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***The Morrisseys***
Edit: It would probably help if I spelled your name right 
My mom called me the other night to ask me if I could do some research about a proper diet for someone with chronic pancreatitis. My uncle (mom's brother-in-law) has been recently diagnosed with this, and is having some difficulty.
He knows the guidelines: very low fat, low sugar, low sodium, no red meat, no raw veggies or fruits (for now, at least), and no spicy foods.
He and his wife are not used to this style of cooking, and changing your ways in your 80s is hard enough, and having such restrictions is that much harder!
I told my mom he should see an RD, but I thought maybe I'd pick your brain for some recipes? He misses flavor. He's also diabetic, though this has not caused him problems in the past. He can avoid sweets without a problem. Giving up a good steak, on the other hand, is just cruel and unusual punishment for a born-and-raised cowboy.
Thanks for any and all suggestions from you and any other ladies that want to chime in!
Re: ***The Morrisseys***
Sorry to hear this...I hope he gets some relief - ugh. Pancreatitis is very painful.
One of the biggest concerns is to prevent malabsorption and malnutrition. If he has been instructed to consume a low-fat diet, I assume he is having fat malabsorption. When he is out of an acute phase attack, he can probably liberalize the fat restriction. I, personally, always take into account people's age and quality of life. At 80+, let the man have some red meat
Choosing a leaner option and using low-fat cooking methods is the best route to go -- baking, broiling, grilling, etc.
The raw fruits and vegetables I'm confused about, unless they're concerned about opportunistic infection?? Not sure there.
For flavor, he should be able to use just about any seasoning to give some flavor and spicy foods should be eaten as tolerated. The thing about chronic pancreatitis is that as long as the major offenders (alcohol, cigarettes, etc.) are eliminated, the diet is more aimed at low-fat (~25-30% of his calorie intake), carb-controlled, and small, frequent meals.
Because poor intake and GI side effects are so common, I find more harm than good in a restrictive diet. (I swear, nutrition is about 80% prevention and 20% acute intervention - but that's a whole other topic!).
I would go the route of eating a moderate amount of carbohydrate (~30-45 g) at each of 5-6 small meals/day and using leaner meats, omitting added fats, and being sure to include things he enjoys.
This is a little gross, but a fairly simple way to tell if he is having fat malabsorption (signaling the need to further restrict fat) is to have him look at his stool in the toilet and see if it is floating (floating = steatorrhea or "fatty stool").
He should take a multi-vitamin mineral supplement each day and have stool samples taken regularly.
I hope this helps!
This is INCREDIBLY helpful. I will forward this on to my mom
You are amazing!
He was also told no grilled food, which confused me. I think he's just having a hard time with raw fruits and veggies for now. He was just diagnosed with this like a month ago so I think they are still wary of some things. Also, he lives in a town with a bunch of terrible doctors, so hopefully he can see a dietitian in a larger city where he'll have a larger pool of RD's to choose from.
Thank you so, so much!
I've emailed my mom. I'm sure she will have TONS of questions and you are so sweet to be so helpful to a total stranger!
We were so worried it was pancreatic cancer or something that was going to take my uncle from us, but he's a trooper, that's for sure. I'll use your recommendations and start doing some recipe research