The famous ancient Greek healer Hippocrates said: "We are what we eat! "He is right in many ways, meaning by this the culture of eating food, its usefulness or harm in relation to the human body. Thus, some products are vital for the normal full 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, the right balanced diet is treatment, preventing possible relapses.
Pancreatitis is an inflammatory process that occurs in the pancreas. This organ plays an important role in the functioning of the digestive system. Its main functions are the production of insulin, as well as digestive enzymes needed to break down and digest nutrients:
trypsins, for protein digestion.
lipases, for processing fats.
lactase, maltase, amylase, invertase, which ensure the conversion of complex carbohydrates into monosaccharides.
Normally, pancreatic juice, saturated with enzymes, enters the duodenum through the ducts, where the main stage of food digestion occurs. The pathology occurs when the secretion of enzymatic fluid is very active, its quantity becomes such that it cannot migrate normally "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 leads to the fact that the pancreas constantly works in an enhanced mode, producing an excessive amount of enzymes, which has a toxic effect not only on the organ itself, but also on other life support systems that enter the systemic blood circulation.
The same reactions are possible when taking certain drugs.
Another common cause of the disease is partial or complete obstruction of the pancreatic duct. This can be due to the formation of stones (in the case of cholelithiasis), the formation of cysts, tumors, injuries and in rare cases - with a structural abnormality. Cases of disease development as a result of parasitism by pathogenic microorganisms and other gastrointestinal pathologies (cholecystitis, cholangitis, etc. ) are diagnosed less often.
General rules
There are two main forms of pathology: acute and chronic. In the first case, the symptoms are more intense: 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 is required in order to stabilize the situation as quickly as possible and to avoid dangerous complications such as pancreatic necrosis and multiple organ failure.
In the first 2-3 days after the infestation, the consumption of any food is prohibited to stop the production of enzymatic secretions. During this period, the body is fed through drops.
Drinking is allowed at will, but in small portions. The consumption of mineral or boiled water, weakly brewed tea and rosehip decoction is allowed. After the pain subsides, the patient gradually transitions 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 not exceeding 150 g up to 6 times a day.
All dishes are prepared in liquid or semi-liquid form (broths, purees, porridges) by boiling or steaming and cooled to a warm temperature before serving. Gradually, the diet is expanded, adding more high-calorie and non-shredded foods. Further nutrition for pancreatitis remains fractional and sparing.
With a chronic disease, the clinical picture is not so bright. The pathology, in this case, has already affected most 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 stools, but no pain occurs. However, during an exacerbation, the symptoms become more intense and are accompanied by severe pain.
Diet adjustments are made based on the same principles as for acute pancreatitis. After a three-day fast, the patient switches to fractional low-calorie meals (proteins - 60 g, fats - 50 g per day). This regimen is indicated for a period of 5 to 7 days. Moreover, the nature of the food changes according to the condition of the patient. Preference is given to proteins, the amount of fat remains low. Liquid food is supplemented with thick, finely chopped. Cooking by boiling or baking is allowed.
The daily intake of salt should not exceed 6 g (for any form of pathology).
Why Diet for Pancreatitis?
An acute attack of the disease is a serious damage to the health of the gland. Only in isolated cases does the organ fully recover without any consequences. As a rule, such disorders do not go away without a trace, especially if a person again abuses strong drinks or eats improperly. Going into a chronic form is a dangerous situation; full recovery will no longer be possible. In this case, the affected gland is unable to produce the required volume of enzymes; regular (often lifelong) use of pharmaceutical analogues is required.
Dietary nutrition for pancreatitis is mandatory. The main goal is to relieve the affected organ, reduce hypersecretion and prevent re-exacerbation. Difficult to digest, highly digestible 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 tissue.
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, then hormone production decreases, which ultimately can lead to the development of endocrine disease. Poor nutrition, in this case, is considered a predisposing factor.
Allowed products for pancreatitis
After the symptoms subside, the patient is shown diet chart 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 attack. It is quite limited and consists mainly of easily digestible carbohydrates.
Enhanced nutrition for pancreatitis is an adjustment of the carbohydrate diet with the addition of protein products. Their 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 - 3 g;
phosphorus - 1. 3 g;
magnesium - 0. 5 g;
iron – 0. 03 g.
All this suggests that the daily menu should not only be healthy, but also varied due to the use of various permitted products.
