Despite the fact that modern medicine has created a number of powerful and effective drugs for the treatment of pancreatitis, without diet, such treatment is less effective. Also, with a mild or moderate course of pancreatitis, treatment can also consist of a nutritional correction.
Unfortunately, many patients follow the diet only in hospital, while after discharge they interrupt it and, referring to their recovery, consume prohibited foods. As a result, this leads to repeated inflammation, which is much more difficult to treat than the primary one.
The importance of proper nutrition in pancreatitis
Acute and chronic pancreatitis are treated primarily with drugs, and in some cases, surgical assistance is required. However, neither drug therapy nor surgical treatment is absolutely ineffective without a correction of the patient's diet.
A diet is prescribed, without exception, to every patient with pancreatitis, regardless of the severity of the disease. Non-compliance leads to a second attack of the disease, which the patient will tolerate much worse than the initial one.
The diet allows you to reduce the load not only on the pancreas, but also on the entire system of the gastrointestinal tract as a whole. In addition, the selection of foods in the diet is aimed at providing the patient's body with all the substances necessary for the regeneration of damaged organs.
In many patients, the disease in the acute period causes such severe damage to the pancreas that the patient's diet is prescribed for life. Patients who ignore the doctor's prescriptions regarding diet in such a situation can become disabled or even die.
A simple conclusion follows: a diet for pancreatitis (both acute and chronic) is not only recommended, but necessary.
Who prescribes the diet?
Only a doctor can prescribe a diet and some recipes for pancreatitis. At the same time, doctors of different specializations are suitable in this case: therapists, endocrinologists, gastroenterologists and, in some cases, infectious disease specialists.
Self-administration of a diet is dangerous both for health (disability is possible) and for life. It is especially dangerous to prescribe a diet for pancreatitis without consulting a doctor for children and pregnant women.
Features of the diet for acute pancreatitis
A distinctive feature of the diet for acute pancreatitis can be called a benchmark in the direction of fasting. That is, in acute pancreatitis, the diet should contain the most sensitive food for the gastrointestinal tract in general and the pancreas in particular.
Also, doctors prescribe to minimize the amount of food consumed in the first week of the disease, and in the first 2-4 days of the disease, complete hunger can be prescribed (you can only drink).
The goal of this fairly restrictive diet is simple: to significantly reduce the stress on the pancreas. In the absence of a diet in the acute stage of pancreatitis, treatment can be completely useless.
Features of the diet for chronic pancreatitis
The peculiarities of nutrition in chronic pancreatitis are that the patient needs to limit himself in the use of fatty, fried, spicy and smoked foods for life.
In this case, the patient is sometimes allowed to eat such food, but in small quantities. Alcohol is completely contraindicated, but most patients ignore this prescription, so doctors simply insist that the patient drink it as little as possible and in small quantities.
Features of the diet with exacerbation of pancreatitis
With an exacerbation of pancreatitis, an extremely restrictive diet is introduced, in which in the first days of the disease it is recommended to completely refuse to eat. In addition, during the week, it is allowed to use only low-fat broths, cereals (usually buckwheat) and mashed potatoes.
After the exacerbation subsides, the patient should safely switch to a standard diet for chronic pancreatitis. In addition, all changes in nutrition during an exacerbation of pancreatitis should be carried out exclusively in consultation with a doctor. Self-administration of diet therapy is dangerous not only for health, but also for life.
What is not allowed with pancreatitis?
With any type of pancreatitis, there is a fairly large list of products that are strictly forbidden to use (both until the end of treatment, and, much less often, for life).
The list of prohibited foods for pancreatitis is as follows:
- Fatty meats, fried meat (cutlets also fall here), canned food, sausages, smoked products, stew.
- Fatty fish, smoked and salted fish, any canned fish and caviar.
- Fatty varieties of cottage cheese, curd (glazed curd is especially dangerous), spicy and smoked cheeses.
- Scrambled eggs or hard boiled eggs.
- Turnip, garlic, onion, horseradish, pepper, radish.
- Beans, beans, mushrooms.
- Raw and not frayed fruit, sour and too sweet fruit (oranges, figs, grapes, for example).
- Sandwiches, cakes, as well as other sweet and / or fatty confectionery products (due to cream).
- Chocolate, ice cream, nuts.
What can and is it useful to eat with pancreatitis?
With pancreatitis, the following foods are allowed:
- soups from cereals and vegetables;
- boiled beef, fish, poultry;
- chicken egg omelette;
- a small amount of honey;
- various cereals;
- baked or boiled vegetables;
- mashed potatoes;
- carrot.
What can and cannot be drunk?
The use of the following drinks is prohibited:
- any alcoholic beverages;
- sweet and carbonated drinks (including fruit juices);
- cocoa;
- coffee drinks.
The following drinks are allowed:
- kefir;
- weak black and green tea;
- rosehip decoctions;
- composed;
- curdled milk.
Alcohol
Alcohol with pancreatitis is contraindicated in any form of the disease. Alcoholic beverages have a detrimental effect not only on the pancreas, but also on the adjacent organs of the abdominal cavity, which in the vast majority of cases are also indirectly affected by pancreatitis.
Alcohol consumption against the background of chronic pancreatitis increases the severity of its symptoms and leads to the progression of the disease. Alcohol consumption in acute pancreatitis significantly reduces the effectiveness of treatment and increases the risk of death from pancreatic necrosis.
Sweet and honey
Honey and sweets (excluding chocolate) are only allowed for chronic pancreatitis. In the acute form of the disease or exacerbation of chronic pancreatitis, all sweets, including honey, should be excluded.
