I haven’t been very good about posting new content here. Hopefully a reader can help kickstart things. Laurens wrote in with his story about his oat allergy:
Good Morning,
I just started researching this issue and came upon your site while searching “oat allergy”. It did not surface when I searched “oat sensitivity”.
Here’s my story. I’m a healthy 46 year old male. As far as I know I’ve never been allergic or sensitive to any food or anything to that matter. I’ve always eaten a widely varied diet – usually very healthy, whole-grains non-fat this and that, the occasional double cheeseburger as well.
I used to eat processed breakfast cereal until about 7 years ago, when I started eating cooked crushed 9 grain cereal from the health food store bin. A couple years ago I ran out of this a few times and had my wife’s Quaker Oatmeal Squares. Of course at first I didn’t notice the correlation, but it soon became clear that when I ate this for breakfast, at about noon I would start having diarrhea, which would last for several hours. Finally I realized the connection and just stopped eating this cereal.
A few months later I was visiting some friends who ate Cheerios, and had the same effect. After this I stopped eating any whole oat cereal and have not suffered again, even though my cooked cereal contains some oats.
Yesterday my wife bough Life cereal on sale. I suspected trouble, but tried them anyway as an experiment – one that cost me a good nights sleep. The diarrhea returned.
So, I know what to do to stay feeling good – don’t eat a whole oat only product. But, I’ve never even heard of this type of sensitivity and most of the web links are for babies and children. Nothing so far about such a problem being acquired at middle age.
Note: Until I started my crushed grain cereal regimen I ate the processed all-oat cereal products with no deleterious effects.
That’ my story. Thanks for being here.
So, please share your story in the comments. How did you diagnose the allergy? How long ago was it? What are you finding helps you deal with it?
Laurens, thanks for sharing!
11 responses so far ↓
Pavan // March 17, 2008 at 4:59 am
Hi,
I think I am allergic to oats.
I have not had any problems with foods before, however I recently bought a box of oat based cereal. Every time i have this, I get a bad stomach and diarrhea. I also have a lot of gas and bloated sensation on those days. I also tried quaker bars, cheerios, and those small sachets with quaker oatmeal and apples and cinnamon etc. Same symptoms in all those cases. I have not eaten oats much before I came to the US to study (2006). In my home country, I eat a lot of wheat with no problems. Even now, I eat a lot of bread, pasta etc with no problems. Only oats seem to mess with my body. From all the articles I have seen online, oats are clubbed with wheat and the allergy is supposed to be to gluten. I would like to know if there are others out there who are allergic/intolerant to oats but not the other grains. This would imply that there is some thing in oats but not in the other grains that is causing the problem. Perhaps it is similar to gluten so gets clubbed together with it..
Wondering if this makes sense and if anyone can comment on this.
Thanks
Adam Darowski // March 17, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Hi Pavan:
My daughter had no wheat or gluten allergies, but she had an oat allergy. So yes, that’s very possible.
Stefanie // March 21, 2008 at 12:56 am
I am allergic to oat, but not wheat or gluten. It makes my stomach hurt, swell, I get migrains, and itch really bad. I have cut out this (and my other food allergies) from my diet and feel MUCH better. I suggest getting an allergy test. This is how I found out that I was highly allergic to foods I was eating on a regular basis. Since my discovery my quality of life has completely changed. Good luck to you ~Stefanie
Shauna // March 21, 2008 at 5:52 pm
I was diagnosed at 31 with a severe oat allergy, consumption (or exposure at all) results in a full on anaphalactic response. I am not allergic to any other grains…just this. In addition to hives, swelling of the face and upper respiratory tract I also suffer the “GI symptoms”. It is not uncommon, however, to have GI symptoms with a traditional food allergy. I am allergic to tomatoes and shellfish as well and I can tell you that you shouldn’t exclude the GI symptoms as an intollerance rather than an allergy. I struggled for years with severe GI symptoms, once I completed the various rounds of allergy testing, and eliminated from my diet those things which I was allergic to, my GI system normalized.