Vegetables: potatoes, cucumbers, cauliflower, seaweed, peas, pumpkin, courgettes, celery, carrots. Many controversies arise among nutritionists regarding the consumption of beets. It is known that boiled root vegetables are healthy, but the high content of betaine and sugars in them calls into question the safety of its use as a food for inflammation of the pancreas.
Vegetables are eaten pureed, in the form of puree, in the first courses. Gradually, the transition to coarser grinding is allowed.
Fruits, berries: apples, pears, pomegranates, peaches, strawberries, blackberries. The products are baked (apples), steamed or various delicacies are prepared from them (without sugar): preserves, jams, mousses, marshmallows, marmalades, jellies.
Meat (lean): turkey, chicken, rabbit, beef (fillet or sirloin). The products can be consumed after the patient's condition is stabilized. They are used to cook broths, puree soups, prepare steamed cutlets, rabbits, meatballs and soufflés.
Fish: perch, pike, carp, perch, cod, pollack, cod, whiting. Served in boiled pieces or processed into minced meat for steaming.
Dairy products (low fat): milk, kefir, yogurt, cottage cheese, cream, yogurt. Fermented milk drinks are sipped throughout the day, porridge is cooked with milk and cottage cheese is used for casseroles and puddings.
Separately, it is worth mentioning the cheese. Only soft brine cheeses are allowed for consumption: feta cheese, suluguni, etc. The products are added crushed to the food during cooking.
Cereals: semolina, rice, buckwheat, oatmeal. Cereals ground into flour are best suited.
Pasta: Any. Prepare according to the instructions, prefer small items.
Eggs: chicken, quail. They are eaten boiled (mashed), soft (rare) or as an omelette.
Bread: wheat (yesterday's), with bran, crackers, cookies.
Oil: Creamy (up to 30 grams per day), vegetable (linseed, olive, refined sunflower) are gradually introduced to the menu.
Drinks: weak tea, compotes, diluted juices from non-acidic berries, fruits, mineral water.
All food is prepared immediately before the meal. "Frying" soup vegetables is prohibited.
Fully or partially restricted products
Unfortunately, a dangerous disease dictates its own strict rules with which the patient will have to continue to live. First of all, this concerns the daily diet. To avoid possible relapses and worsening of the condition in the future, you should permanently stop eating 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 number of things you can eat is not so small, and in all parts of the table. In addition, if the patient feels well, the diet for pancreatitis can be expanded by introducing foods that are not included in the main diet (some seasonal vegetables, fruits, etc. ). Their consumption must be strictly limited, carefully monitoring the body's reaction. If any, even mild, symptoms indicating a possible attack appear, the new food introduced into the diet is immediately excluded.
The patient's diet does not contain foods with a high fat content. First of all, this concerns meat (pork, lamb, duck, goose, offal). Any semi-processed meat products and sausages are also prohibited. The latter are a particular potential risk, because it includes a large number of chemical aromatic additives that irritate the entire digestive system. Exceptions are sausages or ham made from dietary poultry meat, which are sometimes consumed in small quantities.
Varieties of oily sea and river fish (salmon, beluga, sturgeon, sterling, etc. ) are excluded, as well as caviar, rolls and sushi. It is allowed to eat fish dishes with a moderate fat content and seafood (no more than 2 times a week).
The diet menu does not contain vegetables with coarse fiber, high acidity: white cabbage, radish, rutabaga, radish, turnip, spinach, sorrel, corn, asparagus, eggplant. You should not serve pickles, pickles, pickled vegetables, ginger, olives or dishes prepared with garlic and onions. Products must be heat-treated before consumption; they must not be eaten raw. Sweet tomatoes can be used with caution in the diet if there are no signs of inflammation in the pancreas.
Fruits and berries contain a large amount of acids, causing increased secretion of pancreatic fluid. Therefore, their use is undesirable, especially during the recovery period after an attack. Citrus fruits, persimmons, melons, fresh berries and their juices are prohibited. Dried fruits are allowed to a limited extent.
The consumption of mushrooms and legumes is excluded. These products are a source of large amounts of vegetable protein, which helps activate the pancreas. In addition, unwanted disturbances from other organs of the gastrointestinal tract are possible: increased gas formation, constipation, which is especially problematic for people with pancreatitis.
