Pancreatitis diet menu

Pancreatitis and the main facts

The importance of pancreas for the health of the body isenormous due to the fact that it is responsible for the production of enzymes thatare necessary for numerous processes. This is why a number of problems occurwhen the functioning of this organ is impaired. For a start, the body cannotabsorb all the nutrients that are necessary, which results in a number of otherproblems, of which some are more than serious. For this reason, it is importantnot to ignore the signs that might indicate that something is wrong with thisorgan. Some of them are nausea, vomiting, pain in the abdomen, indigestion,loss of weight, fever and increased heart rate.

The importance of pancreatitis diet

Even though in the majority of the cases, the patients whoare diagnosed with pancreatitis need to be hospitalized in order for thecondition to be stabilized, whichever method of treatment is suggested by thedoctor, certain changes in the diet are a must. Basically, the diet has toconsist of meals that are low in fat and high in nutrients, and the diet plan willbe made with the help of the specialists such as dietitians and nutritionists. Healthycarbs such as those that can be found in brown rice, pasta, fruits, vegetables,whole grain breads are a very good choice, as well as fish, poultry, and oliveoil. The portions should not be large, because that way some digestion problemscan be avoided. The intake of dairy products should be limited, and yogurt andlow fat milk are the only recommended dairy products.

There are some foods that need to be eliminated from thediet as well, and even though this might be a bit hard, people should thinkabout the long- term benefits that this will have for their health. For example,fried and spicy food need to be avoided, as well as butter, cheese, eggs, sugar,and foods that produce gas. As for drinks and beverages, the same goes for tea,alcohol, coffee and other caffeinated drinks. Instead, the intake of water on adaily basis needs to be increased, particularly because people with thisproblem suffer from shortage of water in the body. Nicotine is also more thanharmful for the patients who suffer from pancreatitis, which means that smokersneed to get rid of this nasty habit.

Antioxidants play a very significant role, which is whytheir intake should be increased as well, either through foods or through the nutritionalsupplements, and this particularly goes for selenium, carotenoids, and vitaminsA, C and E.