By James Jacoby
From PHN Issue 58, Fall 2024
It’s not IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), a bowel blockage, stomach cramps, or a stomach bug – no, it’s celiac disease! It’s one of the most commonly undiagnosed digestion-related health problems. If you eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast and you’re on the toilet several times that day, with bad gas, you might have celiac disease. If any foods with wheat or wheat flour cause these or similar symptoms, make sure to request a blood test for celiac disease.
Foods that contain gluten include, but are not limited to: pastas, breads, breakfast cereals, cakes, cookies, pizza, donuts, flour tortillas, and pie. Yeah, it sucks. There are alternatives to wheat flour available for many of these items. 100% white or brown rice flour and coconut flour are two
examples. Unprocessed meats, vegetables, fruits, berries, unprocessed nuts and most dairy products usually don’t have any gluten. You can try to go gluten-free for a week to see if it helps your stomach issues. But if you ask for the celiac disease blood test, keep in mind that you have
to keep eating gluten until you take the test for it to be accurate.
If you have been diagnosed with celiac disease and food service is not following your medical lay-in/doctor’s dietary orders, be prepared to file future informal resolution requests (IRR’s) and/or grievances to get the necessary accommodations. Most people are uninformed about celiac disease and don’t know what gluten is, where it comes from, or its effects on the digestion of someone with celiac disease. If you’re interested in learning more, write to your local library’s reference department, or look for a medical book in your prison library on
diseases. ✦
Prison Health News 