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Fat-Restricted Diet by Maria Adams, MS, MPH, RD

What Is a Fat-Restricted Diet?

A fat-restricted diet limits the amount of fat you can eat each day.

Why Should I Follow a Fat-Restricted Diet?

This diet may be prescribed for people with medical conditions that make it difficult to digest fat. Examples include chronic pancreatitis and gallbladder disease. A fat-restricted diet will minimize the unpleasant side effects of fat malabsorption, such as diarrhea , gas, and cramping.

Fat-Restricted Diet Basics

A fat-restricted diet typically limits fat intake to 50 grams per day. Fat contains nine calories per gram. So, if you need 2,000 calories per day, this means only about 22% of those calories can be from fat. The rest should be from carbohydrates and proteins.

For most people, it is possible to meet all nutrient requirements on this diet. However, a supplement may be recommended if fat is very limited or you are on the diet for a long time. Vitamins A , D , E , and K need fat to be absorbed. Your doctor or a dietitian may recommend supplements for these vitamins.

Eating Guide for a Fat-Restricted Diet

The following guide is broken down into categories based on the Choose My Plate website recommendations for healthy eating. It is recommended that you work with a dietitian to determine how many servings of each category you should eat. Here are some general recommendations:

The base of your diet should be composed of grains, vegetables, and fruit. Strive to eat foods from these three categories at each meal. Fruits and vegetables should cover half of your plate at each meal. When eating grains, choose foods made with whole grains instead of refined grains.
Limit your intake of meat, fish, poultry, and eggs to 6 ounces per day.
Consume no more than 3 teaspoons of fat per day.
Enjoy low-fat or fat-free sweets or snack foods in moderation.
If you enjoy healthy fats (eg, nuts, olives, and avocados), ask your doctor or dietitian about how you can add these foods into your diet. Since these foods have a lot of fat, they need to be added to your day's intake of fat.

Food Category	Foods Recommended	Foods to Avoid
Grains	Whole grain breads Low-fat whole grain cereals Rice Pasta or noodles Homemade pancakes or French toast made with minimal fat Low-fat crackers Baked chips Pretzels Unbuttered popcorn	Fried rice Granola Biscuits Sweet rolls Muffins, scones, coffee bread, doughnuts Most pancakes and waffles Cheese bread
Vegetables	Fresh, frozen, or canned vegetables	Vegetables prepared with butter, oil, or sauce Fried vegetables Mashed potatoes made with butter, margarine, or cream French fries
Fruit	Fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruits	Avocados, coconuts, and olives Fruit prepared with butter, cream, or sauce
Milk	Fat-free like nonfat, skim milk Low-fat or nonfat cheeses Fat-free yogurt or kefir Fat-free buttermilk	Reduced fat (2%) or whole milk Chocolate milk Cream like whipped, heavy, or sour Whole milk yogurt Regular cheese
Proteins	Lean meats Chicken or turkey without the skin Lean fish Beans and legumes Egg whites; limit whole eggs to 3 per week	Fatty cuts of meat Duck or goose Bacon Sausage or hot dogs Cold cuts Fish canned in oil Nuts and peanut butter
Fats and Sweets in moderation	Honey Jam Hard candies Jelly beans Marshmallows Low-fat or fat-free ice cream or frozen yogurt Sherbets or fruit ice Jell-O Angel food cake	Butter, margarine, lard, shortening in excess of allowed amount Snack chips Ice cream Pastries, pie, cake, and cookies Chocolate Most candy
Beverages	Coffee, tea Carbonated beverages Juice Water Coffee drinks made with fat-free milk Cocoa made with fat-free milk	Frappes, milk shakes Eggnog
Other	Soups made from a fat-free milk or broth base Herbs and spices Salt in moderation	Cream soups Non-dairy creamer

Suggestions on Eating a Fat-Restricted Diet

Look for the following key phrases on food labels: low-fat, nonfat, and fat-free.
Choose foods that contain less than 3 grams of fat per serving. Be sure to eat only one serving.
Avoid fried and sautéed foods. Use low-fat cooking methods, such as baking, roasting, broiling, poaching, grilling, boiling, or steaming.
Select lean cuts of meat, such as loin and round. Trim visible fat before cooking.
Eat small frequent meals, rather than two or three large meals. This will make it easier for your body to digest any fat that you consume.
Work with a registered dietitian to come up with an individualized diet plan.

RESOURCES:

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics http://www.eatright.org
Choose My Plate http://www.choosemyplate.gov/
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases http://www2.niddk.nih.gov

CANADIAN RESOURCES:

Canadian Association of Gastroenterology http://www.cag-acg.org
Dietitians of Canada http://www.dietitians.ca

References:

Daily Food Plans & Worksheets. US Department of Agriculture Choose My Plate website. Available at: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/supertracker-tools/daily-food-plans.html . Accessed February 18, 2013.
Diets for weight loss. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what. Updated February 11, 2013. Accessed February 18, 2013.
Dietary guidelines for Americans 2010. US Department of Agriculture and US Department of Health and Human Services. Available at: http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2010/DietaryGuidelines2010.pdf. Accessed February 18, 2013.

Last reviewed February 2013 by Dianne Scheinberg Rishikof MS, RD, LDN

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