The famous ancient Greek healer Hippocrates said: "We are what we eat! " He is right in many ways, understanding by this the culture of food consumption, its usefulness or harm in relation to the human body. Thus, some products are vital for the full normal functioning of all organs and systems, while others, on the contrary, reduce the quality of life and lead to serious diseases, for example, pancreatitis. In this case, an adequate and balanced diet is a cure, avoiding possible relapses.
Pancreatitis is an inflammatory process that occurs in the pancreas. This organ plays an important role in the functioning of the digestive tract. Its main functions are the production of insulin, as well as digestive enzymes necessary for the breakdown and digestion of nutrients:
trypsins, for protein digestion;
lipases, for processing fats;
lactase, maltase, amylase, invertase, which ensure the transformation of complex carbohydrates into monosaccharides.
Normally, pancreatic juice, saturated with enzymes, enters the duodenum through the ducts, where the main stage of food digestion takes place. The pathology occurs when the secretion of enzymatic fluid is very active, its quantity becomes such that it cannot physiologically migrate "quickly" from the gland. Stagnation occurs during which digestive enzymes interact with pancreatic cells, leading to their death, stimulating inflammation.
In most cases, pancreatitis is a consequence of excessive and regular consumption of alcohol, fatty and heavy foods. Such a diet causes the pancreas to constantly work in an intensified manner, producing an excessive amount of enzymes, which has a toxic effect not only on the organ itself, but also on other life support systems, entering the systemic bloodstream.
The same reactions are possible when taking certain medications.
Another common cause of the disease is partial or complete obstruction of the pancreatic duct. This may be due to stone formation (in case of cholelithiasis), cyst formation, tumors, lesions and in rare cases – with structural abnormality. Less commonly diagnosed are cases of the disease developing as a result of parasitism by pathogenic microorganisms and other gastrointestinal pathologies (cholecystitis, cholangitis, etc. ).
General rules
There are two main forms of pathology: acute and chronic. In the first case, the symptoms are more pronounced: there is severe pain on the left side, radiating to the forearm, frequent vomiting and hyperemia. An attack usually occurs after eating fried or spicy foods or alcoholic beverages. In this case, urgent hospitalization and immediate treatment are necessary to stabilize the condition as quickly as possible and avoid dangerous complications, such as pancreatic necrosis and multiple organ failure.
In the first 2-3 days after an attack, it is forbidden to eat any food to stop the production of enzymatic secretions. During this period, the body is drip fed.
Drinking is allowed at will, but in small portions. It is allowed to consume mineral or boiled water, weakly brewed tea and rosehip decoction. After the pain subsides, the patient gradually switches to a normal diet. It is important not to overload the gland and give it time to recover, so the diet should be as gentle as possible. You should eat food in portions of no more than 150 g up to 6 times a day.
All dishes are prepared in liquid or semi-liquid form (broths, purees, porridge) by boiling or steaming and cooled to a lukewarm temperature before serving. Gradually, the diet is expanded, adding more high-calorie, non-chopped foods. Additional nutrition for pancreatitis still remains fractional and economical.
In chronic diseases, the clinical picture is not so clear. The pathology, in this case, has already affected a large part of the glandular tissues, leading to serious disturbances in the functioning of the organ, mainly in the full production of enzymes. Persistent digestive disorders are observed: diarrhea, bloating, changes in the nature of feces, but no pain occurs. However, during an exacerbation, symptoms become more intense and are accompanied by severe pain.
Dietary adjustments are made based on the same principles as for acute pancreatitis. After a three-day fast, the patient switches to low-calorie fractional meals (proteins - 60 g, fats - 50 g per day). This regime is indicated for a period of 5 to 7 days. In addition, the nature of nutrition changes depending on the patient's condition. Preference is given to proteins, the amount of fat remains low. Liquid foods are supplemented with viscous, finely chopped foods; Stew or roast cooking is permitted.
Daily salt intake should not be more than 6 g (for any form of pathology).
Why follow a pancreatitis diet?
