How to regain lost weight with pancreatitis of the pancreas?

Many people who often complain of pancreatic diseases, including pancreatitis, may notice rapid weight loss, regardless of diet or rhythm of life. As the disease progresses, the problem of food digestion and absorption of nutrients also increases. It is this condition of the body and pancreas that contributes to severe weight loss. It’s a paradox, but a person cannot gain weight during this period, even if he follows proper nutrition. How to gain weight with pancreatitis and how to cope with this problem without special means?

How to gain weight with pancreatitis of the pancreas

A long course of pancreatitis, accompanied by enzyme deficiency, leads to severe weight loss, sometimes even to dystrophy. The patient's appearance changes, and life-threatening conditions arise, especially as weight loss continues. Stopping the process of losing weight and returning to normal weight are important tasks in the treatment of chronic pancreatitis. This can be done with medication and by following a specially designed nutritional system.

These methods are effective only against the background of stable remission, which is why the patient must take appropriate treatment, and then begin to normalize weight.

The reason for sudden weight loss and the appearance of severe thinness is also the development of a psychological abnormality - anorexia, in which appetite can disappear completely. With pancreatitis, especially if regular recurrences are observed, this condition develops due to difficulties in eating normally without the subsequent appearance of abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, and stool disturbances. The patient, avoiding the appearance of unpleasant symptoms, refuses to eat, which leads to weight loss. Treatment of such a patient is carried out jointly with a psychotherapist.

Protein shakes and amino acids

To increase body weight, drink protein shakes. Protein is an easily digestible protein used by athletes to quickly gain muscle mass. For chronic pancreatitis, take protein drinks in remission, under the supervision of a doctor. Before you start taking protein shakes, you need to make sure there are no contraindications. This includes abnormalities in the liver and kidneys, protein intolerance, in particular protein.

You can buy ready-made drinks or prepare cocktails at home. The recipe uses skim milk, cottage cheese, ice cream, and fruits - strawberries, raspberries, bananas. Beat the products in a blender, drink in the morning or at night slowly, in small sips.

To fully restore the body after illness, it is recommended to use biological supplements and products with a high content of amino acids, which help restore the digestive system and gradually increase body weight. Remember, amino acid supplements are prescribed by the attending physician after a detailed analysis of the patient’s condition. Chicken eggs are a natural source of amino acids; they are best consumed boiled.

It is possible to gain weight if you have a pancreatic disease without causing harm to the body if you eat right and do not overeat. There is no need to count on quick results. Patience, perseverance and daily work will ensure victory over the disease and return lost kilograms to the body.

A person whose pancreatitis progresses rapidly loses weight, regardless of the rhythm of life, the nutritional value, or the amount of food eaten. The reason for this is a violation of the digestive process. With pancreatitis, it is caused by a fermentation disorder and, as a consequence, difficulty in the absorption of nutrients. As a result, the body does not receive enough of them, so it begins to use previously accumulated fats. This inevitably provokes sudden weight loss. For an overweight person, such a process is not critical, but in a patient with normal body weight or deficiency, atypical weight loss can cause dystrophy.

Drug treatment

Drug therapy is aimed at eliminating enzyme deficiency and normalizing digestion. The doctor prescribes the necessary tests to identify concomitant diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, since weight loss can be a consequence of these pathologies.

To gradually restore weight, the specialist conducts an explanatory conversation, informing the patient about the rules of eating. Recommended:

Chew food thoroughly, as saliva promotes the primary digestion of food;
Avoid taking liquids during meals;
Fractional meals in small portions at the same hours of the day to normalize the production of pancreatic secretions;
Eating food in a warm state;
A special menu made up of permitted products.

Replacement therapy is carried out using a drug containing pancreatin - a substance that consists of the main digestive enzymes: lipase, amylase and protase. Mezim, Creon, Enzistal, Pancreatin, Panzinorm, Festal are prescribed. The drugs are available in the form of capsules, the shell of which dissolves only in the intestinal lumen, and not in the stomach, where gastric juice containing hydrochloric acid makes enzymes inactive.

