I am recovering (very slowly) from drug-induced chronic pancreatitis. It’s been 6 months so far and the specialists I’ve seen say it could take me another year to recover (or “recover,” as I’m not sure we’re talking about full recovery at this point.) The only treatment for this condition is diet. For me, this means an ultra-low fat diet of 9 g or less of fat per day and 2.5g or less of fat per meal. For reference, your standard low-fat diet is 70g of fat or less per day, so I am at an order of magnitude lower. It is so low-fat that even some plain grains cooked in water (e.g. plain oatmeal) are too fatty for me. For whatever reason, I have also stopped being able to digest certain “difficult” fruit and vegetables — whole grains, beans, most cruciferous vegetables, onions, garlic, hot spices. I am also avoiding alcohol in any form, including soy sauce & extracts.
So, this is not a great situation. But what makes it worse is that my husband and I love to travel (we’ve been to 26 countries so far — and not on multi-country tours — each was its own trip) and I’m finding travel difficult. I did succeed in taking my first trip (since I came down with this) over the Christmas holidays. Our destination was a four-hour drive from home. I planned each meal ahead of time, brought along some of my food and some special utensils I cook with (really good non-stick pan). We stayed for five nights in a Homewood Suites suite w/full kitchen and I cooked every meal myself.
Now I’m wondering if it is possible to do this kind of thing in Europe. I’m assuming so, since we did once stay in a suite on Martinique that had a full kitchen and I wound up cooking a lot (back then it was to save $$, not for health).
So, are there Europeans chains like Homewood Suites? How about Air B&B or a national equivalent? I’ve thought about doing Air B&B here in the US, but I’m scared of it not working out somehow. It’s not that we’d prefer to have a kitchen, I have to have some place to cook or I will not be able to eat, or at least not be able to have a balanced, varied diet. If I’m at Homewood suites and the stove doesn’t work, for whatever reason, I can always get another room. I can’t do that if something is doesn’t work at an Air B&B rental.
I can actually eat out at a restaurant, but the only proteins I can order right now are plain steamed shrimp, scallops or v. low fat fish like cod, a plain simple starch (plain white rice or potato) and a plain, simple salad. I can also eat egg whites for breakfast. Another solution is to only order the plain starch and salad, then have a protein (like non-fat Greek yogurt) when I get back to the hotel.
So, for all those travelers out there with dietary restrictions, which countries are best when it comes restaurants honoring special food requests (assuming for the moment that language is not an issue)? Which countries have you had bad experiences in? This is really key, because all I need is one slip-up and I could find myself in the ER instead of enjoying my vacation.
Thanks!