Also, with chronic pancreatitis, sweets can only be consumed in limited quantities, as rarely as possible. The fact is that if the pancreas is damaged against the background of chronic pancreatitis, the use of sweets is a dangerously high risk of diabetes mellitus.
Dairy product
Although whole milk can be consumed, it is not recommended, as it often causes diarrhea and flatulence. It is recommended to consume low-fat kefir, fermented cooked milk and yogurt, no more than one glass per day.
Also, from dairy products with pancreatitis, cottage cheese (up to 9% fat) and cheese (mild varieties, such as mozzarella, Adyghe and feta) are allowed. Sour cream can only be consumed one tablespoon per day, but only as a soup additive.
Porridge
With this disease, only certain types of cereals are allowed (buckwheat, semolina, rice and oatmeal). In addition, porridge can only be cooked in water or milk, in a 1 to 1 ratio.
In the chronic form of the disease, corn or barley porridge can be eaten once a week. But pearl barley and millet porridge are prohibited for any form of pancreatitis.
Oils
With pancreatitis, it is permissible to add a small amount of butter to dishes. Vegetables and olive oil can also be added in small quantities to dishes, but only for the chronic form of the disease.
Sea buckthorn oil is strictly prohibited for pancreatitis due to stomach irritation and creating a severe load on the pancreas.
Baking, cookies
Even with acute pancreatitis, after several days of hunger strike, some types of pastries and cookies are allowed. That means:
- white or slightly dry bread;
- raw and unsweetened cookies;
- biscuit biscuits.
Other baked goods and baked goods are prohibited or simply not recommended. Fresh baked goods are especially dangerous, which can significantly aggravate acute pancreatitis or provoke an exacerbation of chronic pancreatitis.
Vegetables
It is allowed to eat vegetables only in boiled or baked form, but it is much better to use them in puree (mashed potatoes, casseroles, soups).
The following vegetables are allowed for consumption:
- Potato;
- carrot;
- beet;
- pumpkin;
- cauliflower;
- green pea;
- zucchini.
In limited quantities and only in case of chronic pancreatitis, outside of exacerbations, the use of white cabbage and tomatoes is allowed, but only in boiled form.
Fruit
With pancreatitis, it is allowed to eat cooked fruit or in the form of compotes and jelly. Fruit puree is also allowed. In limited quantities, you can eat a melon or watermelon.
Sour fruits (citrus) are completely contraindicated, including the resulting juices. It is also important to consider that it is forbidden to use raw fruit for acute pancreatitis or exacerbation of chronic pancreatitis.
Dried fruit
In acute pancreatitis, dried fruits are strictly prohibited, while in the chronic form of this disease they can be consumed only in the form of compotes.
The fact is that dried fruit contains not much less fiber than fresh fruit. Fiber is contraindicated in pancreatitis.
It is also worth considering that, although dried fruit is allowed in small quantities in the chronic form of the disease, there are those dried fruits that cannot be consumed at all (figs, dates, raisins, dried apricots).
Peanuts
Walnuts are a rather fatty product, which immediately speaks out against their use for pancreatitis. They can be consumed only in the chronic form of the disease and only in small quantities. But here too there are some nuances.
So doctors prohibit the use of walnuts for a year after acute pancreatitis or within a year after suffering an exacerbation of chronic pancreatitis.
An example of a menu for a week with pancreatitis
It is important to consider: no more than 200 grams of white bread and no more than 30 grams of sugar per day are allowed. You need to eat only fractionally, 6-8 times a day in small portions. It is advisable not to skip meals.
Below is a sample menu for pancreatitis for one week.
Monday
- no more than 200 grams of mashed potatoes with 90-100 grams of meatballs, tea;
- no more than 100 grams of cottage cheese;
- carrot puree soup (no more than 250 grams), a toast, compote;
- 100 grams of steamed omelette (only from proteins! );
- a glass of yogurt.
Tuesday
- 150 grams of boiled fish and 150 grams of carrot puree, tea;
- no more than 100 grams of cottage cheese;
- 100 grams of steamed omelette;
- kefir.
Wednesday
- boiled fish with pasta (no more than 150 grams and only baked in the oven), 150 grams of puree;
- 100 grams of cottage cheese;
- cottage cheese souffle with tea (no more than 150 grams);
- a glass of yogurt.
Thursday
- 200 grams of mashed potatoes with the addition of steamed meatballs (no more than 10 grams), tea with milk;
- semolina milk soup (no more than 250 grams), fruit jelly;
- protein omelette (no more than 100 grams);
- curdled milk.
Friday
- apple and carrot pudding (no more than 200 grams);
- 250 grams of vegetable puree soup with compote;
- protein omelette (no more than 100 grams);
- curdled milk.
on Saturday
- meatballs (no more than 100 grams) with mashed potatoes (no more than 150 grams), tea;
- protein omelette;
- grated oat soup (no more than 250 grams) with carrot puree (200 grams);
- curdled milk.
Sunday
- 160 grams of rice milk porridge, tea;
- 200 grams of fruit jelly, 100 grams of boiled fish;
- cottage cheese pudding (no more than 150 grams) with rosehip decoction (150-200 grams);
- a glass of kefir.
Hunger
Fasting is very effective in acute pancreatitis or exacerbation of the chronic form of this disease. It is recommended to adhere to it under the conditions described for 1-3 days, using only plain water during this period.
Fasting is necessary to discharge both the gastrointestinal system in general and the pancreas in particular. It is important to consider that during fasting it is not allowed to use broths, even low-fat ones.