Is Oatmeal Gluten Free? Gluten free snacks and recipes are a dime a dozen, but why not make one yourself? Oatmeal is one of the best ways to thicken soups, sauces and purees because it has oats which naturally have the gluten that causes Celiac Disease. There are other great foods which can also be naturally gluten-free like barley, rice and buckwheat flour.
I started making my own gluten-free oatmeal for the family about 10 years ago. I didn’t have health problems before then, but after discovering all that gluten was doing to my body, I started to get sick and tired. I couldn’t focus and I got migraine headaches real bad sometimes. I couldn’t focus and so I began to research Celiac Disease and how I could heal myself without medicines.
I found that oats are naturally gluten free oats and that is why I was able to eat oatmeal on a daily basis without any problem. I didn’t buy oatmeal the way you buy regular oatmeal, you don’t pour a cup of oatmeal in a tupperware and eat it that way. You mix the oatmeal with some water or milk, stir it up a bit, and then serve that to your family. Because I didn’t want to use oatmeal in the traditional way, I began to make my own. It takes about an hour from start to finish to make one quart. That is plenty of time to consume for one day and is enough to give you all the benefits of eating gluten free oats.
With my experiments with oatmeal gluten free, I began to notice that there were more products which had oats and wheat in them. Many cereals, breads, cookies and pasta mix are now labeled as being “gluten free.” What does this mean? These products are not made with oats and wheat and therefore cannot be eaten by people with celiac disease. The manufacturers are trying to cut down on the numbers of people who have celiac disease and therefore they are making these products easier to get in the stores. Don’t be discouraged, though, they still label their products as “gluten free” on the package so you can still eat them if you are careful.
Other foods that are starting to be labeled as “gluten free” are rice, corn, quinoa, oatmeal, nuts, soy, and brown rice. The first thing that struck me when I started trying to eat healthier and eliminate gluten from my diet was that it was not always easy to find quinoa or flax seeds. In addition, there are many different varieties of flax seeds that are available, but the one I prefer and has the health benefits most people are looking for is “life seed” which comes from Indian rubber trees. Quinoa and flax seeds are commonly used in soups and stews but you can also cook them and add them to your salads and vegetables.
In conclusion, it is perfectly alright to be gluten-free if you need to be. I used to avoid eating gluten and grains like barley, rye, and wheat for years until I found out that there were plenty of great products out there that gave me the nutritional benefits without all the bad ones. When shopping for gluten-free products, remember that it doesn’t always have to mean “gluten-free” and that some things can be “gluten-free but naturally gluten-free”. You should always check the labels carefully so you know what is in your food before you eat it!