An acute attack of the disease is a serious damage to the health of the gland. Only in isolated cases does the organ recover completely, without any consequences. As a rule, these disorders do not disappear without a trace, especially if a person again abuses strong drinks or eats improperly. The transition to the chronic form is a dangerous condition; full recovery will no longer be possible. In this case, the affected gland is not capable of producing the required volume of enzymes, making regular (often lifelong) use of medicinal analogues necessary.
Dietary nutrition for pancreatitis is mandatory. The main objective is to relieve the diseased organ, reduce hypersecretion and prevent re-exacerbation. Difficult to digest and long-digested foods that require increased production of pancreatic juice are excluded from the menu. The diet is selected in such a way as to ensure the normal functioning of the pancreas and maximum restoration of damaged tissues.
Diet plays an important role in preventing diabetes. There are special areas in the gland, called islets of Langerhans, where a specific hormone, insulin, is produced. If inflammation affects these formations, hormone generation decreases, which can lead to the development of endocrine diseases. Poor nutrition, in this case, is considered a predisposing factor.
Allowed products for pancreatitis
After the symptoms weaken, the patient is shown diet table No. 5p. There are two options – basic and advanced. The first is prescribed for the chronic course of the pathology in the active phase and in case of an acute crisis. It is quite limited and consists mainly of easily digestible carbohydrates.
Improved nutrition for pancreatitis is an adjustment to the carbohydrate diet with the addition of protein products. Its daily content in food does not exceed 125 g. At the same time, the amount of fat consumed should not exceed 70 g. In addition, the amount of other nutrients necessary for health is taken into account:
vitamin A – 10 mg;
B vitamins – from 2 to 10 mg;
vitamin C – up to 150 g;
calcium – 0. 8 g;
sodium – 3g;
phosphorus – 1. 3 g;
magnesium – 0. 5 g;
iron – 0. 03g.
All this suggests that the daily menu should not only be healthy, but also varied due to the use of different permitted products.
Vegetables: potatoes, cucumber, cauliflower, seaweed, peas, pumpkin, zucchini, celery, carrots. A lot of controversy arises among nutritionists regarding the consumption of beetroot. It is known that cooked roots are healthy, but the high content of betaine and sugars it contains calls into question the safety of its use as a food for pancreatic inflammation.
Vegetables are consumed in puree form, in the form of puree, as part of first courses. Gradually, a transition to a coarser grind is allowed.
Fruits, berries: apples, pears, pomegranates, peaches, strawberries, raspberries. The products are baked (apples), steamed, or various delicacies (without sugar) are prepared from them: preserves, compotes, mousses, marshmallows, marmalades, jellies.
Lean meat): turkey, chicken, rabbit, veal (fillet or loin). The products can be consumed after the patient's condition has stabilized. They are used to cook broths, puree soups, prepare steamed chops, quenelles, meatballs and soufflés.
Fish: pike, pike, carp, perch, hake, pollack, cod, whiting. Served in cooked pieces or transformed into minced meat for steaming.
Dairy products (low fat): milk, kefir, yogurt, cottage cheese, cream, yogurt. Fermented milk drinks are consumed little by little throughout the day, porridge is cooked with milk, and cottage cheese is used in casseroles and puddings.
Separately, it is worth mentioning the cheese. Only salty soft cheeses are allowed: feta cheese, suluguni, etc.
Cereals: semolina, rice, buckwheat, oatmeal. Cereals ground into flour are best suited.
Pasta: any. Prepare according to instructions, preferring small items.
Eggs: chicken, quail. They are consumed cooked (puree), boiled (rarely) or as an omelet.
Bread: wheat (yesterday's), with bran, crackers, cookies.
Oil: creamy (up to 30 g per day), vegetables (linseed, olives, refined sunflower) are introduced into the menu gradually.
Drinks: weak tea, compotes, diluted non-acidic berry juices, fruits, still mineral water.
All food is prepared immediately before the meal. "Frying" vegetables in soup is prohibited.
