If you are avoiding gluten at the moment to help your autoimmune condition (read more about this here), you may be avoiding oats too.
There is a lot of confusion around oats and a gluten-free diet. This is because there are two factors that affect oats.
Firstly, oats are often processed in factories that also processed gluten-containing ingredients, so the oats can become contaminated with gluten. Unlike some other food intolerances, gluten reactions are not quantity-dependent. This means that even a very small amount of gluten can trigger inflammation and so it best avoided completely.
Although gluten free oats will solve this first problem, they do not solve the second problem, which is that all oats, even gluten free oats, contain a protein called avenin. Avenin is very similar in chemical structure to gluten, and when we react to gluten, we are also very likely to react to the avenin in oats, due to cross-reactivity.
A gluten-free diet needs to be followed strictly in order to reap the benefits, so if we are going to all the trouble of cutting out gluten, it is worth cutting out oats as well for an initial period, otherwise we risk spoiling our efforts.
If you have porridge every morning and enjoy it, this is a difficult change to make. However, conversely, if oats are affecting you, this is potentially a huge opportunity to reduce the inflammation in your system.
If you are a looking for a good substitute, the best option I’ve found is to use buckwheat porridge. It tends to go down well with clients as (despite potential prejudice against buckwheat!), it is easy to eat and neutral in flavour. It works like porridge, so can be cooked in the same way and paired with the same extras that you would put on your porridge.
It’s higher in protein than oats (great for repair, metabolic and hormonal health), and also has a high mucilaginous content, which is excellent for cardio health (enhances vascular suppleness).
You need to make sure you buy the right type of buckwheat to create a nice porridge though. Look for 100% raw buckwheat groats that have been stone-ground into smaller, cracked pieces and flakes.
Bob’s Red Mill organic buckwheat creamy cereal is a popular version. This is because the buckwheat pieces are smaller than groats; they have been broken down into smaller, cracked pieces and flakes which provide a nicer porridge consistency.
Consider adding chia or flax seeds, also high in protein and mucilage, as well as carob (adds a gentle caramel flavour), high in calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium. Cinnamon supports metabolic health and adds sweetness.
Avoid adding a whole banana to your porridge as they are so high in sugar and histamine (a few slices are fine).
Make as you would normal porridge, although the buckwheat may need cooking for slightly longer to make sure it is soft, around 10 minutes.
Method
Add around 75g of raw stone ground buckwheat (cracked pieces and flakes, such as Bob’s Red Mill creamy buckwheat, see above) to around 500ml of (plant) milk / water blend according to taste, as you would with an oat porridge.
Add a tablespoon of chia or flax seeds and a teaspoon of both carob powder and cinnamon.
Simmer for 10 minutes, until soft. Add more liquid as it simmers if needed - it will depend on the buckwheat.
Serve with any additions as you would with oat porridge, eg berries, seeds, etc.
Getting enough protein, fat and fibre at breakfast to stabilise your metabolism, mood, energy and hormones throughout the rest of the day is really important in autoimmune health. It may sound simplistic, but it can be revolutionary. You will likely need one or two additional components to your breakfast, as well as this porridge.
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