oatmeal + bloating and gas

[hklifter]

ive been eating oatmeal + 3 eggwhites for breakfast for about 8months now. recently i've been having really bad bloating and gas after lunch, and am thinking it maybe caused by the oatmeal. yesterday i had cornmeal for breakfast and i had minimal blaoting after my second meal. does anyone have similar reactions to oats? what would be a similar substitue?

[paycheck]

yeah I thought it was just me. Thats one of the reasons I dont like eating it that much. Not last week but the week prior I had eggwhites and oatmeal and felt bloated after. This week switched over to a bagel and felt fine. Even though I had slightly more carbs bloating was minimal. I felt like I could workout right away. BUt with the oats I didnt feel like it.

[hklifter]

my bloating and gas doesn't usually come around till a few hours later, like after my second meal.

does anyone know of a good substitute for oats for breakfast?

[Mango]

It sounds like you might have a gluten allergy?? I'm allergic to gluten, and I've cut oatmeal and oat bran out of my diet. You might try that?? If you're cutting it out, and you need a replacement....tell me when you find a good one. I'm looking!! If I weren't lactose intolerant, and you haven't suggested that you might be, why don't you try some cottage cheese, fruit, and organic peanut butter?? If you can bake a yam or sweet potato, I hear those are good complex carbs, but I'm honestly too lazy to bother with that.

If you're getting a bloated feeling after your second meal, have you ever considered it might be a food product from your second meal, and not your oatmeal?? What are you having for your second meal??

[shwaym]

If you're cutting it out, and you need a replacement....tell me when you find a good one. I'm looking!!

try rice, corn or barley?

[hklifter]

my second meal is always different... a sandwhich, rice, chicken or tuna, pasta, salad.
the only constant is my oats and eggs for breakfast. i have tried the GF diet for a few days, and it didn't really do anything.

ive been trying cornmeal which has been so-so as a replacement.
still lookin' for a good one.
ciao

[Mango]

Are corn, rice, and barley decent replacements?? I hate rice, even brown, what does that taste like??

[paycheck]

what else has gluten in it?

The wierd thing is if I have ay 2 eggs with the oatmeal Im fine. But if I have 1 cup eggwhites and 1 egg yolk and the oatmeal its a whole different story.

[LightCrow]

Are you possibly having some milk or whey either at breakfast or around lunch time? I wonder if it's not just some mild lactose intolerance.

[Mango]

Whey is lactose free.

What happens if you eat oatmeal plain??

Gluten is practically in EVERYTHING!! It's used as a preservative, I think, so anything that's derived from wheat has gluten, and it's in a lot of salad dressings and marinades. You can get most of these things without gluten. I've found gluten free whey powder and a ton of gluten free salad dressings. There is such a thing as gluten free bread, too, which I've heard is better for you.

[newroid]

If your bulking, sometimes it is just because you body isnt breaking it all down and it is sittin in the bottom of your stomach and creating gas, i find it with protien? the benifits out weight the negatives.

[AngelOfMusic]

hmm maybe you have IBS?

[msundi83]

does anyone take any OTC stuff for gas/bloating? I have been eating clean for a while now and I'm starting to get tired of this side effect. Does it go away or should I start buying Gas X in bulk?

[Mango]

No, no, IBS is a really awful problem; before I figured out I'm lactose intolerant, I did a search not for web sites with symptoms of IBS, but a web site for those with IBS, just to read their support section, and everybody there had the most brutal, long list of complaints, like not making it to bathrooms in time, or having to go to the hospital because they couldn't. You know. Do anything??

I'd do everything I could to avoid being diagnosed as having IBS. I'd take the frikkin' gluten allergy ANYDAY over that!!

[hklifter]

yes. i do have IBS, but my only symptom now is gas and bloating ( i had constipation and cramping for about a year). i think the gas and bloating mybe due to something i am eating.

[fast37]

I started throwing steel cut oats heavily into my diet in the past 3 weeks and the gas has been outrageous. My girlfriend is moving out it is so bad, she is scared for her life. One spark and boom.

[Mango]

I started throwing steel cut oats heavily into my diet in the past 3 weeks and the gas has been outrageous. My girlfriend is moving out it is so bad, she is scared for her life. One spark and boom.

Geez, dude, if your girlfriend is moving out, you might want to consider axing the steel cut oats, and not the girl!!

Apologies hklifter, that really, really, really frikkin' sucks. If you're reacting to anything, I'd cut it out straight away and never look back. John Berardi lists some pretty good and clean complex carbs on his web site, you might consider one of them, instead. If it isn't the gluten giving you a reaction, oat bran is tasty, it's filling, and it has more fiber and protein and slightly less calories than oatmeal.

[shwaym]

some people experience problems digesting carbs and protein at the same time.
could give seperating them a shot to see if it helps.

[LightCrow]

Whey is lactose free.

Actually whey is derived from milk so it's not lactose free. Whey isolate is lactose free due to the addition of lactosit (something spelled like that) that helps us lactose intolerant folks digest it better. It still messes me up though.

[jwardmagic]

Whey isolate is actualy not completely lactose free either. It is almost lactose free. The intollerence to oats is quite a common thing. It is not caused by gluten intollerence (although if you are celiac or have a gluten sensitivity this will worsen things) it is caused by the carb's in the oats. If you are getting bloated and gassy from eating them you most likely have something known as 'gut disbiosis'. There are over 400 different kinds of bacteria, flora, fungus etc living in our GI tract. Candida, klebsiella, colostridium difficile etc. These live in harmony with each other but if one dies off, it allows the other to over grow. This causes a range of problems which can go from minor (IBS) to severe (IBD, crohns etc). Basicaly whats happening is you are not digesting the carbs properly, and they are fermenting in your intestines as bacteria feed off of them. This creates the gas. Usually this is due to one or a number of things. If you have an overgrowth of a certain type of bacteria/fungus etc... they release toxins such as ammonia, lactic acid etc which damage the very thin mucosal lining and villi of the GI tract, which are there to help digest food (including carbs) and maximise absorption. You end up with an inability to digest certain foods, often certain types of polysaccharides such as the ones found in oats.

Your body will also over produce mucous to try to protect the gut from damage, but this also lowers digestion.
As well as this, I should add, an absolute minimum of 1/100 will have celiac disease, and 1/10 a sensitivity. And thats an absolute minimum. Adding to this, believe it or not, the majority of people are sensitive to lactose in milk. Most adults stop producing lactase (the enzyme that breaks it down) sufficiently or all together after being weened. The only lactose we are really designed to digest is that from breast milk. Our bodies arent well adapted to digest cows milk. Thats why calves have 5 stomachs! The protein in milk is also hard to break down for a lot of people.

I suggest taking a digestive enzyme with your oats. This should help a bit, but not completely. The best way (in my opinion) is a healing diet, such as the specific carbohydrate diet.

P.S. Next year I'll be a qualified nutritional therapist

[psychodiver9]

Please explain why you think op is still looking for answers after 7 years? If he's still bloated I assume he's gone to the doctor or is dead

[jbh123]

Please explain why you think op is still looking for answers after 7 years? If he's still bloated I assume he's gone to the doctor or is dead

Maybe the OP isn't looking for answers anymore, but others might be. I found this thread while searching for info on what to do about intolerance to oats, and jwardmagic's reply is easily the best and most complete answer I've found so far. So, jwardmagic, thank you.