Saturated fat is one of the natural occurring fats in the food we eat. All of the fats are essential to our health, and if they are not included in our diet the body will manufacture them. However, mounting evidence points to the excessive saturated fat in the typical American diet adversely affecting our health. Because TN patients have stopped pain by reducing their intake of saturated fat, it appears the excessive saturated fat has prevented the body from repairing damage done to the trigeminal nerve. The importance of not exceeding 10 grams a day cannot be over emphasized. The accuracy of 10 grams must be viewed in the same light as medication prescribed in grams-per-day. The most common mistake made by patients is to assume they have an innate knowledge of which foods are low in saturated fat. Another pitfall is to assume that products advertised as "low fat" are low in saturated fat. It is critically important to read the nutrition labels on packaged food. This label list the exact amount of saturated fat in a product, and it's important to note that it is for a specific serving size
If the diet works the pain should stop, or there should be substantial improvement in about a week and a half--but give it three weeks. Since three weeks is a relatively short period of time, I suggest eating only frozen dinners during this trial period since the amount of saturated fat is given for each dinner. Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice have many meals at about 3 grams or less, and even "large portion" meals at 3 grams. If the diet is successful, your TN will tell you exactly how much saturated fat you can tolerate. One patient stopped their pain by eating 10 grams a day, but chose to continue their medication because that allowed them to increase the saturated fat up to about 20 grams a day. It was observed if they ate less than 10 grams, they could add the grams not eaten to the following day's allowance. This proved to be a helpful strategy before the holidays.
With experience the diet can be easily followed by using the following guide lines: What can be eaten is pretty well restricted to poultry, seafood, beans, rice, pasta, bread, vegetables, fruit and very small amounts of lean meat. What must be avoided are red meat, whole milk, cheese, butter, cream, pies, cakes, cookies, chocolate, candy, snacks, nuts, ice cream, etc. Fortunately, many foods high in saturated fat are now available with zero to very low fat. It is also necessary to be careful how food is prepared. A very healthy fish fillet sautéed in butter is a problem since a level tablespoon of butter contains 7 grams of saturated fat--the allowance for two meals. Eating in a restaurant is a challenge, but salads can be eaten with a low fat dressing and food prepared by broiling, grilling, or sautéing. An excellent book of low fat recipes is The New American Heart Association Cookbook available in most book stores. It has 600 recipes, developed over a period of 30 years, with the amount of saturated fat given for every recipe.
Nationally Sold Food Products With Excellent Flavor and Very Low Saturated Fat
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