Greasy & fatty food intolerance!

Penthesilea514 wrote: »

I have noticed that to a certain extent- my tolerance for very greasy or deeply fried foods is lower than it used to be. But I was not sure if it was diet related or getting older or what.

As for others, I would ask if you could take your leftovers home with you (it was delicious, I can't take another bite!)? That you ate a big lunch and couldn't eat any more? Or just say you are full? Perhaps offer to assist with plating/serving and if there is a veggie, say I LOVE green beans, and those look good, can I have a little more of those? Generally, I think most people are happy with compliments noticing their time and energy for making such a meal, so I make sure that I say those things- but you don't have to eat everything. As a host, if I found out I was making one of my guests sick, I would be horrified TBH.

At restaurants, you can make those choices (now that you are aware of your intolerance) so that should be more straightforward. I like looking at menus ahead of time to make my order and log my calories so I know exactly what I can have (or know what non-fried food options they have). Or I just chalk up the occasional meal as a fun thing and not worry about the calories as much.

Learning to decline food can be hard and seem uncomfortable, but it is a critical thing for some people (I struggle with this a lot). I have to turn down food constantly at work, but I will compliment their thoughtfulness and effort, and usually people are okay with it. If they aren't okay with you being polite, well, that's their problem lol. You should not feel "expected" to eat something that is making you sick, or that you honestly don't want to eat (but I try a little bite of everything to be polite if someone cooks for my in a formal situation) IMO.

Thanks so much - good advice. I agree it's awkward to decline food. I always worry I'll offend someone. But in the end it's not worth it if I feel awful after. I like the idea of asking friends for a take home portion that I can't eat while there. I do it at restaurants - why not at a friend's? I also like the idea of looking up a menu ahead of time to see what there is and plan ahead.

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Fried food sometimes bothers me even though I seem to be fine on a really high fat diet that's overall healthy, so I assume it's not just the fat. I've always wondered a bit what it is, but since I rarely eat that kind of thing I don't worry about it.

I do eat a fair amount of fat too - about 30% of my macros. Almost all of it poly and mono unsaturated though. It must be the amount contained in deep fried foods. I've decided I don't need them anymore.

VeronicaA76 wrote: »

Pretty much anything deep fried upsets my stomach now. I don't know why, but it is a great reason to avoid high calorie deep fried foods.

Agree!!!

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

This has not happened to me, but I think it's perfectly fine to simply explain that while you appreciate the effort and the food looks and smells delicious that type of food affects you negatively. No friend is going to expect you to eat something that will make you feel ill.

True, but so awkward! I guess it depends on the friends, right? For people that don't know me that well, I think I'll go with just eating a few bites of something. Ask for the leftovers and call it a day! Thanks!

jessiferrrb wrote: »

i get that way if something has too much butter or heavy cream, i have no similar issues with cheese though, even if it's fried. i think it's just a temporary shock to your system. you don't eat it for a while and then your body reacts differently. if you think about it, it can happen with healthy foods too - for example if you drastically increase your fiber intake, or if you're a long time vegetarian who decides to eat meat again, even a lean cut or chicken or fish can cause severe problems.

I wonder how much of this is due to changes in the microbiome of your gut? Diet heavily influences the types of bacteria that live there.

corinasue1143 wrote: »

Use to bother me. Now I have gall bladder issues when I eat too fat or oil heavy foods. Wonder if it was just starting when it made me sick?

sunfastrose wrote: »

corinasue1143 wrote: »

Use to bother me. Now I have gall bladder issues when I eat too fat or oil heavy foods. Wonder if it was just starting when it made me sick?

I do wonder if @Skipjack66 might want to get a doctor's appt to check if something is going on.

Nope, thanks, pretty sure I'm okay since I don't have any gallbladder disease symptoms at any other time (including pain). It also ends quickly. I also have no risk factors other than being a female over 40. But thanks, it's true - most gall bladder/cholecystitis attacks do arise after high fat meals. I hope your stomach issues are settled now @corinasue1143 !

nowine4me wrote: »

Greasy and fatty foods send me running to the toilet, especially coupled with a few glasses of wine. I attributed it to IBS, but was never officially diagnosed.

My first step in trying to drop some weight was to cut out all deep fried foods altogether, which has helped tremendously. I still pick a frie or 2 off my husbands plate, but that's it.

I'm very cautious with heavy sauces or oily foods. I eat WAY more fruits and vegetables now, which sometime go give me gas, but that's pretty easily solved with Gas X.

I'd say our stomachs are pretty similar! I'm pretty sure the wine is what contributed to it at my friend's house. I don't normally drink more than a glass, and I had three.

ryenday wrote: »

Yes, I have had to eliminate all deep fried foods except the very occasional French fry or onion ring I snitch from husband.

I figured is was a getting older thing, as fried foods started to not sit well with me more and more over the years. I have also given up any trans fat oils, and I wondered if my problems eating out are related to the deep fry cooking oil.

I find I don't miss the fried foods, altho I used to love them. Southern fried chicken, chicken fried steak etc. Old favorites that just don't work for me now, stomach wise or appetite wise.

Restaurants are not usually a problem for me, I can almost certainly find a salad or meat dish (even if it is just removing the bread from a sandwich). Eating at someone's home? I try to make sure I have had at least a bite of everything and heap praise on the food. I blame my small appetite on aging and smile a lot. Seems to work. Lol.

I totally think it's portion sizes and I think this is age related too, with the deep fried food thing. I think back to my parents and they used to have the same sort of issues with eating too much or a sitting down to a big deep fry. I can still hear my mom warning my dad not to overeat or to avoid some foods "Bill, you'd better not or you're gonna feel sick .." Then heartburn would ensue if he didn't listen to her. I'm going to have to adopt the same approach. For sure, smiling and praise helps!