The enzymatic activity of the drugs occurs on average half an hour after taking the drug; these drugs not only compensate for the lack of digestive enzymes, but also stabilize the functioning of the pancreas.

Diet

For pancreatitis, a diet is required that excludes the use of fatty foods and promotes weight restoration. According to the requirements of the diet, you need to eat often, in small portions 5 - 6 times a day. It is not recommended to eat foods that are difficult to digest (mushrooms, nuts, beans, fatty and fried foods). It is not recommended to consume fresh fruits and berries, since the fiber they contain promotes pronounced gas formation and leads to bloating and increased flatulence. Before eating (30 minutes before), you can drink a glass of mineral water without gas. It is necessary to limit the amount of salt and sugar.

To gain weight, it is recommended to create a special diet based on your initial weight, health status, and age. The menu can include dietary meat, low-fat fish, quail and chicken eggs, sugar-free cookies, crackers without adding seasonings. Pasta made from durum flour, cereals, boiled, baked, stewed and steamed vegetables, fermented milk products, herbal teas, and compotes are useful.

Soups should be boiled in water or vegetable broth; it is recommended to consume all food in pureed form, since this way the food will be better absorbed.

The menu should include a sufficient amount of protein, the source of which is cottage cheese, egg whites, meat, and fish. After consultation with a nutritionist, you can include protein shakes, amino acid supplements, and multivitamin complexes in your diet.

Therapeutic gymnastics, which improves the functioning of the gland, has a positive effect on the body. It is recommended to perform gymnastics, excluding squats and other exercises that increase intra-abdominal pressure due to breath holding. You should not lift weights, you should avoid tight clothing and belts that put pressure on the peritoneum.

For pancreatitis, it is recommended to exercise the press once a week, taking into account that the number of exercises should not exceed a total of 100 times.

Walking is useful, during which the sugar processing process is activated without the participation of insulin, which reduces the load on the pancreas. Walking combined with breathing exercises provides good results and normalizes the functioning of internal organ systems, in particular the digestive tract, thereby promoting weight restoration.

Chronic diet for weight gain

To stop the process of destruction of pancreatic cells, speed up their recovery and gain weight after sudden weight loss, you need to follow the following recommendations from nutritionists:

Any grains and even pasta can be used as side dishes, but they should not be “enriched” with butter or rich meat gravy. The best option would be to combine these products with vegetables - raw, stewed or baked.
Within 1 week you are allowed to eat a maximum of 4 chicken eggs. And the yolk should remain on the plate, but the whites can be used to make omelettes or light casseroles.
Every day you need to eat soups that are prepared on the basis of dietary meat or vegetable broth. You can add spices and seasonings to them, but you will need to give up white cabbage - it simply contains a huge amount of fiber, which will be very difficult for the digestive system to process, almost impossible.
You can include milk and fermented milk products in the menu, but with a low fat content. There is no need to get carried away with these products; 300-400 g of one thing per day is enough.
Fruits are consumed only according to the list - pears, apples and peaches and only after heat treatment. For example, you can make pastille, jam, jelly or compote.
Vegetables are allowed, but again only after preliminary heat treatment. Soups, stews, casseroles and “complex” dishes with cereals will prevent the occurrence of diarrhea and increased gas formation.

How to stop weight loss

With pancreatitis, weight loss can be stopped by achieving stable remission of the pathology. If damage to the gland tissue has significantly reduced its exocrine function, the correct diet will replace the lack of digestive enzymes, ensuring normal digestion, as close as possible to the physiological norm.

Concomitant diseases of the digestive system should be treated promptly. If left untreated, nutrient absorption will remain impaired, making it difficult to regain normal weight.

You can stop weight loss with physical therapy and regular exercise.

The goal is to gain weight

Patients face the challenge of gaining weight with pancreatitis after the end of the acute period of the disease. Your body weight is no longer decreasing; you have to try to regain the lost kilograms.

It is necessary to reconsider your diet. It is advisable to seek the help of an experienced nutritionist; he will calculate the amount of proteins, fats and carbohydrates to be consumed daily in order to gain weight. Based on the calculations, a menu is drawn up and suitable recipes are selected.

