestinal damage. We do not want intestinal damage. So this would be for me. This would be my recommendation If you were going to do it. This is how you take it seriously. So you get a biopsy done prior to starting your oats challenge. You do the three months of eating oats, like I recommended, two to three times a week, start with a quarter of a cup, build it up each week and then after three months, you go and have another biopsy.

Speaker 1: 7:48

Now this might be a very expensive task. You may be able to get it covered under insurance. You may be able to get rebate. I'm not sure I can't give you the guidelines on that or the details, as it will completely depend on your medical system and your whether you have private health or whether you go public. I don't know. I can't give you the ins and outs of that, but that would be the best way of testing what is going on for you in your gut and how you are reacting. Now there are definitely benefits of eating oats. Some people say that it just takes away some of that restriction 100. So you you know a lot of products in America do contain oats in gluten-free foods, so that can free up, you know, some extra foods that you may have been too scared to try. Or maybe you have been eating oats and you feel rubbish still and you can't get on top of your celiac disease, then this may help you in the reverse. You might want to cut those products out and then reintroduce them and see how you feel.

Speaker 1: 8:51

For those of us in australia, it is tricky to do this if if we don't have access to something that we know is 100% uncontaminated pure. I don't know how you go about it. Me personally, I have no interest in doing this. It's not something that I miss. I have quinoa instead of consuming oats. I've replaced oats that I used to always eat beforehand. I just have quinoa flakes in their place. I use them in baking. I use quinoa in cooking. I don't miss oats at all.

Speaker 1: 9:25

If the change in australia and australia then lets us have oats in our products, then that might change the way I feel towards it and then maybe I will go ahead and do an oats challenge, but at the moment I don't feel the need for me personally. Now, when we consume oats, there are benefits, such as added fiber, you know minerals, vitamins. There are benefits, but do you really need to put your body under that much strain, pressure? I don't know. It's a personal choice, but I just wanted to share this information, because I know it gets very confusing and not many people really know what an oats challenge is. So I do hope that this helps those of you that are here in Australia and New Zealand to understand you know the ramifications and also how to go about it, and also that there are, you know, some difficulties for us because we don't really know what oats to consume, and then for those of you that are, say, in countries where oats are part of your gluten-free diet, that it may just encourage you to cut them out and see how you feel and reintroduce them and also see how you feel.

Speaker 1: 10:39

So if you haven't already tried one of my health trackers, I do recommend that you grab yourself a daily health tracker. They're available on Amazon. I will pop a link to those below, so all you have to do is google Belinda Whelan on Amazon. I always say Google, go to Amazon, type in Belinda Whelan, and they will come up. So I have daily health trackers for men, women and children. So get the one that's right for you, because there's some extra little things that women track that men don't track. If you know what I'm saying. And, yeah, you can start to see how you go.

Speaker 1: 11:13

Now you may wish to do your oats challenge alongside a medical professional, which is definitely recommended. So please do your due diligence with this. Don't just expect that your doctor or dietitian is going to know what they are talking about. I have heard of some dietitians saying, yeah, you can just eat any oats, it's fine, and that's not true. So, as we've talked about, that is not true, that that is not safe. You have a high risk of glutening yourself from getting cross contact from those contaminated oats. So that is not true. You cannot just go and eat any old oats because you know you've got that risk of making yourself very, very sick. So be careful who you are getting your advice from, because some dietitians are not expert. Actually, a lot of dietitians are not experts on celiac disease and, unfortunately, a lot of doctors would have no clue what you're talking about if you went to them and asked them for their advice.

Speaker 1: 12:19

So, yeah, find the person that's going to support you. Whether that's me, I'd love to support you on your journey with celiac disease. I'm always here. You can always reach out to me if you want my guidance as well. But, yeah, look for someone that can support you. Do the scope if that's what's going to make you feel more comfortable. Having said that, the numbers are very low of people that have intestinal damage from oats, but there is still that risk, so I hope this has inspired you to look further into whether oats are right for you, or maybe cutting them out. So thank you so much for listening and I look forward to talking with you again on next week's show. Take care, bye.