The famous Greek physician Hippocrates said, "We are what we eat! "He is right in many ways, meaning by this the culture of food consumption, 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, proper nutrition is a remedy that prevents 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 needed for the breakdown and digestion of nutrients:
trypsin, for digestion of proteins;
lipases, to process 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 channels, where the main stage of food digestion takes place. Pathology occurs when the secretion of enzymatic fluid is too active, its amount becomes such that it cannot physiologically "quickly" move from the gland. Stagnation occurs when digestive enzymes interact with pancreatic cells, which leads to their death and stimulates inflammation.
In most cases, pancreatitis is the result of excessive and regular consumption of alcohol, fatty and heavy foods. Such a diet leads to the pancreas constantly working in an increased mode and producing an excessive amount of enzymes, which has a toxic effect not only on the organs themselves, but also on other life support systems, which enter the bloodstream.
The same reaction is possible when certain medications are taken.
Another common cause of the disease is partial or complete obstruction of the pancreatic duct. This can be caused by the formation of stones (in the case of cholelithiasis), the formation of cysts, tumors, trauma, and in rare cases - by pregnancy. More rarely diagnosed are cases of the development of the disease due to parasites caused by pathogenic microorganisms and other diseases of the digestive tract (cholecystitis, cholecystitis, etc. ).
General rules
There are two main types of pathology: acute and chronic. In the first case, the symptoms are most pronounced: there are severe pains in the left side, radiating to the forearm, frequent vomiting and anemia. An attack usually occurs after eating fried or spicy food or alcoholic beverages. In this case, urgent hospitalization and immediate treatment is required to restore balance as soon as possible and avoid dangerous complications such as pancreatic necrosis and multi-organ failure.
For the first 2-3 days after an attack, it is forbidden to eat any food to stop the production of enzyme secretion. During this period, the body is fed through drops.
Drinking is allowed at will, but in small portions. Consuming mineral or boiled water, weakly brewed tea and rosehip is allowed. 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 soft 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 (broth, puree, porridge) by boiling or steaming and cooling to a warm temperature before serving. Gradually expand the diet and add high-calorie and whole foods. Further nutrition for pancreatitis is still broken 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, which leads to serious disturbances in the functioning of the organ, primarily in the full production of enzymes. Persistent indigestion occurs: diarrhea, bloating, changes in the nature of feces, but no pain occurs. However, during an exacerbation, the symptoms become more intense and are accompanied by severe pain.
Diet adjustment is based on the same rules as for acute pancreatitis. After three days of fasting, the patient switches to partial calorie meals (protein - 60 g, fat - 50 g per day). This treatment is intended for 5 to 7 days. Furthermore, the nature of the food changes according to the condition of the patient. Proteins are selected, the amount of fat remains low. Liquid foods are added to viscous, finely chopped; It is allowed to cook by picking or baking.
Daily salt intake should not be more than 6 g (for any pathology).
Why Follow a Diet for Pancreatitis?
An acute attack of the disease is a serious damage to the health of the gland. Only in rare cases does the organ recover completely without any consequences. As a rule, such disorders do not disappear without a trace, especially if a person abuses strong drinks or eats inappropriately again. The transition to a chronic form is a dangerous situation, it will no longer be possible to fully recover. In this case, the affected gland cannot produce the necessary amount of enzymes; regular (often lifelong) use of drug analogues is necessary.
A diet for pancreatitis is a must. The main goal is to relieve the diseased organ, reduce hypersecretion and prevent relapse. Hard-to-digest, long-digested foods that require increased production of pancreatic juice are excluded from the menu. The diet is chosen in such a way as to ensure the normal functioning of the pancreas and maximum recovery of damaged tissue.
Diet plays an important role in preventing diabetes. There are special areas in the gland, called the islets of Langerhans, where a certain hormone, insulin, is produced. If inflammation affects these formations, then hormone production decreases, which ultimately can lead to the development of endocrine disorders. Poor nutrition, in this case, is considered a predisposition.
