Keeping you healthy is our main aim here at The GI Center. As your physicians, it is our aim to provide the best guidance of diet as well as medicine. In doing so, also please remember that it is not possible to mention each and every food component that is available in this world. Our instructions are designed to serve as guidance only. If you have any specific question regarding anything not fully addressed here, please call your physician.
Purpose: A low fat diet is healthy and beneficial for cardiac patients and certain gastrointestinal disorders. Patients with gallbladder disease, fatty liver, gastroparesis (slow gastric motility), pancreatitis, diarrhea or malabsorption problems all benefit from a low fat diet. Fat stimulates the gallbladder to contract which can aggravate gallstones or gallbladder disease. Fat slows down empyting of the stomach which can cause nausea and vomiting. A diet high in fat can worsen pancreatitis and cause fatty liver to progress to cirrhosis.
Food Group
Foods Allowed
Foods to Avoid
Meats & Meat Substitutes
Lean beef such as sirloin, round, chuck; veal
Canned fish packed in oil
Lean pork such as tenderloin, chops, and fresh, canned, or cured boiled ham, Canadian bacon
All fried, fatty, or heavily marbled meat, poultry, or fish such as: ground beef, pork, or lamb; ribs; corned beef; sausage
Lean lamb such as chops or leg
Most luncheon meats including bologna, salami and pimento loaf, frankfurters
Poultry without the skin
Dry peas and beans prepared with fat or high-fat meat
All fresh, frozen, or canned fish packed in water
Nuts and peanut butter
Eggs (limit to 3-4 yolks weekly)
Broil, roast, grill, or boil meats, poultry, and fish instead of frying. Trim all visible fat before cooking.
Select or prepare meats in their natural juice instead of with sauces and gravies.
Vegetables
Fresh, frozen, or canned vegetables
Vegetables prepared with added fat, cream sauces, or cheese sauces
Cook vegetables in broth or sprinkle with herbs and spices to add flavor.
Fruits & Fruit Juices
All fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruit
Avocado
Fruit juices
Snack on fresh or dried fruits instead of chips or cookies.
Grains & Starches
Whole-grain or enriched breads, cereals, rice, barley, and pastas
Breads prepared with eggs or cheese
Fat-free crackers
Granola-type cereals
Choose a tomato-based sauce instead of cream sauce for pastas.
Biscuits, pancakes, croissants, muffins, or doughnuts
Use fruit spreads on breads in place of butter or margarine.
High-fat snack crackers
Milk, Yogurt, and Cheese
Skim milk; skim milk cheeses with less than 5 grams of fat per ounce
1%, 2% and whole milk, buttermilk, chocolate milk, and cream
Low-fat or nonfat yogurt and cottage cheese
Regular, hard, and processed cheeses
In recipes, substitute skim or evaporated skim milk, or low-fat yogurt for whole milk and cream.
Fats
Limit fat choices to 3-5 servings each day. One serving equals:
1 teaspoon of margarine, butter, regular mayonnaise, oil, shortening, and bacon fat
1 teaspoon of diet margarine, reduced-calorie mayonnaise, reduced-calorie creamy salad dressing, regular oil-based salad dressing, cream cheese, and whipping cream
2 tablespoons of reduced-calorie salad dressing (oil-based), shredded coconut, liquid coffee whitener and sour cream
Snacks, Sweets, Condiments, and Beverages
Fat-free broth or soups
Cream or cheese sauces, soups and gravies
Fruit ice, gelatin, angel food cake, graham crackers, and nonfat desserts
Cakes, cookies, pies and ice cream
Honey, jams, jellies, syrups, and hard candy
Coconut, chocolate, and creamed candy
Coffee, tea, soda, and other nondairy drinks
High-fat snacks such as chips and buttered popcorn
Try lemon juice, vinegar, or garlic or onion powder on cooked foods in place of butter or margarine
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