Hard-to-digest foods made from cereals are prohibited: millet, barley, peas and pearl barley. The consistency of the finished cereal should be semi-liquid and thick; it is not recommended to consume it in friable form.
Fatty milk, as well as its derivatives (cottage cheese, kefir, sour cream) are extremely undesirable. Hard, salty, sharp cheeses and cheese products are prohibited.
When preparing food, you can not use spices or serve factory sauces: mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, etc. Cooking by frying is strictly prohibited. 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 system. Regular consumption of such foods can trigger a new attack. The same goes for any smoked meat or canned fish. You should not leave fish in a small amount of water, because. . This releases extractive substances that require increased production of pancreatic juice.
The consumption of fresh bread, bakery and sweet products is prohibited. Such foods are a source of a large number of carbohydrates, which promote the activity of the affected organ and the increased release of insulin. In combination with cooking fats (margarine, etc. ), this is a serious load that is unacceptable for pancreatitis. Therefore, you should also not eat cakes, pastries, ice cream, chocolate or honey.
Any alcohol is strictly prohibited, as well as strong coffee, carbonated drinks, cocoa and green tea.
Sample menu for a week for pancreatitis
The diet for pancreatitis in the acute phase is quite poor, but necessary to relieve inflammation. A 6-time meal plan is prescribed:
BREAKFAST. Soft porridges with water are preferred, in the absence of symptoms, with diluted milk. You can complete your meal with a piece of toasted bread spread with butter.
Lunch. As a rule, it includes unleavened cottage cheese or cheesecakes, jellies and fruit purees.
Dinner. As a first course, light broths and vegetable soups are served. For the second course - souffle with meat or fish, steamed cutlets with mashed cereals and vegetables.
Afternoon snack. Its composition is similar to the second snack.
Dinner. 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 allowed products.
Monday
Pureed rice porridge, wild rose infusion.
Baked apple with dried apricots.
Chicken cosme 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 beef meatballs.
Compote, a piece of soft, lightly salted cheese.
Boiled perch with potatoes.
Ryazhenka.
Wednesday
Oatmeal in water with dried fruit.
Yoghurt.
Rice soup with carrots, bread with cheese.
Fruit jam.
Cottage cheese casserole with pears, wheat bread.
Yoghurt.
Thursday
Steamed omelette (white), sandwich with butter, tea.
Country pudding.
Fish soup, rabbit soufflé with carrot garnish.
Kefir, fruit jelly.
Steamed chicken cutlet with cauliflower puree.
Condensed milk.
Friday
Steamed cheesecake, rosehip drink.
Baked apple.
Pumpkin cream soup, turkey roll with vegetables.
Yoghurt.
Beef stew, carrot pudding.
Tea without sugar.
Saturday
Boiled egg white, kefir.
Fruit purees, cookies.
Homemade noodles with vegetable broth, turkey cutlet.
cottage cheese
Pasta with peas, compote.
Varenets.
Sunday
Semolina porridge with butter.
Apple mousse.
Chicken broth with potato dumplings, fish pasta.
Vegetable puree.
Steamed turkey with a side dish of zucchini and carrots.
Milk (low fat).
Diet recipes
Rice porridge with pumpkin
You will need:
Broken round rice - half a glass.
pumpkin - 300 g;
milk half and half with water - only 1 glass.
sugar - 1 teaspoon;
salt.
Cut the pumpkin, which you have previously peeled and seeded, into pieces, boil in a small amount of water until soft, rub through a sieve. Another option is possible: grate the vegetable and add it to the pan along with the rice.
Add cereal to boiling diluted milk and cook for 15 minutes. Then add the pumpkin puree, the sugar, and add a little salt. Stir and leave on the fire for another 2-3 minutes. It is better to eat porridge when it has stood for 20-30 minutes.
Meatball and cauliflower soup
Components:
turkey or chicken fillet - 300 g.
fresh egg white - 2 pcs.
potatoes - 3 pcs.
carrots - 1 pc.
cauliflower - 300 g;
water – 2-2, 5 l;
salt.
Make minced meat. Knead well with the egg whites and form walnut-sized meatballs. Put the cabbage, previously disassembled into small inflorescences, and grated carrots in boiling water. After 5 minutes, add the potatoes cut into small cubes. When the vegetables are cooked, add the meatballs to the soup, salt and mix. Let them simmer on low heat for 5-7 minutes.
