More thoughts on diet

[Guest guest]

Hello Jim and Sonja!

Like you Jim, I can eat low-fat cheese. There are some excellent

ones on the market. I also enjoy the organic vegetable soups which

can be bought fresh in the big supermarkets. (My excuse is that I'm

still working full-time and don't have time to make my own!) I've

just now had carrot and coreander soups which is delicious and next-

to-no-fat. Potatoes baked in their jackets with a variety of low-fat

fillings make a good lunch, for example, especially with a salad. I

eat a salad (no dressing!) every single day, at least once. Apples,

pineapple and bananas are part of my staple diet but I'm careful

with soft fruits and citrus fruits. I think that's probably just me

rather than the CP. I'm fine with lean red meat but I know some

people are definitely not.

My diet is not as low-fat as yours Jim, probably containing nearer

50 grams of fat a day, occasionally more. I have stopped weighing

out and looking at every item since my specialist advised to be just

a bit more relaxed about this, provided I take the Creon as he has

prescribed. I must check one day to see just how much I am

consuming. At the beginning I went on to a diet of about 20 to 30

grams of fat a day and lost a lot of weight.......about 10 lbs in as

many days. Now my weight stays steady. I put that weight back on

when I added just a little more fat to my diet.

Sonja, as Jim says, I honestly believe you have to let pain and

malabsorption symptoms be your guide, provided you are taking the

dose of enzymes advised by your docs. Chronic pancreatitis is a

disease which develops over time and goes through different stages.

It is different for everyone anyway. I think it's equally true that

diet has to be adapted to suit each person with CP at different

points in their condition. I know many people find a really low-fat

diet extremely helpful. I seem to manage (most of the time!!) on

just a tad more but with my trusty Creon to help me. Now that it's a

year since my diagnosis, I might try cuting down on fat even more

for a few days to see what happens.

BTW, I also enjoy humous. You can buy low-fat varieties which are

delicious. They still contain a fair level of fat but a very small

amount goes a long way. A good snack for me is a particular type of

low-fat gluten-free nutty bar which you can buy in one of our

supermarket chains here. Delish! (I know not everyone can digest

nuts.)

I'm rambling!

Good luck with devising an interesting diet, Sonja! Thanks for your

experience, Jim.

With good wishes,

Fliss