Do you limit your fat intake? to Diane, and everyone

[Guest guest]

Dear Diane,

I wanted to welcome you again and explain that I've noticed that

you didn't get any responses to your questions:

<dianecodymadison@y...> wrote:

> do you limit the amount of fat you eat each day to no more than

30 grams? i have been trying that to avoid the pain. my enzymes

are slightly elevated every time i have blood work done. are

yours?

Many people may not have seen this question because it was

asked in a message titled " Pain medications cause of Pain? " ,

and it may have been overlooked. I didn't want you to think that

no one else here was interested in answering your question,

because I think that a lot of people, (COME ON PEOPLE!!), would

be more than happy to share with you their experiences with low

fat diets, and the relationship of the low fat diet in regard to how it

affects our pain levels and how we feel that the diet and our

enzyme supplements are such an essential part of our

treatment. I know I would be.

I try to limit my daily fat consumption to more than 20 grams of

fat daily, with no more than about 6-8 grams of fat per meal. This

is what works best for me. I always take my enzymes a few

moments before my meal. By doing this, I'm pretty much

guaranteed that I can eat and not have ANY pain or discomfort

after I eat. There are times when I do eat more than 20 grams,

but if I do, I can expect to have some discomfort afterward,

because that's what higher fat contents do to me. If I know that

the meal is going to contain more than 8 grams of fat, I take an

additonal enzyme or two, to try to help digest the higher fat

content and the more work that it's going to put on my pancreas.

This is how it works for me, and this is what my doctor's have all

recommended. They also suggested that I stay away from red

meats, fried foods and bakery products - all pretty

understandable if you're trying to eat low fat. I put together a diet

sheet that's in our " Files " section, under " Nutrition " , that fully

explains how you can cook and eat low fat and still have a

healthy, tasty way of eating. I learned to revise the way I cooked,

looked at nutitional labels, and ate, and in a short period of time I

found this was the best for me. I cook often for a family of 6-8,

and everyone eats my low fat meals with relish. My husband and

sons, who are usually the ones I cook for, now say that when

they aren't eating here, and eat out, that their stomachs can't

handle the higher fats menus, and they soak up the Tums. So I

know that this has been healthy for all of us. And the fact that it's

the only way I can enjoy food and keep my pancreas from hurting

me has now become a secondary issue.

As far as the enzymes go, if I don't take them with my meals, I

suffer excruitiating after-meal pain. One day I ate my usual lunch

and within a couple hours was curled up in bed in horrific pain -

then I realized I'd completely forgotten my enzymes. It took me a

full day to get back to normal, and that was all the lesson I

needed to be convinced of how effective they were for me. Now if

I don't have them with me, I don't eat. One night I was taking my

daughter and grandson out for dinner. As we pulled up to the

restaurant, I suddenly realized that I'd left my enzymes in my

other purse at home, so I had to drive back the 7 miles to the

house, and then back to the restaurant. It was a big

incovenience, but they insisted because they knew I'd be

miserable without them. I've since learned to keep a stash in the

car for just those type of emergencies.

Depending upon the person's individual pancreatitis situation,

some can consume a little more than 20, some have to have

less, but I think you'll see that almost all of us have found that the

high fat, high protein diets that many other people consume are

pretty much a thing of the past for us with pancreas problems.

I hope that some others will speak up and answer Diane's

questions. She's in search of some real help with this because

she's new to our group and is trying to figure out the relationship

between our low fat diet, pain and our use of pancreatic enzyme

supplements.

With hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina

SC & SE Regional Rep.

PAI, Intl.

Note: All comments or advice are personal opinion only, and

should not be substituted for professional medical consultation.