The Digestion Blog

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the a school(Little Village Academy) in Chicago has banned kids from bring in their own lunches unless they have a medical reason to do so. While the school & the district is spinning this as being about protecting kids from bad food choices many think that the school & it’s food service provider are putting profit over pupils. The principal, Elsa Carmona, says that other schools have a similar policy, though she was unable to name which other schools have such a policy. More worrying is that the school district has no official written policy on bagged lunches, nor do they keep track of which principals have decided to do away with allowing them. Parents don’t have much choice in the matter as the school their child goes to usually depends on where they live. They may not have any recourse to send their child to another school & perhaps many aren’t going to be inclined to do so over something “petty” like the school lunch program. Continue reading “Chicago School Bans Kids From Bringing Their Own Lunches” »

Special Diets

There are quite a few special diets which some people find helpful with IBS. Some may purport that “such and such diet” is the cure. I am not entirely sure that everyone’s IBS can be controlled on diet alone. Radically adjusting your diet could be harmful to your health both mentally & physically. You may become very frustrated with finding foods that meet the requirements of your new diet or become depressed in the loss of your ability to eat foods you once loved. It would also be terrible if this new diet didn’t actually improve your IBS symptoms. This isn’t to say that these diets don’t help people or that you won’t find success with them, but it’s best to take it slowly and perhaps speak with your doctor or a trained nutritionist before making a radical change. Continue reading “Special Diets & Irritable Bowel Syndrome” »