Sigh. You know when you really want a relationship to work and you spend so much time trying to get it to work? And then you finally realize, “he’s just not that into you”? That’s me and Oats. I cannot tell you how much I wanted Oats to like me. Truly. It’s been years since I’ve been truly wooing Oats and to no avail. It’s a bummer. I hung out with Oats as a kid (In his guise of Instant Oats packets), I sometimes hung out with Oats as a non-gluten-free adult, and I’ve tried to hang out with gluten-free Oats as a diagnosed gluten-free adult.
And you know what? Oats never worked out for me. It’s been such a long and hard road for me and Oats. Oats is his own man. He likes who he likes. And I jealously watch as he gets along with others of my type (gluten-free folks), and I get sad. We talk, we argue, we make up, we try. But no matter what, we don’t work together. It’s not either of our faults. Oats is just being himself. I am just being myself. And, as it turns out, we just don’t work together, Oats and I.
Oats hangs out with some of my other gluten-free friends. They say he works really well in their recipes. I tried so hard to get him to work for MY recipes. But, it wasn’t meant to be. We don’t work together. I am anguished. Oats still gets invited to gluten-free parties. We meet at some of these. We say an awkward, “hi,” and leave it at that. Friends are confused. ”I thought you guys liked each other?” they say. I say, “it’s awkward.” I tell them, “he and I, well, we just can’t be together. It’s complicated.” My friends don’t understand. So many of my gluten-free friends like Oats. Why can’t I just like Oats? Why am I being so difficult?
If you are gluten-intolerant, oats may be bad for you, too. If you sometimes eat gluten-free oats and you feel bad, and you wonder, “hm, what did I eat that made me feel bad?” it could be oats. It turns out that even though oats (the gluten-free ones) don’t have gluten, they do have proteins that might behave the same way as gluten on the body of sensitive individuals. I spent so much time (years) trying to eat oats, but they always made me sick–and I never understood what was going on. Then I read this article and ones like it, and it all made sense. Read it for yourself and see if it might be you.
It turns out that folks who are sensitive like I am to the prolamine gliadin, which is found in wheat gluten, are also often senstitive to the prolamine in oats called avenin. As it turns out, just as there is gluten-sensitive enteropathy (celiac disease), there is also avenin-sensitive enteropathy, which is a sensitivity to the gluten-like substance in oats. Sigh. What this means is that many of us gluten-intolerant folks are actually intolerant to oats themselves, not to them being cross-contaminated with wheat. This is an area that hasn’t really been studied all that much. But, the toxicity of oats for gluten intolerant individuals is recognized by certain countries, including Australia.
Now, I’m not a medical doctor. And you shouldn’t listen to me without listening to your own body and speaking with your doctor. But, it’s food for thought for those of us who are gluten-intolerant.
Sigh.
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Ah, Oats, he is a fickle lover. I have done the same dance with him. Overjoyed to be able to invite him back into my life, I cried with nostalgia and delight the day I made mazurkas again after a dozen years or more without. I reveled in his creamy steel-cut goodness for breakfast. I made the best apple-cranberry crisps ever. And yet, I was betrayed. Guts wrenchedand mind foggy, I had to admit Oats and I are not compatible and again he is banished from my kitchen. I share your disappointment, Jeanne. Sigh.
Becca: Sigh. It’s so sad, isn’t it?
I always thought I must be doing something wrong. For years I used to have awful tummy aches and washroom problems, but chalked it off to cross contamination. For the past six months I’ve tried to reintroduce GF oats into my diet, and have failed miserably. Ah, to enjoy a nice bowl of oats in the morning again, alas the pain and suffering is not worth it in the end.
Noor: I know. It’s so sad. Bleh.
I, too have the same problems with oats. I’m also intolerant to gluten and oats, as well as buckwheat. Buckwheat also gets invited to gluten-free parties, but we do not get along. It’s sad, really, because I love oatmeal, oatmeal cookies, everything oat. And buckwheat-yummy buckwheat pancakes, and all those gluten-free cookies made with buckwheat, too. Oh, well. Life goes on and you get creative.
Nikki: you know, one of my other readers was talking about not tolerating buckwheat. She and I thought it was because she couldn’t find gf buckwheat (i.e., not potentially cross contaminated). Hm. Now I’m wondering about buckwheat. Although it is a seed and not a grain. Interesting.
Oats don,t deal well with me either
I miss them too…
Sigh.
I am learning quite a bit about my years of difficulty with oats. I have no problem with wheat, but oats always make me react like you guys react to gluten. It is hard to get people to take me seriously because the separate reaction to oats is just now being understood.
Julia,
I can understand what you’re going through. I’ve been through so many tests because the doctors thought I had a gluten-intolerance. However, I have no problem eating wheat but get the same horrible digestive problems when I eat oats. It’s extremely frustrating because all the doctors tell me I’m not gluten-sensitive so I shouldn’t have problems with oats, but alas my body tells me otherwise. I just hope my oat-intolerance doesn’t create a gluten-intolerance in the future.
Jess: I have to say, I don’t know anything about how the two intolerances are connected. But, yes–I agree–it would be great if you didn’t develop a gluten-intolerance!
I’m one who’s just happy to finally have a formal name for why my Dad and I avoid oats. In my attempts at research I began to wonder if it was unique between us as there was generally no information other than how oats get tainted with gluten in processing plants. I’ve generally been fine with wheat, but that bowl of oatmeal I had in college had me in pain for three days straight (I initially thought appendicitis until I told my dad). I miss them though. Everyone wants to be slightly healthy and they bring in oat stuff, and I run the other direction. Usually I say I’m allergic, or oat intolerant when I have time.
Marcia: It’s such a hassle, isn’t it? Sigh.
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