DS diet and your family

Fact: When you have the DS you do not absorb a large portion of your fat so you must eat food that makes up for the nutrient loss. 

 

Question: What does your family do for food?

 

My husband cooks the family meals and we have always eaten low fat meats like 90% fat free beef, 99% fat free deli ham, very well trimmed chicken breasts, ect. He is overweight, but has no health problems and is definitely not interested, nor should he be in weight loss surgery. I also have a one year old daughter, who while can gorge herself on whole milk with me in the future, shouldn't be having bacon 8 times a day (I'm kidding, slight exaggeration...for most of you). How do those of you with the DS work around your family's nutritional needs versus your own?

It took about 2 years but my hubby joined me in eating lower carb. Also, in maintenance I can eat some things that I wouldn't touch my first year or so. We have met in the middle a bit. We do have veggies and salads, and berries in Greek yogurt, but very few grains and starches. By going low carb you don't have to worry about the fat so much. See Dr Atkins' book or website.

--gina

There is nothing wrong with eating the foods you've mentioned. Fat does not offer any nutritional benefits, though to a non-DSer, low fat can result in dry skin, hair, etc.  

DSers consume fat for two reasons. One, because we can eat fat and not gain weight!  We dont absorb all the fat we eat, and higher fat content offers better flavor and less carbs.  We do absorb the carbs and try and eat a low carb diet.  Thus, low fat translates to higher carbs.

Two, some people need added fat to help with constipation.  If you are taking all your calcium, constipation is possible for some.  Among the various remedies, adding fat to your diet will help.

I am almost two years out and haven't had much of an issue with eating with my family.  It is common for me to throw a steak on the grill while the rest have pasta.  No big deal.

While I prefer high fat foods over lowfat, I find high fat yogurt virtually impossible to find, and settle for low fat.  A lot of the cheese I purchase is low fat.  I go back and forth with milk, but I am not a huge milk drinker.  Low fat milk isnt going to kill me.  I do love chocolate milk though.

Early on, stick to high protein, full fat foods, and low low carbs.  Don't worry about your fat content for the first six months or so.  Gradually you will be able to maintain with some of the low fat food items I mentioned and eat most foods along side the rest of your family.

I don't believe that fat makes people fat-- I think carbs make people fat. My family eats only real food- no fake stuff, no low fat stuff. I cook with real butter. When we eat chicken, I use a whole chicken and I never buy fat free meats. I cook the way I always did and just eat very little of whatever starchy dish I make (pasta, rice, potato, etc.) I hope I'm teaching my kids to not rely on real food for real flavors and work on the size of their portions (which is what I think my family's real problem was in our eating habits.)

As far as the 90% fat free beef, maybe compromise some. 90% is EXTREMELY dry esp for a DS'er. But I find that 85% fat free works.

Maybe trim their chicken but not your piece? And use butter, lots of it for you....

I'm 2 1/2 years out and I tend to focus on the meats, fats, etc...when I am with family. However, I am lucky in that we are a two DS'er household. With no kids still at home. So my dh eats the same way I do. We have to adjust for individual fat requirements and he was never lactose intolerant. I developed LI and can not handle drinking milk to this day. I can manage all the rest of the dairy line now just not drinking milk.

We both tend toward constipation and need fat in our diet.

Teach your daughter to eat meats and veggies and just keep carbs to a minimum.

IF you look back at the obesity issue...it started when they demonized fat and meat, pushing carbs on everyone. Humans are omnivores not herbivores.

Liz

Not a DSer, but in my house we eat high fat, lower carb, no/low grain/starch whole foods.. the excess carbs that come from grains/sugar is what makes us fat like Shannn pointed out. There's a lot of foodie blogs that focus on family-friendly healthy meals- I like this one as a great place to start: http://mariamindbodyhealth.com/

My normie husband eats like this as his Dr wanted him on statins, and that freaked him out enough to start researching and reading. He full-on switched to eating like I do full time a couple years ago and now his lipids are spot on, having well over half his intake in fats (and eating till satisfied.)

As a non-DSer, eating like this- my lipids are also better than they were (and I'm maintaining easily) than I used to trying to eat lower fat.. My HDL at my last test was 100, and is higher than my LDL (and the LDL particle size switched around for the better too.)

Not sure if he'd be interested in making a switch-up of the family go-to foods (you may still need to add some extra fats to your plate, but a little more butter or cheese or oil isn't much of a hardship ) but I've yet met a person who I've cooked for that turned their nose up at what I eat in a day :)

 

 

The low fat thing was a monster promoted by all the companies trying to get us to eat more fake foods.  Seriously, it's the grains that are the guilty party.  Low fat certainly didn't make us any thinner.   Think about all the heavy people you have ever known...theyall loved them carbs!  

Good responses so far. The thing to remember is when fat is taken out of foods,( excluding naturally low fat foods like meat) something has to. Be added back in. They usually add sugar or a white grain starch of some kind. Check labels for pre packaged and convince foods compared to full fat items. You will be surprised.

Healthy fats are good for. Us,especially the brain and especially the brains of children so be careful depriving your daughter of healthy fats. Animal fat is healthy as are coconut oil,olive oil and yes butter, ack, imagine that!!!

Gl

May I respectfully ask why you think gorging on milk is ok but eating a lot of bacon is not? What is your rationale?

I was kidding. She gets her recommended amount of milk per day and is 50/50 on percentile charts. I have no problem with bacon and we eat it abut once per week in my house. She gets in lots of healthy fats and oils from things like blue cheese, butter, and olive oil as well as seafood, red meat, poultry, and white meat. My issues surrounding foods have never been a specific macronutrient, more of a grazer mentality.

 

**edited - she's a baby - i forgot to mention...wish i got a bottle of warm milk and rocked to sleep every night...just saying grumble grumble