Pancreas helps to regulate amount of sugar processed by the body. It serves as an important function to provide enzymes that gets released in your body and aids in digestion. Pancreatitis is a medical condition in which you pancreas becomes inflamed and swollen, as a result of inflammation; you cannot perform your body functions properly. This is a serious disorder that could affect your digestive process and lead you to acute pancreatitis. It may also affect gallstones and therefore diet is absolutely necessary to prevent health adversities caused by this problem. Let us know about the diet that you need to take in this condition which can help to regulate your body functions.
What should you eat during Pancreatitis?
We consulted Ms. Shilpa Singh, Clinical Nutritionist from Fatima Hospital, Lucknow to know about the diet that should be taken in pancreatitis. To treat pancreatitis, you need to have foods that are rich in proteins and antioxidants. It should not contain too much of animal fats as it can tolerate upto 40% of the calories from fats. Medium chain triglycerides can be taken but they also need to be lower than 50 grams per day. You may also have some berries, green vegetables and other foods containing whole grain while you are recovering from pancreatitis.
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Foods to Avoid in Pancreatitis
You need to strictly avoid some food from your diet if you suffering through pancreatitis. Here are some foods that could harm your health-
- Red meats
- Full fat dairy products
- Desserts and breads with added sugar content
- Mayonnaise
- Butter
- Fries and potato chips
- Foods that are fried
- Beverages containing added sugars
While recovering from pancreatitis, you need to avoid foods that contain trans fat in them as they could have a negative effect on your body functions. People those who have habit of eating fast food such as French fries and fast foods need could get their symptoms becoming worse. This happens because the processed food present in these dishes cause inflammation in the body and further damages the pancreas functions.
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Heavily cooked or food that is deep fried can trigger pancreatitis, hence you must avoid it. Alcohol must be avoided and quit smoking as it can inflame pancreatitis functions. Apart from this, you also need to suppress your refined carbs and bakery items that could cause slow metabolism in your system. As a result of poor metabolism, it will take a toll on the insulin levels in the body and cause spike in this parameter.
Dietary Tips for Pancreatitis
If you are recovering from pancreatitis, then you need to have more of low-fat foods in your diet. Increase you water intake and try to have beverages like coconut water, electrolyte beverage and other nutrients in your food. You may need to change your eating habits completely if you have severe pancreatitis infection. Here are some tips given by nutritionist that you need to follow in order to cure and control your pancreatitis recovery.
1. If you are suffering from pancreatitis, then you may fall for malnutrition in the body. This happens because of dysfunction of pancreas gland. Vitamins such as A, D, E and K are the most common results of pancreatic functions.
2. Eat between six to eight small meals rather than having 3 big meals. This is because small meals are easy to digest and are easy on the pancreas function to perform effectively. This can ease pressure on pancreas and induce recovery process.
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3. Use MCTs as your primary source of fat intakes. This type of fat does not require too much pancreas usage because lesser enzymes are needed. It can be beneficial for your body as it will help to boost your recovery process. Coconut oil and palm kernel oil can be good sources for healthy diet during pancreatitis.
4. Do not eat too much fibre in one go, this is because it can affect your digestion process. Since the pancreas functions are not efficient, it could lead to less than necessary amount of nutrient absorption. Fibre may also put a limit to amount of enzymes in the body.
5. Take multivitamin supplement to ensure that you are getting enough amounts of nutrients in your diet.
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