Pancreatitis dietary guidelines

Pancreas and Pancreatitis

Pancreas is a gland, located in the abdominal cavity, just behind the stomach. It is connected with small intestine and it produces and excretes endocrine and exocrine hormones. It produces pancreatic juices, insulin and glucagon.

Pancreatitis is acute or chronic inflammation of pancreas. The most common causes of pancreatitis are: increased level of iron in the body or overuse of alcohol. As the result of pancreas inflammation people may experience endocrine or exocrine failure. Patients can be diagnosed with the decreased level of synthesized insulin or with completely failed production of all digestive enzymes. Pancreatitis might therefore lead to many digestion problems and heightened levels of blood sugar.

Acute pancreatitis is treated in the hospital. Patients are intravenously given fluids, antibiotics and other medications in order to relieve the pain.

Symptoms of pancreatitis can be eased simply by eating the right food. Patients are strongly advised to avoid fat food and try to eat food rich in proteins and carbohydrates.Food for Pancreatitis

Pancreatitis attacks can be managed with the proper food. Nutritionists advise vegetarian or high protein diet for people suffering from pancreas inflammation. Also, there is recommendation to serve smaller portions of food, drink plenty of water and regularly exercise.

If you are suffering from pancreatitis you should follow these guidelines:

Minimize fat foodsEat more proteinsConsume more fruits and veggiesUse less spiceAvoid alcohol and cigarettesSpecialists often advise pancreatitis patients to seriously reduce the amount of fat they consume. The pancreas secretes less digestive enzymes and therefore fat becomes hard to digest. In these patients, total fat should be less than 30% of your daily calories.

Another advice is to add food rich in proteins to your food. High protein and high carbohydrates food should be the basis of your pancreatitis eating regime. Although these foods also require some digestive enzymes, they are much more easily digested than fat. You don’t want to use red meat since it will burden your pancreas, but you may use chicken meat, because it contains saturated fats.

Eating more plant foods is especially good if you have problems with pancreas. Use more fruits and vegetables. They could be used as fresh or juiced, because they will still contain plenty of protein and carbohydrates.

Avoid spices until your pancreas starts functioning properly. All spices, hot foods, cheese, butter, caffeine and sweets should also be avoided, because they could worsen your symptoms. For the same reason don’t use alcohol or nicotine. Both, alcohol and cigarettes can make the situation and pancreatitis attacks even worse than they already are.