**I would also tell you that a lot of research has shown that the consumption of probiotics has a HUGE positive effect on allergies and asthma.
Sherry // March 30, 2008 at 1:00 pm
I am 45 years old and was just diagnosed with both wheat and oat allergies along with shrimp, tomato, carrot, mustard,grape, oregano, flaxseed, lettuce, spinach, onion, and sweet potato. It took a while to sort it out. I had to totally cut out wheat which was causing migraines, asthma attacks, and GI symptoms. I was still having asthma attacks. I ate a bowl of oatmeal and had an attack so I cut out oats and the attacks stopped. My doctor put me on a gluten-free diet.
I’ve been looking for information about oat allergy but there’s not much out there. I’ll just have to read lables. If there is any one else who suffers from migraines, food allergies can contribute to it. Shrimp also gives me migraines.
Best of luck! Sherry
Paul // August 25, 2008 at 10:55 pm
I had never heard of an oat allergy before. Even my girlfriend, who is celiac, scratches her head over this. But, for years now, it’s been pretty consistent – I eat oats and I pay for it (I am now 50 years old). Wheat is OK. Lately, Barley is becoming suspect. I am also becoming suspicious of maltodextrin. I am a long distance runner and need to take in calories so I’ve depended on Cliff Bars (oat based) and gel products (maltodextrin) and can be quite uncomfortable for about 24 hours afterward. So, for a 20 mile race coming up, I’m going to try and rely more on bananas and non-maltodextrin based energy products, e.g. Cliff Shots.
Adam Darowski // August 26, 2008 at 12:13 am
Thanks for sharing your story Paul. How long have oats been affecting you?
Fran Koning // September 2, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Hi!
I sure was interested in reading the previous posts. I have noticed the past few years, actually since having my gall bladder out, that oats seem to really bother me. I also am lactose intolerant, so at first I attributed the symptoms after consuming oatmeal for breakfast, to the milk. But, after eliminating the milk and just having plain oatmeal with fruit, I have still been having problems after eating. I stayed away from oatmeal for at least two years until this morning, and I thought, well, I will try it again. Bad move! Within an hour of eating oatmeal, I had gas, nausea, stomach cramps, and shortness of breath. Six hours later, I am still nauseous, now have diarrhea, and had two asthma attacks. BUT, I do not have a problem thus far with wheat products, just oats. So, I guess my breakfast will have to consist of whole wheat toast or whole wheat cereals from now on. Too bad, I know that oats are good for you.
By the way, this only started in my mid-40s, when I also developed lactose intolerance and an allergy to seafood, and asthma.
bobby // June 2, 2009 at 3:51 pm
its the oat fiber thats blowing everyone out. almost everyone i know who’s eaten any kind of whole oat grain cereal gets the same effect . cramping,farting and finally diahrea blowout!
Jake // June 20, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Hello,
I just turned 30 and have been allergic to oats (and any oat product/derivative) for my whole life. I’ve never met anyone else who has had an oat allergy so finding this site was pretty cool. I grew up on Malt-o-Meal and Coco Wheats. Everytime I eat oats I get terrible diarhea, nausea (along with vomiting), and weirdest of all, terrible ear aches. I’ve never heard of anyone having ear aches as an allergy symptom. I “test” my allergy every few years hoping to have outgrown it, but no such luck yet (if anything it’s getting worse). I normally just avoid oats, but it seems like they are getting into everything because they are so healthy.
Henry // August 6, 2009 at 2:33 pm
I found this site when searching for info about oat allergies. I’ve recently come to the conclusion that I have developed an insensitivity to oats (I’m in my late 50s). I’ve noticed over the past several years that when I eat oatmeal, cheerios etc. for breakfast I often get stomach cramps by late morning followed by an urgent need to get to the toilet. When I avoid the oats all seems OK. The only thing I can think of that has changed (other than getting older) is that I’ve been taking Lipitor to lower my moderately high cholesterol over roughly the same period. Since oats are supposed to help in lowering cholesterol I wonder if there’s some interaction between the two causing the gastro-intestinal problems?