Fully or partially limited products
Unfortunately, a dangerous disease dictates its own strict rules by which the patient will have to continue to live. First of all, it concerns the daily diet. To avoid possible relapses and worsening of the condition in the future, you will have to permanently stop consuming certain foods. Of course, this is difficult to accept, but the price of poor nutrition during pancreatitis is often the patient's life.
Dieting should not be treated as an ordeal. The amount of things you can eat is not that small and is in all sections of the food table. Additionally, if the patient is feeling well, nutrition for pancreatitis can be expanded by introducing foods not included in the main diet (some seasonal vegetables, fruits, etc. ). Its consumption should be strictly limited, carefully monitoring the body's reaction. If any symptom occurs, even mild, that indicates a possible attack, the new food introduced into the diet is immediately excluded.
The patient's diet does not contain foods high in fat. First of all, this concerns meat (pork, lamb, duck, goose, offal). Any semi-finished meat products and sausages are also prohibited. The latter represent a particular potential danger, because they include a large number of flavoring chemical additives that irritate the entire digestive system. The exception is sausages or hams made from dietary poultry meat, which are sometimes consumed in small quantities.
Excluded are varieties of fatty sea and river fish (salmon, beluga, sturgeon, sterlet, etc. ), as well as caviar, rolls and sushi. It is allowed to consume fish dishes with moderate fat content and seafood (no more than 2 times a week).
The dietary menu does not contain vegetables with coarse fiber and high acidity: white cabbage, radish, rutabaga, radish, turnip, spinach, sorrel, corn, asparagus, eggplant. You should not serve pickled, pickled, salted vegetables, ginger, olives or dishes prepared with garlic and onions. Products must be thermally processed before consumption and must not be consumed raw. Sweet tomatoes can be used with caution in the diet if there are no signs of inflammation of the pancreas.
Fruits and berries contain a large amount of acids, causing increased secretion of pancreatic fluid. Therefore, its use is undesirable, especially during the rehabilitation period after a crisis. Citrus fruits, persimmons, melons, fresh berries and juices from them are prohibited. Dried fruits are permitted on a limited basis.
The consumption of mushrooms and vegetables is excluded. These products are a source of large amounts of vegetable proteins, which helps activate the pancreas. In addition, unwanted disorders of other organs of the gastrointestinal tract are possible: increased gas formation, constipation, which is especially problematic for people with pancreatitis.
Difficult to digest foods made from cereals are prohibited: corn, barley, peas and pearl barley. The consistency of the finished cereal should be semi-liquid and viscous; it is not recommended to eat it crumbly.
Fatty milk, as well as its derivatives (cottage cheese, kefir, sour cream) are extremely undesirable. Hard, salty and spicy cheeses and cheese products are prohibited.
When preparing food, you cannot use seasonings or serve factory-made sauces: mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, etc. Fried foods (including sautéed vegetables for soups) are saturated with many carcinogens and other harmful substances that have a depressing effect on the functioning of the entire digestive tract. Regular consumption of these foods can provoke a new attack. The same applies to any smoked meat or canned fish. You should not allow yourself to fish in little water, because. . . this releases extractive substances that require greater production of pancreatic juice.
It is forbidden to eat fresh bread, bakery products and sweets. This food is a source of large amounts of carbohydrates, which promote the activity of the diseased organ and increase the release of insulin. In combination with cooking fats (margarine, etc. ), this is a serious burden that is unacceptable in pancreatitis. Therefore, you should also not eat cakes, sweets, ice cream, chocolate or honey.
Any alcoholic beverages are strictly prohibited, as are strong coffee, soft drinks, cocoa and green tea.
Sample menu for a week for pancreatitis
Nutrition for pancreatitis in the acute phase is quite poor, but necessary to relieve inflammation. A 6-fold eating plan is prescribed:
Breakfast. Soft porridges with water are preferable; in the absence of symptoms, with diluted milk. You can complement your meal with a piece of toasted bread spread with butter.
Lunch. As a rule, it includes unleavened cottage cheese or cheesecakes, jelly and fruit puree.
To have lunch. Light broths and vegetable soups are served as a first course. For the second course - meat or fish soufflé, steamed cutlets with cereal and vegetable puree.
