What should be the diet for pancreatitis?

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 may even consist of a nutritional correction.

Unfortunately, many patients follow the diet only while in hospital, while after discharge they stop it and, referring to their recovery, consume forbidden 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 primarily treated with medications, and in some cases, surgical assistance is required. However, neither drug therapy nor surgical treatment are absolutely ineffective without correcting the patient's diet.

A diet is prescribed, without exception, to all patients 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 doctor prescribes a diet for pancreatitis

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 may become disabled or even die.

A simple conclusion follows from this: a diet for pancreatitis (both acute and chronic) is not only recommended, it is necessary.

Who prescribes the diet?

Only a doctor can prescribe a diet and certain recipes for pancreatitis. At the same time, in this case, doctors of various specialties are suitable: 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 landmark in the direction of fasting. That is, in acute pancreatitis, the diet should contain the mildest food for the gastrointestinal tract in general and the pancreas in particular.

In addition, 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 starvation can be prescribed (it can only be drunk).

fasting with pancreatitis

The goal of this fairly restrictive diet is simple: significantly reduce stress on the pancreas. In the absence of a diet in the acute phase 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 throughout his life.

In this case, the patient is sometimes allowed to eat such foods, 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 amounts.

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. Also, during the week, it is allowed to use only low-fat broths, cereals (usually buckwheat) and mashed potatoes.

Once the exacerbation subsides, the patient should switch smoothly to a standard diet for chronic pancreatitis. Also, 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 pancreatitis of any kind, 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:

  1. Fatty meats, fried meats (cutlets also fall here), preserves, sausages, smoked meats, stews.
  2. Fatty, smoked and salted fish, canned fish and caviar.
  3. Fatty varieties of cottage cheese, curd (glazed curd is especially dangerous), types of spicy and smoked cheese.
  4. Scrambled or hard-boiled eggs.
  5. Turnip, garlic, onion, horseradish, bell pepper, radish.
  6. Beans, beans, mushrooms.
  7. Raw and unraveled fruits, sour and overly sweet fruits (oranges, figs, grapes, for example).
  8. Rolls, cakes, as well as other sweet and / or fatty pastry products (for cream).
  9. Chocolate, ice cream, nuts.

What can and is useful to eat with pancreatitis?

With pancreatitis, the following foods are allowed:

  • cereal and vegetable soups;
  • 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 beverages is prohibited:

  • any alcoholic beverage;
  • sweet and carbonated drinks (including store juices);
  • cocoa;
  • coffee drinks.

The following drinks are allowed:

  • kefir
  • weak green and black tea;
  • rosehip decoctions;
  • compote;
  • 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 rejection with pancreatitis

Alcohol consumption in the context 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 (except chocolate) are allowed only for chronic pancreatitis. In the acute form of the disease or exacerbation of chronic pancreatitis, any sweets, including honey, should be excluded.

Also, with chronic pancreatitis, sweets can be eaten only in limited quantities, as rarely as possible. The fact is that if the pancreas is damaged in the context of chronic pancreatitis, the use of sweets is a dangerously high risk of diabetes mellitus.

Dairy products

Although you can consume whole milk, it is not recommended, as it often causes diarrhea and flatulence. It is recommended to consume low-fat kefir, fermented baked milk and yogurt, no more than one glass a day.

Also, from dairy products with pancreatitis, cottage cheese (up to 9% fat) and cheese (mild varieties, such as mozzarella, Adyghe and feta cheese) are allowed. Sour cream can be consumed just one tablespoon a day, but only as an additive to soups.

Porridge

With this disease, only some types of cereals are allowed (buckwheat, semolina, rice and oats). In addition, the porridge can only be cooked in water or milk, in a ratio of 1 to 1.

dishes and products with pancreatitis

In the chronic form of the disease, corn or barley porridge can be consumed once a week. But pearl barley and millet porridge are prohibited for any form of pancreatitis.

Oils

With pancreatitis, it is allowed to add a small amount of butter to dishes. Vegetable and olive oil can also be added in small amounts to dishes, but only for the chronic form of the disease.

Sea buckthorn oil is strictly prohibited for pancreatitis due to irritation of the stomach and creating a serious load on the pancreas.

Baking, cookies

Even with acute pancreatitis, after several days of hunger strike, certain types of cakes and cookies are allowed. Namely:

  • white or slightly dry bread;
  • raw and unsweetened cookies;
  • biscuit cookies.

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 lead to an exacerbation of chronic pancreatitis.

Vegetables

It is allowed to eat only boiled or baked vegetables, but it is much better to use them in the form of puree (mashed potatoes, stews, soups).

vegetables with pancreatitis

The consumption of the following vegetables is allowed:

  • potato;
  • carrot;
  • beetroot;
  • pumpkin;
  • cauliflower;
  • Green pea;
  • zucchini.

In a limited amount and only in case of chronic pancreatitis, external exacerbations, it is allowed to use white cabbage and tomatoes, but only in boiled form.

Fruits

With pancreatitis, it is allowed to eat baked fruits or in the form of compotes and jelly. Fruit puree is also allowed. In limited quantities, you can eat a melon or a watermelon.

Acidic fruits (citrus fruits) are completely contraindicated, including juices made from them. It is also important to consider that the use of raw fruits for acute pancreatitis or exacerbation of chronic pancreatitis is prohibited.

Dry fruits

In acute pancreatitis, nuts are strictly prohibited, while in the chronic form of this disease, they can only be consumed in the form of compotes.

The fact is, dried fruits don't contain much less fiber than fresh fruits. Fiber is contraindicated in pancreatitis.

nuts for pancreatitis

It is also worth considering that, although nuts are allowed in small quantities in the chronic form of the disease, there are those nuts that cannot be consumed at all (figs, dates, raisins, dried apricots).

Walnuts

Walnuts are quite a fatty product, which immediately speaks against their use for pancreatitis. They can be consumed only in the chronic form of the disease and only in small quantities. But there are also some nuances here.

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 note: no more than 200 grams of white bread and no more than 30 grams of sugar a day are allowed. You need to eat only a fraction, 6 to 8 times a day in small portions. It is advisable not to skip meals.

Here 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 (protein only! );
  • 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 noodles (no more than 150 grams and only baked), 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 dumplings (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-carrot pudding (no more than 200 grams);
  • 250 grams of vegetable puree soup with compote;
  • protein omelette (no more than 100 grams);
  • curdled milk.

Saturday

  • meatballs (no more than 100 grams) with mashed potatoes (no more than 150 grams), tea;
  • protein omelette;
  • grated oatmeal soup (no more than 250 grams) with carrot puree (200 grams);
  • curdled milk.
fractional meals per hour for pancreatitis

Sunday

  • 160 grams of rice milk porridge, tea;
  • 200 grams of fruit jelly, 100 grams of boiled fish;
  • curd pudding (no more than 150 grams) with rosehip decoction (150-200 grams);
  • a glass of kefir.

Starvation

Fasting is very effective in acute pancreatitis or exacerbation of the chronic form of this disease. It is recommended to adhere to it in the described conditions for 1-3 days, using only ordinary water during this period.

Fasting is necessary to unload both the gastrointestinal system in general and the pancreas in particular. It is important to consider that during fasting the use of broths, even low in fat, is not allowed.