It is important to include more protein foods in your diet. It is protein that becomes the building material for new cells. It is better to eat animal proteins - lean chicken, beef, low-fat cottage cheese, eggs.

To recover from pancreatitis, you need to restore the metabolism that was disrupted during the acute period of the disease. The result is achieved by taking vitamin and mineral complexes. This technique adjusts the metabolism of the digestive system, food is better absorbed. It would be useful to remind you that vitamin preparations should be prescribed by the attending physician.

Some nutritionists recommend eating baby food - fruit, vegetable and meat purees - to gain weight. The unusual recommendations make sense, since canned food for children contains essential substances that promote growth and proper development. Purees packaged in small jars are ideal for fractional meals.

What happens in the human body during illness?

The work of the pancreas is associated with the functioning of the gallbladder and 12 rings of the intestine. The pancreas produces enzymes that enter the duodenum through ducts, where, combining with bile, they are activated and begin to participate in the digestive processes. The secretion of the pancreas contains enzymes necessary for digestion, and if they are lacking, proteins, fats and carbohydrates supplied with food are unable to be absorbed by the body.

Pancreatitis is a disease in which inflammation of the pancreas occurs. As a result of inflammation, the production of gland secretion increases, and its outflow from the organ becomes more difficult. The complication of the digestion process of bolus food entering the intestines is recorded. Food particles settle on the intestinal walls, irritate them and cause bowel dysfunction. The body ceases to receive proteins involved in the structure of muscles, fats necessary for the absorption of vitamins in the process of cholesterol metabolism, normal thermoregulation and protection of internal organ systems, as well as carbohydrates, which are a source of energy.

The deficiency of these important substances is compensated by existing reserves. Subcutaneous fat is consumed, followed by glycogen from the liver and muscles, resulting in a sharp weight loss. Chronic pancreatitis is accompanied by digestive disorders - maldigestion and failure of nutrient absorption processes - malabsorption, which is the reason for weight loss with this pathology.

Restoring normal weight during pancreatitis is possible by following a specially formulated diet and taking preventive measures to prevent exacerbation of the disease.

How to deal with weight loss with pancreatitis

Maldigestion and malabsorption are two medical terms applicable to losing weight in a person with a diseased gland. The first of them indicates that the process of digesting food is disrupted in the body, and the second indicates a violation of the absorption of nutrients by the body.

A diseased gland can reduce the synthesis of the required amount of enzymes involved in the digestion of food, hence the reaction from the intestines (it cannot properly digest food, producing frequent diarrhea), and if this process is constant, then the small intestine will fail altogether. And further along the chain, the body generally will not receive sufficient quantities and quality of broken down fats, proteins and carbohydrates, and therefore, the process of painful weight loss will begin.

Is it possible to slow down this process and reverse it? Doctors say that it is possible and are doing everything possible so that a person can regain the lost kilograms. First, it is necessary to achieve the maintenance of a stable process of remission of the disease, and only then the patient is prescribed treatment.

Reviews

Dear readers, your opinion is very important to us - therefore, we will be glad to hear your feedback about weight gain with pancreatitis in the comments, this will also be useful to other users of the site.

Basil

I suffer from chronic pancreatitis. Weight decreased after the first attack of the disease. After relief, the doctor prescribed a special diet and recommended doing physical exercise.

Yuri

Pancreatitis caused indigestion, which caused a sharp weight loss. After the disease went into stable remission, the nutritionist prescribed a diet, and the attending physician prescribed drug treatment, which involved the use of enzymatic drugs. I took Creon. Gradually, the weight began to be restored, at the same time I observed an improvement in digestion, even in appearance.

Diet for weight loss for chronic pancreatitis

The disease does not always manifest itself as weight loss; in many cases, the patient gains weight - this also negatively affects the condition and functioning of the pancreas. In any case, nutritional correction will be required, and the doctor will definitely give recommendations regarding safe weight loss for already diagnosed chronic pancreatitis.

