Agluten-freedietiscurrentlytheonlyeffectivemeansoftreatinginpidualswithceliacdisease.Suchadietenablesceliacpatientstocontroltheirsymptomsandavoidvariouscomplicationsassociatedwiththiscondition.However,whilethequalityofgluten-freefoodshassignificantlyimprovedduringrecentdecades,maintenanceofagluten-freedietdoesnotnecessarilyensureadequatenutritionalintake.Becauseoatsareanimportantsourceofproteins,lipids,vitamins,minerals,andfibre,theirinclusioninagluten-freedietmightimprovethenutritionalstatusofaceliacpatient.AlthoughoatsareincludedinthelistofglutenfreeingredientsspecifiedinEuropeanregulations,theirsafetywhenconsumedbyceliacpatientsremainsdebatable.Somestudiesclaimthatpureoatsaresafeformostceliacpeople,andcontaminationwithothercerealsourcesisthemainproblemfacingpeoplewiththisdisease.However,itisnecessarytoconsiderthatoatsincludemanyvarieties,containingvariousaminoacidsequencesandshowingdifferentimmunoreactivitiesassociatedwithtoxicprolamins.Asaresult,severalstudieshaveshownthattheimmunogenicityofoatsvariesdependingonthecultivarconsumed.Thus,itisessentialtothoroughlystudythevarietyofoatsusedinafoodingredientbeforeincludingitinagluten-freediet.