If the disease worsens, you can prepare a milder cream soup. In this case the meatballs are not formed. Minced meat (without protein) is added to cooked vegetables, mixed, cooked for 5-7 minutes, after which the contents of the pan are mashed with a blender. Pour the egg whites in a thin stream, while mixing them into the soup.
Chicken soufflé
Products:
skinless chicken breast - 500 g;
milk - 1 glass;
egg whites - 2 pcs.
vegetable oil (to lubricate the mold).
salt.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Pass the breast through a meat grinder twice, mix with the egg whites and milk, add salt. Beat the minced meat with the blender until it is homogeneous. Grease a heatproof dish with oil and fill with meat mixture. Bake for 30 minutes without opening the oven.
Steamed fish cutlets
You will need:
white fish fillet (cod, pollock, perch) - 500 g.
whites of 2 eggs;
salt.
Grind the fish into minced meat, add salt, combine with the egg whites and knead well until they are homogeneous. Form cutlets. Place them on a rack in a deep pan of boiling water and steam until cooked (25-30 minutes). You can use a slow cooker for this.
Omelet with broccoli
Components:
raw egg whites - 4 pcs (or 2 eggs).
broccoli - 200 g;
milk - 0. 5 cups.
water;
salt;
oil for lubrication.
Wash the cabbage, cut into pieces, cook covered for 10 minutes. Beat the whites (eggs) with milk and salt until frothy. Place the boiled vegetables in a fireproof pan, greased with oil, pour the egg-milk mixture and put them in an oven preheated to 180°C. Bake for 10 minutes. In acute cases of the disease, cabbage inflorescences are crushed into a pulp.
For children
The disease is rarely diagnosed in childhood. However, an acute attack is possible if the child suffers from substance abuse, has previously suffered from severe viral infections, abdominal trauma, or has undergone long-term drug therapy (hormones, tetracyclines). The disease often occurs in combination with other gastrointestinal pathologies, for example, gastritis. Diet therapy, in this case, should take into account the nature of the underlying disease.
Diet for pancreatitis in children is the same as in adults and is carried out according to a similar scheme: the first week - a strict, milder menu, then the weekly table is gradually diversified, subject to good digestibility and the absence of discomfort symptoms.
It is important to remember that a growing child's body needs the required amount of nutrients, including fats. Therefore, in order not to overload the gland, the child receives the required dose of enzymes artificially, i. e. with the help of drugs.
The daily menu must necessarily consist of vegetables, fruits (in the recession stage they can be eaten fresh, but with caution), fermented dairy products, liquid, thick porridges, soups, as well as boiled lean meat and fish. A strict diet after an attack must be followed for a month, an extended diet for at least 5 years, and in the chronic form of the disease it is necessary to follow the nutritional table for life.
For pregnant women
Pancreatitis in women during pregnancy can be aggravated when taking certain vitamin complexes or as a result of the internal pressure exerted on the gland by an enlarged uterus. Nutrition for pancreatitis in this case should 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. Such a diet is balanced, healthy, easier and more digestible. In addition, despite the restrictions, the diet is quite varied and allows you to combine different foods in dishes, thus providing a wide, nutritious table. However, it takes time to get used to this diet. For many patients, this is not so much a consumer obstacle as a psychological one, because many familiar "tasty" products will have to be abandoned. But this is necessary to maintain the opportunity to live normally.
Comments from nutritionists
The treatment of pancreatitis with the help of nutrition is aimed, first of all, at the maximum unloading of the affected gland. It is important to stop the excessive production of enzymatic 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 most prone to regeneration, because it is functionally "sleeping".
For this purpose, therapeutic fasting (complete refusal of food) is carried out. Most often, this regimen is followed for 24 hours, but it can be increased if the patient feels well and under the supervision of a doctor. Long-term abstinence from food (more than 7 days) requires hospitalization.
A milder option is fasting days. Nutritionists recommend taking them at least once a week. From the range of allowed dishes, one is selected, for example, porridge or vegetable purees. It is prepared in such quantities that it 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 stable positive remission dynamics be observed.
Any, even small, violation of the diet can undo all the efforts made in the past, causing a new round of diseases. How this might turn out for the patient, no doctor will say in advance, but, in any case, the consequences will be most disappointing. Reviews from patients with pancreatitis only confirm this. That's why it's so important to eat right. The main thing is to make it easier, 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 basket of diet food ranges from 20 to 40 dollars on average.