Re : Diets

[Guest guest]

Hi Lucy,

Well, here's the info on the " diet " which has helped me, but there's

nothing revolutionary about it and it's pretty boring!

I have hereditary pancreatitis and have had attacks of one kind or

another since I was five! I'm now 58.

First and probably most importantly, I now take Creon enzyme

capsules before each meal. I personally take 3 x Creon 40,000 as

that is what my specialist recommended. I take a 4th one if the meal

is long, say before the dessert (usually fruit for me!) if we are in

a restaurant. I take 1 or 2 x Creon 10,000 before eating a snack.

Secondly, like everyone else with CP, I never drink any alcohol. I

didn't drink much before my diagnosis last year, but now I drink

none at all as alcohol is known to irritate the pancreas. In many

caes it can actually be the cause of the disease. I do miss a glass

of wine with a nice meal but there we are! No choice!

Thirdly, I eat a diet low in fat. My specialist happens to believe

that you can eat up to 100 grams of fat in a day provided you take a

sufficiently high dose of Creon. It is his strongly held opinion. I

know many specialists both here and in the US advocate less. I would

guess that I don't go above around 60-80 grams in a day. That is

counting EVERYTHING. I always check the fat content of every single

thing I eat, even a sweet. It is either written on the

packet/tin/box/tub etc. OR I look it up in a book I have which tells

you how many grams of fat are in a given food (eg. boiled egg) per

100 grams of the food in question. Don't forget to include every

slice of bread etc. Of course, I'm used to it now so I know what I'm

doing. I don't have to spend all my time weighing and adding up!

Fourthly, I don't usually eat meals which are too big/heavy. I find

I am better if I eat more frequently but not too much at a time.

There is a fifth factor which applies just to me. In 1988 I had a

diagnosis of coeliac disease, a condition which necessitates

eliminating gluten (found in wheat and certain other cereals) from

the diet. Since then I have followed a strictly gluten-free diet. It

now looks as though that diagnosis was probably, but not certainly,

wrong. I have been wary about reintroducing gluten but I am going to

experiment this summer in the last three weeks of August while I am

at home (not away on holiday) but before I go back to school

(teacher!) in September. So my diet happens to include a lot of

gluten-free foods for which ordinary foods could be substituted

provided they are low in fat.

NB. I am not yet diabetic so I don't need to worry about that side

of things yet.

Here's a typical day :

Breakfast : 3 rice cakes or slice of toast with marmalade. Coffee. I

take 2 x 40,000 Creon before that. If I have an egg as well, eg. at

the weekend, I have a 3rd Creon before eating. Virtually no fat in

that meal. The toast has more than the rice cakes.

Lunch : tuna salad with large baked potato. (Tuna NOT in oil and

salad nude not dressed!!!) Could be ham or turkey instead of tuna.

Banana. Maybe also an apple if very hungry. If I'm going through a

good spell I may have just a TINY amount of cheese on the

potato....just enough to give flavour... but this is rare.

This might sound an odd lunch but it's what is available and

suitable in our school canteen!!!! Water to drink. Coffee

afterwards if I happen to get back to my office without being

accosted!!!

I take 3 Creon before this meal.

Evening meal : plain grilled pork chop/chicken breast with

vegetables. Sometimes I might have very lean minced beef done in a

tomato sauce but it is NEVER rich or high in fat. I don't fry stuff

first. I choose only the very leanest meat. Often I have grilled or

baked fish instead.

I might begin with prawns and a small sald or have a low-fat organic

soup. Sometimes I don't have a starter. Just depends. Dessert is

usually fruit.

I take 3 or 4 Creon with this meal depending on size and fat content.

Supper : There is a lowish-fat non-dairy " ice-cream " here

(called " Swedish " actually but probably wouldn't be recognised as

such by any Swede!!!) which I adore and I usually have a good

portion of that as a supper, maybe with another banana and/or

strawberry sauce.

Snacks : Sometimes I may have a cereal bar (mine are gluten-free but

you can get all sorts) with coffee in between meals. Depends how

hungry I am. I always count that in my overall daily total of fat

grams but I choose the lowest fat bars anyway! I take a Creon 10,000

with such a bar.

It won't surprise you that I am not very slim! I weigh 10 stone and

am 5'4 " tall.

So you see, it's very flexible. It just means low-fat and no

alcohol. You can eat anything within that framework. I like Heinz

very low-fat cheese. Admittedly it's not Stilton or Mature Cheddar

or brie but it DOES remind me of what cheese is (used to be my very

favourite food)! I also avoid anything which I know will upset me.

I'm not very good with fresh orange juice....don't know why....or

(raw) strawberries. Probably the acid.

I hope this is just a little helpful. You can probably think of much

more interesting dishes. Anyway, I've just given a small selection.

With good wishes,

Fliss (UK)