AnnPT77 wrote: »

A word about social situations, from a 43-year vegetarian living among meat eaters:

It's difficult the first few times I did it, but I've found it least disruptive overall to discuss dietary needs or concerns with prospective hosts at the time of invitation. It minimizes discomfort, anxiety or embarrassment for all concerned.

In your case, I'd consider something like "We'd love to come to dinner. I eat most anything, but i hope you'll understand if I partake more lightly of rich or higher-fat dishes. I enjoy them, but my system isn't handling them as well as it used to."

As a vegetarian, I just say something like "I'd love to come for dinner, but I'm a bit of a challenge: I'm a vegetarian." and play it by ear from there. Depending on their reaction & the type of occasion, I might offer to bring an added dish to share, to join a group after dinner, to eat the sides, or suggest dining out instead.

Handling it up front leaves the best opportunity for your host to be (and feel) most hospitable, rather than scrambling for alternate food when they realize there's a problem, or just worrying about why you picked at the food.

Yes, I do let people know that I am not a meat eater. All my friends are meat lovers so they get truly anxious when they have to think of something different to cook. It does make it awkward for sure. It's why I normally offer to bring over several dishes when we get together and it's also why I always make meat based dishes for family and friends when they come to my house, not to mention for I'll make them for my husband and son too. Eating seafood helps some of my friends get over their "what to cook" dilemma.

Orphia wrote: »

Skipjack66 wrote: »

Before I made changes to my diet several years ago, I had regular daily episodes of acid reflux and stomach upset with many uncomfortable and embarrassing side effects, from gas and constipation to diarrhea. Now I eat mostly fresh fruits, vegetables, rice, grains and nuts as well a lot of tofu. I don't go out to eat that often and do all of my own cooking. I rarely eat processed or packaged foods unless it's some kind of Asian sauce/condiment that I'm using in my cooking. I've also cut out pretty much all saturated fats and 95% of dairy (I'm dairy intolerant) but I still use vegetable oils like canola and olive oil and eat the occasional fish or seafood. I also cut down on my portion sizes and (thankfully) I rarely get symptoms anymore.

Anyways, I've noticed that whenever I try to eat fatty foods my stomach completely revolts. For instance I went to a restaurant last night that I hadn't been to in 15 years and ordered the fried calamari (which I used to love). It was so delicious and just like I'd remembered, but within an hour my stomach started. I didn't eat all my dinner - I left about a third, but my stomach got worse to say the least, like "up all night" kind of worse. I feel so terrible today, and I don't want to travel to far from the washroom.

Last week we went to some "new" friends for dinner and she served us giant plates of food and just way more than I'm ever used to eating. Again I was up all night and feeling very sick from all the food. She had gone to great lengths to make all these beautiful gourmet dishes and I didn't want to insult her by leaving them on my plate. But I could have happily stopped after the first course!!!

So my question is to those of you who have changed your diet to encompass more whole plant foods and less deep fried fatty foods - does this kind of stomach upset happen to you? And how do you deal with friends who truly go out of their way to make nice stuff for you but omg you just can't eat it all?

I'm realizing that I just won't be able to return to my former eating habits if I want my stomach to feel normal. I also need to be smarter when going out to restaurants. But social situations can get tricky sometimes!
Thanks everyone!!

The general trend in science these days is that saturated fats aren't actually terrible.

The calamari thing could be food poisoning.

The meal at friends sounds like simply overeating.

Finding it hard to decide whether you have orthorexia or an actual food sensitivity.

Wow. That's quite a couple of statements for someone who doesn't know me or what I eat on a daily basis.

I said that I don't eat a lot of saturated fat, not that I don't. I did not bash saturated fat. I don't eat meat or much dairy, which pretty much cuts out the main dietary sources of that type of fat.

As for orthorexia, that's quite a label to be throwing around willy nilly at a whim. Let's look at the definition of orthorexia. The National Eating Disorders Association defines it as:

"Those who have an “unhealthy obsession” with otherwise healthy eating may be suffering from “orthorexia nervosa,” a term which literally means “fixation on righteous eating.” Orthorexia starts out as an innocent attempt to eat more healthfully, but orthorexics become fixated on food quality and purity. They become consumed with what and how much to eat, and how to deal with “slip-ups.” An iron-clad will is needed to maintain this rigid eating style. Every day is a chance to eat right, be “good,” rise above others in dietary prowess, and self-punish if temptation wins (usually through stricter eating, fasts and exercise). Self-esteem becomes wrapped up in the purity of orthorexics’ diet and they sometimes feel superior to others, especially in regard to food intake.

Eventually food choices become so restrictive, in both variety and calories, that health suffers – an ironic twist for a person so completely dedicated to healthy eating. Eventually, the obsession with healthy eating can crowd out other activities and interests, impair relationships, and become physically dangerous."

Nope. From what I can see on this site, people have all sorts patterns of eating, all sorts diets and all sorts of food preferences and intolerances. I see paleo, keto, ovo-lacto vegetarian, pescatarian, vegan, gluten free, dairy free and also people with ethical and religious restrictions. All can be somewhat restrictive, but it hardly defines someone as orthorexic, which is a mental illness. My particular eating choices the last few years have pushed my cooking skills to new heights. I make Indian, Japanese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Korean, Szechwan, Cantonese, Mexican, a lot of vegan and also fusion food. Hardly restrictive, with a massive amount of cupboard space in my kitchen devoted to exotic spices and ingredients. Cooking happens to be a serious hobby of mine, but based on your PhD Psychiatry diagnosis you might want to label it an obsessional disorder.

Thanks to everyone for your input! I can see I'm not the only one who has some fatty food issues, or has to think of strategies to let friends know when I've had enough! Have a great day!