There’s a new tool on the site, and it’s free: the fat budget calculator.
“Low fat” is the advice most of us go home with. How many grams that is, and how to spread them over a day, is the part that’s left to you. The calculator does the sums.
What it does
- Your phase. Phase 1 is 20 to 30 g of fat a day, Phase 2 is 40 to 50 g. Those are my phases, from the book. Got a number from your dietitian? Pick Custom and type it in.
- Your meals. 5 or 6 a day, split equally or with bigger main meals. You get the grams of fat for each meal.
- The rest of the day. From your weight, height, age and activity it estimates the calories and the protein that have to come along, so a low-fat day doesn’t turn into a low-everything day.
- A day planner. Search 8,422 foods from the USDA database, plus my own list of 162 foods with a phase tag. Add a food in grams and watch each meal against its budget.
- Take it with you. Save the day as a PDF, or email it to yourself.
Where the numbers come from
The phases are mine. Everything else is linked at the bottom of the calculator: the ESPEN guideline on nutrition in pancreatitis, the National Pancreas Foundation, the EU label rules and the USDA food values.
The page also says where my Phase 1 is stricter than the published guidance. Read that part, and take it to your own doctor or dietitian.
What it is, and where it stops
It’s arithmetic: a fat budget and a food table. Your own number comes from your medical team, and the calculator never works out an enzyme dose.
What you type stays in your own browser. Nothing is sent to me unless you ask for the email, and then it’s that one email. The details are in the privacy policy.
I’m a patient, not a doctor.
Open the fat budget calculator
The two phases, 75 recipes with the fat per serving and the plan for the day a flare starts are in the book. Get the book