Approved products for pancreatitis
After the symptoms have subsided, the patient is shown food chart no. 5p. There are two options - basic and advanced. The first is prescribed for chronic pathology in the active phase and in the case of an acute attack. It is rather limited and mainly consists of easily digestible carbohydrates.
Increased nutrition for pancreatitis is an adjustment to the carbohydrate diet by adding protein products. Their daily content in food is no more than 125 g. At the same time, the amount of fat consumed should not exceed 70 g. In addition, the amount of other nutrients that are essential for health is taken into account:
Vitamin A - 10 mg;
Vitamin B - 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, green beans, pumpkin, zucchini, celery, carrots. There is a lot of controversy among nutritionists regarding the consumption of beets. It is a well-known fact that boiled root vegetables are healthy, but their high content of betaine and sugar question the safety of using them as food for pancreatitis.
Vegetables are eaten pureed, in the form of puree, as part of the first courses. Gradually switch to coarser grinding.
Fruits, berries: apples, pears, pomegranates, peaches, strawberries, raspberries. The products are baked (apples), steamed or various delicacies (without sugar) are prepared from them: sugar, jam, mousse, marshmallows, marmalade, jelly.
Meat (lean): turkey, chicken, rabbit, veal (fillet or sirloin). The products can be eaten after the patient's condition has stabilized. They are used to cook broth, puree soups, prepare steamed cutlets, quenelles, meatballs and soufflés.
Fish: roach, roach, carp, perch, lamprey, roach, cod, flounder. Serve in boiled pieces or mince for steaming.
Dairy products (low fat): milk, kefir, yogurt, cottage cheese, cream, yogurt. Fermented milk drinks are drunk little by little throughout the day, porridge cooked with milk and cottage cheese is used in stews and pudding.
The cheese is especially worth mentioning. It is only permitted to consume soft pickled cheeses: feta cheese, suluguni, etc. s. etc. The products are added crushed to the food during cooking.
Corn: semolina, rice, buckwheat, oatmeal. Grain ground into flour is best.
Pasta: Someone. Prepare as directed, small portions are selected.
Eggs: chicken, chicken. They are eaten boiled (mashed), soft (rarely) or as an omelette.
Bread: flour (yesterday), with bran, crackers, crackers.
Oil: Creamy (up to 30 g per day), vegetables (linseed, olive oil, refined sunflower oil) are introduced into the menu gradually.
Drinks: weak tea, compote, diluted juice from non-acidic berries, fruit, still mineral water.
All food is prepared just before the meal. Soup "frying" vegetables is prohibited.
Fully or partially restricted products
Unfortunately, a dangerous disease dictates its own strict rules that the patient must continue to live by. First of all, this concerns the daily diet. To avoid possible relapses and worsening of the condition in the future, you must permanently stop consuming certain foods. Of course, this is hard to accept, but the price of poor nutrition in pancreatitis is often the patient's life.
Dieting should not be treated as a puzzle. The number of things you can eat is not so small, and in all parts of the food table. In addition, if the patient feels well, nutrition for pancreatitis can be increased 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 reactions. If any, even mild, symptoms appear that indicate a possible shock, the new food introduced into the diet is immediately excluded.
The patient's diet does not include high-fat foods. First of all, this concerns meat (pork, lamb, duck, goose, offal). All semi-finished meat products and sausages are also prohibited. The latter poses a particular potential danger, due to the fact that they contain a large number of chemical flavors that irritate the entire digestive system. The exception is sausages or poultry ham in the diet, which are sometimes consumed in small quantities.
Varieties of fatty sea and river fish (salmon, whiting, sturgeon, sterlet, etc. ), as well as caviar, roll and sushi are excluded. Consumption of fish dishes with a moderate fat content and seafood is allowed (no more than 2 times a week).
The diet menu does not include vegetables with coarse fiber, high acidity: 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 heat treated before eating; they should not be eaten 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, which cause increased secretion of pancreatic fluid. Therefore, their use is undesirable, especially during the rehabilitation 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 digestive tract are possible: increased gas formation, constipation, which is especially problematic for people with pancreatitis.