The menu proposed above and the list of permitted/prohibited foods normalizes metabolism and the production of enzymes by the inflamed organ. And this will definitely adjust the weight in the right direction - some will gain the missing kilograms, others will get rid of them. But there are some nuances regarding the fight against excess body weight:

you will need to give up bread altogether - black is contraindicated due to illness, white only increases obesity;
You should not include pasta in the menu, or limit their quantity as much as possible;
potatoes are excluded from the list of vegetables;
the preparation of fruit jellies and casseroles with cottage cheese should take place without the use of sugar.

Diet for pancreatitis for 4 days

Losing weight in chronic pancreatitis should be accompanied by physical activity. Moderate or even gentle exercise will speed up the process of losing weight, and therefore the restoration of the pancreas. But you will need to consult with your doctor and physiotherapist about drawing up an individual training program.

We recommend reading about the hypothyroidism diet for weight loss. From the article you will learn about how a diet for hypothyroidism works, a menu for weight loss for obesity, and diet options.

And here is more information about the diet for gastritis.

Losing weight or gaining weight due to the disease in question should be under the supervision of doctors. Self-restriction in food leads to a deterioration in the functionality of the pancreas, to a decrease in the amount of enzymes produced - the prognosis may become unfavorable.

Video

Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract are among the most common in the world. When the functions of the digestive system are disrupted, the patient suddenly begins to lose weight. It is not always possible for the patient to gain weight in the future.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW! Even a “neglected” gastrointestinal tract can be cured at home, without surgery or hospitals. Just read what Galina Savina says and read the recommendation.

One of the most serious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract is chronic pancreatitis. Many give up when they are given such a diagnosis, although it is possible to restore health. The pancreas has two main properties: it provides the intestinal environment with useful enzymes, and also produces the hormone insulin and glucagon in the blood. If enzymes do not enter the intestines on time, they accumulate in the gland. This leads to inflammation due to the gland digesting its own products.

Symptoms to watch out for

Many people ignore the first warning signs of pancreatitis. They tend to associate heaviness in the hypochondrium and nausea either with the manifestation of other diseases of the digestive tract, or with errors in nutrition. Therefore, they consult a doctor only when intense pain appears in the hypochondrium and nausea becomes constant. Weight loss, bloating, and diarrhea are often observed with pancreatitis. This indicates that the inflammatory process in the pancreas has intensified. Probably:

pancreatic ducts are narrowed and blocked by stones;
Cysts have formed in the thickness of the gland;
its tissues are partially atrophied;
the structure of the organ is changed, the size is increased.

Symptoms of the disease indicate the degree of its development. Pain is a sign that either necrosis of the gland tissue is occurring, or it is pressing on other organs. Fever and weakness indicate intoxication of the body. Bloating and diarrhea indicate problems with the digestive process.

Weight loss as one of the signs of pancreatitis?

When a person suffers from pancreatitis, he begins to lose weight. This is a dangerous phenomenon, since sudden weight loss can be life-threatening. Loved ones begin to wonder: “Why are you losing so much weight?” The patient loses weight due to the large amount of pancreatic enzymes that remain in the gland and begin to digest themselves.

Often during pancreatitis, diarrhea begins or prolonged constipation occurs. Due to inflammation, the patient begins to feel sick, loses appetite, and may vomit. Components processed in the body may be excreted from the body in their original form or may not be absorbed correctly.

What should the attending physician pay attention to during the appointment?

In addition to the fact that the doctor carefully studies the listed symptoms and complaints of the patient, he must also examine him. At the appointment, the person is very agitated and irritated, while the skin is pale and covered with sweat. If there is a suspicion of inflammatory processes in the pancreas, palpation of the abdominal area is performed.

