Re: To Sonja more advice on diet

[Guest guest]

Sonja,

I am definitely not trained in medicine but I can give you my

experiences with diet which might help you.

My doctor has prescribed two Viocase-16 enzyme capsules with each

meal and he told me to follow a low fat diet with no further

guidance as to what that means. Through trial and error (which is

to say pain) I found that I had less pain if I kept my daily fat

intake down to between 10 and 15 gr per day. I also found that for

me fat free dairy products, such as fat free milk, cheese and

yogert, are not a problem. The same with grains and vegetables.

Fish with white flesh such as perch, bass or halibut are not a

problem but fish with dark colored flesh such as salmon or steelhead

trout sometimes bring on an attack.

In terms of meat, it seems that for me eating red meat is generally

a problem. I have been reduced to eating lean poultry which is

prepared by baking or broiling. One of our local grocery stores

carries lean ground turkey breast which can be substituted for

hamburger in most recipes.

As far as bread is concerned, I can get some fat free bread from a

local bakery but it's pretty poor quality. Which is no surprise

because in general, commercially baked American bread is among the

poorest in the world. To solve that problem, I've been baking my

own bread and have developed a couple of virtually fat free recipes

that are acceptable.

At least here in the United States most foods have to be labeled as

to their fat content. However you have to be careful of how the

manufacturer has manipulated the data on the labels. In the United

States a product can be labeled as " fat free " if a serving contains

less than 0.5 gr of fat. The definition of serving size is left to

the manufacturer and obviously if you define the typical serving

size low enough, even butter could be labeled as fat free. My

favorite in this regard is " Pam " brand non-stick spray coating for

cooking dishes. Pam is labeled as fat free but it is made from 100%

olive oil. They can claim zero fat because they define the typical

usage as a spray lasting 1/3 second. Cute!

In my case the proper diet has been strictly a tral and error

approach and what I've related above may or may not apply to you but

I've passed it on for whatever it's worth.

Jim in Schenectady

> Hello again Sonja,

> I'm so glad the low-fat diet and Creon are already helping.

> Questions on diet are very individual and once you have adoped low-

> fat and no-alcohol, they rely heavily on trial and error. It is

true

> that some people find products containing lactose (all thos milk

> products) are hard to digest. Maybe you could cut down on these. I

> find plain grilled meat and fish is easy to digest as well as

> potatoes, rice etc. I also still follow a gluten-free diet (why do

> you by the way?) beacuse I had a coeliac diagnosis in 1988. I've

> been tols by my specialist that it was probably an incorrect

> diagnosis but after 15 years, I'm going to be VERY careful over

> reintroducing gluten. However, most CP patients seem to be fine

with

> gluten-containing foods. Maybe you could try substituting meat or

> fish for some of the milk products. Many people who don't have CP

> find lactose hard to digest. It's worth a try anyway.

> Keep on trying to find that pancreatologist. He or she may

prescribe

> higher enzyme doses. My prescription is for 3 x Creon 40000 with a

> full meal. This is a high dose so you shouldn't change without a

> specialist's advice but it works very well for me. Your pancreas

may

> still be producing more of its own enzymes than mine is.

Obviously,

> I have no medical qualifications so I can't give actual advice but

> just say what works for me. Every case is different and you have

to

> follow the docs' advice in order to be safe.

> I personally find many fruits a bit acidic and hard to digest but

> others don't. I am addicted to bananas which seem fine! Green veg

> such as cauliflower and broccoli can cause gas as can pulses

(beans

> etc.)

> I'm not sure about the sweet craving. If you're not diabetic, some

> sweet stuff should fine. Do you check for diabetes from time to

time?

> Just try some amendments and see what happens!

> Good luck,

> Fliss