Hard-to-digest cereal foods are prohibited: millet, barley, beans and pearl barley. The consistency of the finished grain should be semi-fluid and viscous; it is not recommended to eat it in crushed form.
Fat 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 cannot use any spices or serve factory-made sauces: mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, etc. s. etc. Cooking with frying is strictly prohibited. Fried foods (including fried vegetables for soups) are saturated with many carcinogens and other harmful substances that inhibit the functioning of the entire digestive tract. Regular consumption of such food can trigger a new attack. The same goes for any smoked meat or canned fish. You should not release fish into a small amount of water, therefore. . . this releases extractives that require increased production of pancreatic juice.
It is forbidden to eat new bread, bakery and sweet products. Such food is a source of a large number of carbohydrates, which contribute to the functioning of the diseased organ and the increased release of insulin. Together with dietary fat (butter, etc. ), this is a serious load that is unacceptable for pancreatitis. Therefore, you should also not eat cakes, pastries, ice cream, chocolate or honey.
All alcohol is strictly prohibited, as well as strong coffee, carbonated drinks, cocoa and green tea.
A sample menu for a week for pancreatitis
Nutrition for pancreatitis in the acute phase is rather poor but necessary to relieve inflammation. A 6-hour meal plan is prescribed:
Breakfast. Soft porridge with water is preferred; if no symptoms are present, with diluted milk. You can supplement the meal with a piece of toast brushed with butter.
Lunch. As a rule, it contains unleavened cottage cheese or cheesecakes, jelly and fruit puree.
Dinner. Light broth and vegetable soups are offered as a first course. For the second course - meat or fish soufflé, steamed cutlets with mashed cereal and vegetables.
Afternoon snack. Its composition is similar to other snacks.
Dinner. This meal is preferably light, but with sufficient protein content. Boiled fish, meat pate with side dishes are suitable.
For the night. Instead of food - a glass of low-fat kefir or yogurt.
Depending on the patient's condition, the daily menu is supplemented with other dishes from the list of permitted products.
Monday
Mashed rice porridge, rose pillow.
Apple baked with dried apricots.
Chicken consommé with croutons, fish soufflé.
Kisses, biscuits.
Turkey meatballs, pumpkin and carrot puree.
Kefir.
Tuesday
Buckwheat porridge, tea with milk.
Low-fat cottage cheese (100 g), applesauce.
Vegetable puree soup, steamed veal meatballs.
Compote, a piece of soft, lightly salted cheese.
Boiled venison perch with potatoes.
Ryazhenka.
Wednesday
Oatmeal in water with dried fruit.
Yogurt.
Rice soup with carrots, bread with cheese.
Fruit jam.
Cottage cheese with pears, wheat bread.
Yogurt.
Thursday
Steam omelette (white), sandwich with butter, tea.
Ball pudding.
Fish soup, rabbit soufflé with carrot garnish.
Kefir, fruit jelly.
Steamed chicken cutlet with cauliflower puree.
Stirred milk.
Friday
Steamed cheesecakes, rose drink.
Baked apple.
Pumpkin cream soup, turkey roll with vegetables.
Yogurt.
Braised veal, carrot pudding.
Unsweetened tea.
Saturday
Boiled egg white, kefir.
Fruit puree, biscuits.
Homemade noodles with vegetable broth, turkey cutlet.
Cottage cheese.
Pasta with green beans, compote.
Varenets.
Sunday
Porridge with butter.
Applesauce.
Chicken broth with potato balls, fish balls.
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, 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 vegetables and add them to the pan along with the rice.
Add cereal to boiling diluted milk and cook for 15 minutes. Then add pumpkin puree, sugar and a little salt. Stir and cook for another 2-3 minutes. It is better to eat porridge when it has stood for 20-30 minutes.