Afternoon snack. Its composition is similar to the second snack.
To have lunch. This meal is preferably light, but with sufficient protein content. Boiled fish, meat pate with a side dish are suitable.
For the night. Instead of food - a glass of kefir or low-fat yogurt.
Depending on the patient's condition, the daily menu is supplemented with other dishes from the list of permitted products.
Monday
Rice porridge puree, rosehip infusion.
Baked apple with dried apricots.
Chicken consommé with croutons, fish soufflé.
Kissel, cookies.
Turkey meatballs, pumpkin and carrot puree.
Kefir.
Tuesday
Buckwheat porridge, tea with milk.
Low-fat cottage cheese (100 g), apple mousse.
Vegetable puree soup, steamed veal meatballs.
Compote, a piece of soft, slightly salty cheese.
Pike stewed with potatoes.
Ryazhenka.
Wednesday
Oat porridge in water with dried fruits.
Yogurt.
Rice soup with carrots, bread with cheese.
Fruit jelly.
Cottage cheese casserole with pears, wheat bread.
Yogurt.
Thursday
Steam omelet (white), sandwich with butter, tea.
Curd pudding.
Fish soup, rabbit souffle with carrot garnish.
Kefir, fruit jelly.
Steamed chicken cutlet with cauliflower puree.
Curdled milk.
Friday
Steamed cheesecakes, rosehip drink.
Roast apple.
Creamy pumpkin soup, turkey roll with vegetables.
Yogurt.
Boiled veal, carrot pudding.
Tea without sugar.
Saturday
Boiled egg white, kefir.
Fruit puree, biscuits.
Homemade pasta with vegetable broth, turkey ribs.
Cottage cheese.
Pasta with peas, jam.
Varenets.
Sunday
Semolina porridge with butter.
Apple mousse.
Chicken broth with potato dumplings, fish cakes.
Vegetable puree.
Steamed turkey with a side of zucchini and carrots.
Milk (low fat).
Diet recipes
Rice porridge with pumpkin
You will need:
Broken round grain rice - half a glass;
pumpkin – 300 g;
milk half and half with water - just 1 glass;
sugar – 1 teaspoon;
salt.
Cut the pumpkin, previously peeled and seeded, into pieces, boil in a little water until soft, pass through a sieve. Another option is possible: grate the vegetable and add it to the pan along with the rice.
Add the cereal to the boiling diluted milk and cook for 15 minutes. Then add the pumpkin puree, sugar and a little salt. Stir and heat for another 2-3 minutes. It is best to eat porridge after it has stood for 20-30 minutes.
Meatball and cauliflower soup
Ingredients:
turkey or chicken fillet – 300 g;
fresh egg white – 2 pieces;
potatoes - 3 pieces;
carrots – 1 piece;
cauliflower – 300 g;
water – 2-2, 5 l;
salt.
Make minced meat. Mash well with the egg whites and form meatballs the size of a walnut. Put the cabbage, previously disassembled into small inflorescences, and grated carrots in boiling water. After 5 minutes, add the diced potatoes. When the vegetables are cooked, add the meatballs to the soup, add salt and stir. Let it boil over low heat for 5-7 minutes.
If the illness worsens, you can prepare a milder creamy soup. In this case, the meatballs have no shape. Minced meat (without protein) is added to the cooked vegetables, mixed, cooked for 5-7 minutes, after which the contents of the pan are purified using a blender. Pour the egg whites in a thin stream, stirring them into the soup.
Souffle Of Chicken
Products:
skinless chicken breast – 500 g;
milk – 1 glass;
egg whites – 2 pieces;
vegetable oil (to grease the mold);
salt.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Pass the breast through a meat grinder twice, mix with whites and milk, add salt. Blend the minced meat in a blender until smooth. Grease a heat-resistant dish with oil and fill with the meat mixture. Bake for 30 minutes without opening the oven.
Steamed fish cutlets
You will need:
white fish fillet (cod, saithe, perch) – 500 g;
whites of 2 eggs;
salt.
