Not so low-fat

[redbird]

I just talked to my surgeon, and explained that the discharge nurse had given me instructions for a low-fat diet, of which I remembered only that oatmeal was good and ice cream was bad, and this seemed a bit vague, and was there more he could tell me. He said something vague but disparaging about people telling people who had had gall-bladder surgery that they needed a low-fat diet, and then, explicitly, "Eat what you want." I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do now, but it's nice to know that if, say, lamb seems more likely to taste right than yet another chicken dish, I should have the lamb.

ETA: In the meantime, I am assuming that the other advice—no heavy lifting, don't go back to the gym until after I see the doctor and get his advice, and no baths or swimming, only showers—is reasonable. But those don't complicate my life, and cattitude's, in the same way.

Comments

[maryread.livejournal.com]

You might want to find a dietician or twelve to consult on that. Although, of course, you just have.

(Just thinking about my whole-food-eating vegetarian friend who, to her entire confusion, was put on a "low-fiber" diet, with fiber supplement, after bowel surgery. I spent a loooong time talking her through that, after finding her vegan bouillon from the grocery around the corner from the hospital. Explaining to her why ice cream might be a very fine thing for a person who was literally starving for lack of calories. And then her first solid food presented in the hospital was a bacon & egg breakfast. All she wanted was some whole-wheat toast.)

I've been thinking of you, hoping you will still have all the necessary gall.

[redbird]

Asking a bunch of friends I trust is good, but not the same as consulting a dietician. Then again, finding a dietician who will not automatically say "low fat is good" for everyone, or certainly for everyone like me (that is, fat and female, not gall-bladder-less) may be a difficult trick. [The person I consulted earlier today is a surgeon.]

Or is one of your many skills training as a dietician or nutritionist? If so, I would love some help and advice here.

[maryread.livejournal.com]

That is why I suggested consulting more than one nutritionist. I had the good luck to meet up with one I liked, once upon a time, to ameliorate the bad impression I had previously gained. Just checking. My favorite medical consultants are physical therapists and pharmacists, because they are specialists in the interactions & biomechanics, but know they don't know it all. The surgeon has different expertise, and checking the nurse's advice was good. Nurses have to know everything, I've noticed, which is rather too much.

I have read an awful lot on the subject, but certainly would not consider myself well-informed in this company.

But how low is low? you might want to inquire about the difference between a daily mcfry, and an occasional ice cream. A lot of people know far less than you do about the nutritional content of what they eat. Some actually live on fast food, and that may tend to make nutritionists a little over the top in their pronouncements.