Now that Landon would rather eat solid foods off our plates, than the baby food puree's that I make or in the jars, our metabolic Nutritionist gave us a list of "acceptable" foods for Landon to eat. Since he has such a mild case of his disorder, he is allowed more fat in his diet and we are allowed to be more lienent around the holidays, birthdays, etc. This list is for normal everyday foods, that he can eat without us having to worry about the fat contents of them. I must say it is nice to have a list of "go to" foods that we know we can feed him without having to find nutrition labels to calculate the fat contents and whether or not the foods are considered low fat enough for Landon to be able to eat.
We also learned how to calculate whether a food is low fat enough for Landon to be able to eat. It's really a much simpler "equation" than I thought it would be, I was thinking "oh, no am I going to be able to do this and learn this so that when I am in the grocery store I will be able to look at the nutrition label and know if he can have that particular food item." Here is our equation:
If there are 50 calories or less per gram of fat, then it is considered low fat enough for Landon to eat. For example:
Item A has 100 calories and 2 grams of fat...then Landon can eat it.
Item B has 175 calroies, and 4 grams of fat...then Landon cannot eat it.
Item B would have to have 200 calories with 4 grams of fat, for landon to be able to eat it. Although if it only had 3.5 grams of fat, for the 175 calories...then Landon could have it. Hopefully this all makes sense.
Now when it comes to the Holidays or going to Birthday parties when he is older Landon is able to eat the food, but in smaller portions. The few days before the Holiday or party Landon will have only non-fat foods from his list or ones we know that he can have from using the equation above. The day after the event also he will have only low fat foods, and then he can go back to his "normal" diet.
It is important to note, that although Landon's body has trouble breaking down Very-Long Chain fats, his body still needs some of those types of fats. The VLC fats are the ones that aide in brain growth, body development, etc. they are important for him to have, but only in limited and controlled quantities. He is also on Levo-Carnitine, which is the amino acid the naturally occurs in our body that helps to move the fats across the cell membranes to be broken down. We are lucky that his body does produce some of this amino acid/enzyme, just not enough.
Now that you have had a full lesson on fat, ha ha, here is the list of foods I talked about when I started this post.
Low Fat Food Choices:
Food Groups & Recommend Limits:
Meat, Poultry, Fish:
White Meat Only
Reduced fat luncheon meats
No full fat hot dogs or bologna
No fried foods
Other Protein Foods:
Beans and peas, egg whites, egg substitutes
Egg yolks: Occasionly
Avoid: adding fat or lard during cooking
Soy and “meat alternatives”
Peanut Butter Use in moderation
Avoid adding oil during preparation
Milk Products:
Skim or 1% milk only
No 2%, or whole milk
Low fat yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, and cheese only
No full fat dairy products
Breads and cereals:
Whole grain bread products including cereals, pasta, and pretzels are best
Avoid: trans fats, hydrogenated oils, and fried foods
Fruits and vegetables:
All are excellent choices
Avoid: adding fat (butter, ranch) and fried foods (potato chips, etc)
Desserts:
Fresh fruit, fruit ices, sherbet, frozen low-fat yogurt, gelatin, and angel food cake
Limit: fried foods and full fat desserts
