Eating Healthy When You Have Problems Digesting Fat

Fat can be hard for your body to digest when you are sick. It can cause diarrhea, nausea, gas and bloating.

If your doctor says to stay away from fat, try these foods:

• Low fat yogurt, low fat cottage cheese, 1% low fat milk, butter-milk. No regular (whole) milk or regular cheese.
• Hot and cold cereals. No granola.
• Toast with jelly or honey. No butter or margarine.
• Soups with broth. No cream soups.
• Tuna packed in water. No tuna packed in oil.
• Lean meats. No bacon or sausage. No pepperoni, hot dogs or bologna.
• Foods which are baked, broiled, boiled, stewed, grilled or roasted. No fried foods, french fries, donuts.
• Pretzels and plain crackers. No chips.
• Plain cooked vegetables. No cream sauce, butter, margarine or meat fat added.
• Fresh fruit and fruit juice.
• Puddings made with skim milk.
• Sherbet, popsicles, fruit ice. No ice cream.
• Angel food cake. No pound cake, layer cake or cheese cake.
• Hard candy, jelly candy. No chocolate bars.
• Vanilla wafers, ginger snaps, graham crackers. No cookies with cream inside or covered with chocolate.
• Fat-free chili, spaghetti and soups. If you can see pools of fat on top, don't eat them. Try refrigerating overnight to make the fat get hard on top. Then you can remove it easily.
• Sandwiches spread with mustard. No mayonnaise or salad dressing. No peanut butter.