Meatballs and cauliflower soup
Raw material:
turkey or chicken fillet - 300 g;
fresh egg white - 2 pcs. ;
potatoes - 3 pcs. ;
carrots - 1 piece;
cauliflower - 300 g;
water - 2-2, 5 l;
salt
Prepared minced meat. Knead well with egg whites and form meatballs the size of a walnut. Put the cabbage, previously disassembled into small florets, and grated carrots into boiling water. After 5 minutes, add the potatoes, cut into small cubes. When the vegetables are cooked, meatballs are added to the soup, salted and stirred. 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 shaped. Minced meat (without protein) is added to the cooked vegetables, mixed, boiled for 5-7 minutes, after which the contents of the pan are mashed with a blender. Pour in the egg whites in a thin stream while stirring them into the soup.
Chicken soufflé
Products:
chicken breast without skin - 500 g;
milk - 1 glass;
egg whites - 2 pcs. ;
vegetable oil (to lubricate the mold);
salt
Heat the oven to 180°C. Put the breast twice through a meat grinder, mix egg whites and milk, add salt. Beat the mince with a blender until smooth. 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, flounder, perch) - 500 g;
white of 2 eggs;
salt
Mince the fish, 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 omelette
Raw material:
raw white - 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 white (egg) with milk and salt until frothy. Place the cooked vegetables in a fireproof pan, greased with oil, pour in the egg and milk mixture and place in an oven heated to 180°C. Bake for 10 minutes. In acute cases of the disease, cauliflower florets are crushed into pulp.
For children
The disease is rarely diagnosed in childhood. An acute attack is possible, however, if the child suffers from drug abuse, has previously had serious viral infections, abdominal trauma or has been on long-term medication (hormones, tetracyclines). The disease often occurs in connection with other pathologies in the digestive tract, for example, gastritis. Diet therapy, in this case, should take into account the nature of the underlying disease.
Nutrition for pancreatitis in children is the same as in adults and is carried out according to a similar system: the first week - a strict, mild menu, then the weekly menu is gradually varied, subject to good digestibility and the absence of disturbing symptoms.
It is important to remember that a growing baby's body needs the necessary amount of nutrients, including fat. Therefore, in order not to overload the gland, the child receives the necessary dose of enzymes artificially, i. e. e. with the help of medicine.
The daily menu must necessarily consist of vegetables, fruits (in remission you can eat fresh, but with caution), fermented milk products, liquid, viscous porridge, soups, as well as boiled lean meat and fish. A strict diet must be followed after an attack for a month, a longer diet for at least 5 years, and in the chronic form of the disease it is necessary to follow the diet chart for life.
For pregnant women
Pancreatitis in pregnant women can be aggravated by taking certain vitamin complexes or by the internal pressure placed on the gland by the enlarged uterus. Nutrition for pancreatitis in this case should be diet, but taking into account all the nutritional needs necessary for the full development of the fetus.
pros and cons
Following a diet is the key to the health of not only the pancreas, but also the entire digestive system. Such nutrition 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, thereby providing a wide and 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 obstacle, because many familiar "tasty" products have to be abandoned. But this is necessary to maintain the opportunity to live a normal life.
Nutritionists' comments
Treatment of pancreatitis with the help of diet is primarily aimed at maximum unloading of the affected gland. It is important to stop excessive production of enzyme secretion. However, according to nutritionists, from time to time it is necessary to give the digestive system complete rest. During this period, the affected organ is stopped from regeneration due to its active "sleeping".
For this purpose, therapeutic fasting is practiced (absolute refusal of food). Most often, this treatment is followed for 24 hours, but it can be extended if the patient is feeling well and under the supervision of a doctor. Long-term abstinence from food (more than 7 days) requires hospitalization.
A gentler option is Fridays. Nutritionists recommend having them at least once a week. From the range of permitted dishes, one is chosen, for example porridge or vegetable puree. It is prepared in such a quantity that it can be divided into several meals. No other products are consumed.
Reviews and results
Only with strict compliance with the rules of the treatment table can you observe the constant positive dynamics of remission.
Any, even minor, violation of the diet can negate all previous efforts and trigger a new cycle of disease. How this may 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 take it easy, study the body and understand what is tolerated well and what is bad. A great motivation in this matter is the strong support of loved ones.
Price
The cost of a weekly food basket is on average from 20 to 40 dollars.