Grind the fish into minced meat, add salt, mix with egg whites and knead well until smooth. Form cutlets. Place them on a wire rack placed in a deep pan of boiling water and steam until cooked (25-30 minutes). You can use a slow cooker for this.
Broccoli omelet
Ingredients:
raw egg whites – 4 pieces (or 2 eggs);
broccoli – 200 g;
milk – 0. 5 cup;
water;
salt;
oil for lubrication.
Wash the cabbage, cut into pieces, cook covered for 10 minutes. Beat the whites (eggs) with the milk and salt until foamy. Place the cooked vegetables in a refractory frying pan greased with oil, pour in the egg and milk mixture and place in a preheated oven at 180 °C. Bake for 10 minutes. In acute cases of the disease, cabbage inflorescences are turned into pulp.
For kids
The disease is rarely diagnosed in childhood. However, an acute attack is possible if the child suffers from substance abuse, has previously suffered severe viral infections, abdominal trauma, or has undergone long-term drug therapy (hormones, tetracyclines). The disease often manifests itself in conjunction with other gastrointestinal pathologies, for example, gastritis. Diet therapy, in this case, must take into account the nature of the underlying disease.
Food for pancreatitis in children is the same as in adults and is carried out according to a similar scheme: the first week - a strict and more gentle menu, then the weekly table is gradually diversified, subject to good digestibility and the absence of disturbing symptoms.
It is important to remember that a growing child's body needs the necessary amount of nutrients, including fats. Therefore, in order not to overload the gland, the child receives the necessary dose of enzymes artificially, that is, with the help of medications.
The daily menu must necessarily consist of vegetables, fruits (in the remission phase they can be consumed fresh, but with caution), fermented dairy products, liquid and viscous porridges, soups, as well as lean meat and boiled fish. A strict diet after an attack must be followed for a month, a prolonged diet for at least 5 years, and in the chronic form of the disease it is necessary to follow the food chart for life.
For pregnant
Pancreatitis in women during pregnancy may worsen while taking certain vitamin complexes or as a result of internal pressure exerted on the gland by an enlarged uterus. Nutrition for pancreatitis, in this case, must be dietary, but taking into account all the nutritional needs necessary for the full development of the fetus.
Advantages and disadvantages
Following a diet is the key to the health of not only the pancreas, but also the entire digestive system. This nutrition is balanced, healthy, easier and more complete to digest. Furthermore, despite the restrictions, the food is quite varied and allows you to combine different foods in dishes, thus providing a broad and nutritious table. However, it takes time to get used to this diet. For many patients, this is not so much a consumption barrier as a psychological one, because many "tasty" familiar products will have to be abandoned. But this is necessary to maintain the opportunity to live normally.
Comments from nutritionists
Treatment of pancreatitis with the help of diet is aimed, first of all, at maximizing the discharge of the affected gland. It is important to stop the excessive production of enzyme secretions. However, according to nutritionists, from time to time it is necessary to provide the digestive organs with complete rest. During this period, the affected organ is more predisposed to regeneration, because it is functionally "asleep".
For this purpose, therapeutic fasting is carried out (complete refusal of food). Most often, this regimen is observed for 24 hours, but can be increased if the patient feels well and under the supervision of a doctor. Prolonged food abstinence (more than 7 days) requires hospitalization.
A gentler option is fasting days. Nutritionists recommend taking them at least once a week. From the line of permitted dishes, one is selected, for example, porridge or vegetable puree. It is prepared in quantities that can be divided into several meals. No other products are consumed.
Reviews and results
Only with strict adherence to the rules of the treatment table can a positive and stable dynamics of remission be observed.
Any violation of the diet, even a small one, can nullify all the efforts made previously, provoking a new round of illnesses. How this can happen for the patient, no doctor will say in advance, but in any case the consequences will be the most disappointing. Reviews of patients with pancreatitis only confirm this. This is why it is so important to eat well. The main thing is to be calm, study your body and understand what is well tolerated and what is bad. An excellent motivation in this matter is the strong support of loved ones.
Price
The cost of a weekly dietary food basket is on average 20 to 40 dollars.