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 More studies are needed to see whether so-called pure oats available
in the real world don’t provoke celiac symptoms. If proven safe,
oats could provide celiac sufferers some of the benefits of eating
grains that they miss out on following a gluten-free diet,
researchers say.
“Oats, compared to other cereals, are a source of good quality
proteins, vitamins and minerals and they improve palatability and
the texture of gluten-free food,” said study coauthor Dr. Elena F.
Verdu.
“For a person diagnosed with celiac disease, adding oats to a
gluten-free diet could not only increase food options but also help
them follow a better gluten-free diet and have a higher quality of
life,” said Verdu, a gastroenterology researcher at the Farncombe
Family Digestive Health Research Institute at McMaster University in
Hamilton, Canada.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that affects roughly one of
every 100 people in the U.S. For sufferers, consuming even trace
amounts of the gluten protein in wheat, barley and rye can trigger
an immune response that damages the intestines. Over time, this
immune attack can lead to malnutrition, osteoporosis, chronic
inflammation and a variety of other problems.
People with celiac disease are also at heightened risk of heart
disease and some recent research suggests that might be in part
because avoiding gluten causes them to miss out on the
heart-protective benefits of eating whole grains.
Oats don’t contain the same celiac-provoking protein found in other
grains, the study team writes in the journal Gastroenterology.
However, Verdu told Reuters Health, issues have been raised
regarding potential adverse reactions to oats by celiac patients,
and this has reduced the enthusiasm of adding oats to the
gluten-free diet in many cases.
“The first study suggesting that oats may be harmful for patients
with celiac disease was published more than 50 years ago. Since
then, the addition of oats to a gluten-free diet has remained
clouded in controversy,” she said in an email.
For this reason, the review team decided to evaluate the existing
evidence. They re-analyzed data from 28 previous studies that
included oats in gluten-free diets for people with celiac disease.
Eight of the studies were controlled clinical trials; the rest were
observational.
The researchers looked at any negative effects on symptoms or blood
tests for up to one year of oat consumption.
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“In our study, we found no evidence that addition of oats to a
gluten-free diet affects symptoms or activates celiac disease.
However, it is very important to stress that there were few studies
in some of the analyses, the quality of the studies was low and most
of them were conducted outside of North America,” Verdu said.
Although the consensus is that pure oats are safe for most patients
with celiac disease, contamination with other cereal sources that
may contain gluten needs to be avoided, Verdu added.
“The purity of oats will depend on the country of origin and local
regulations, and this is why we were surprised to see that most
recommendations in North America are still based on studies
performed in Europe,” she said.
“Patients who follow a gluten-free diet are sometimes able to
consume small quantities of gluten-free oats without adverse
reaction,” said Hannah Swartz, a clinical dietitian at Montefiore
Medical Center in New York who wasn’t involved in the study.
“Patients who have the most success with including oats in their
diet ensure the oats are certified gluten free, and wait one or more
years after following a gluten free diet to ensure that gut
inflammation has subsided,” she said.
“Patients with celiac disease must first ensure that the oats they
are adding are certified gluten free oats. Regular oats used in
products that are labeled ‘gluten free’ such as some mainstream
cereals are not recommended for patients with celiac disease as
there remains the possibility of cross contamination with gluten
containing grains during the processing of the oats,” she said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2py8RwW Gastroenterology, online April 18,
2017.
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