The patient should lie on the couch and bend his knees. Sometimes, even with a light touch, the patient may feel severe pain. It’s good when a person can independently show the localization of pain. In order to more accurately determine in which part of the organ inflammation has occurred, the doctor determines three main points on the abdomen where the placement of the organ is planned:

Desjardins point. This is where the head of the pancreas is located. The point is located on the line that connects the navel and the right armpit. The area 5–7 cm below the ribs on the line corresponds to this point. If there is pain here, it means that this particular part of the gland is inflamed.
The Mayo–Robson point shows the placement of the tail of the organ. To find it, you need to visually draw a line connecting the navel and the left costal arch. Then the line is divided into three even parts. The point is on the border between the upper and middle parts.
The Kacha point will determine whether there are changes in the body of the pancreas. This point will be placed at a distance of 5-7 cm from the navel, along the outer edge of the left rectus abdominis muscle. If pain appears during palpation in this area, then the inflammation is most likely located at the border of the tail and body of the gland.

Children are not subject to palpation. In this case, this method is not effective.

How does the body behave when there is a lack of enzymes?

Due to the malfunction of the gland, first of all, the intestines begin to suffer. Undigested particles remain on the intestinal walls, causing irritation of the upper layer. Because of this, the patient begins to have diarrhea. In addition, food digestion is not completed completely due to the lack of necessary enzymes.

Breakdown of proteins into amino acids.

Due to disrupted functioning, the body does not receive the elements necessary for life:

proteins that form the cellular and tissue levels;
fats that take an active part in the processing of cholesterol, vitamins that build a layer under the skin that protects the body and organs from the cold;
glucose, which is the main source of energy.

If the body lacks such components, it begins to use glycogen and subcutaneous fats, which are found in muscle and liver tissues. When the body is extremely lacking in protein, it begins to suffer from dystrophy. It manifests itself in abnormal weight loss, after which it is impossible to gain weight again.

Stopping weight loss with pancreatitis

Pancreatitis most often manifests itself in a chronic form. Weight loss can be stopped by using pancreatin. In addition, it will help in the production of the necessary enzymes and their transport to the intestines. Along with pancreatitis, there may be many other diseases that are invisible at first glance. Therefore, you need to immediately consult a doctor who will conduct a full examination of the body.

The most common concomitant diseases are diabetes mellitus, gastritis, cholecystitis. You should not ignore their treatment, because if treatment is neglected, it will not be possible to restore the normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. Even the strongest antibiotics, which are used for acute diseases and inflammatory processes, will not help.

Many people ask the question: “Why am I losing weight so dramatically?” After all, sudden weight loss is not a favorable signal. First of all, you need to review your diet and make certain adjustments to it:

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You need to eat more often, but less. There is no need to try to eat 3 times a day, while pouring large portions.
If the doctor prescribed a diet in which certain foods were excluded, you should strictly adhere to it. If the patient begins to relax, the digestive organs will make themselves felt.
In case of chronic pancreatitis, you need to chew incoming food better. When a person chews, food is mixed with saliva, which contains amylose. It is amylose that helps quickly process starch in the oral cavity.
You need to eat only warm food that does not burn, but not cold either. Enzymes will only work when the food is warmed up to approximately body temperature.
It is forbidden to drink food with water. Due to the ingress of water during food intake, enzymes begin to lose quality. It would be more beneficial to drink water half an hour after eating.

These principles will help prevent weight loss. In addition, even healthy people should remember these rules, because these are the basics of a healthy diet.

Diet for pancreatitis

Diet planning is the most important step on the path to recovery after an acute attack or exacerbation of chronic pancreatitis.

Rules to follow:

6 meals during the day;

The temperature of the food when serving is about 37 degrees;

Thorough chewing of even pre-chopped foods;

Do not drink after finishing your meal. It is recommended to drink no earlier than an hour later.

Particular attention is paid to strict dosage, and therefore it is advisable to have a kitchen scale on hand. You can eat baby food for one of your meals, and only home-cooked meals for the rest. The ban includes semi-finished products and store-bought juices, spicy, fried, fatty, pickled, smoked and carbonated foods.

What to do to gain weight with pancreatitis?

To stop the process of losing weight, the patient needs to forget about bad habits and food. Alcoholic or carbonated drinks, smoking, and fatty foods are excluded. Pureed vegetables and fruits are recommended along with the main food, and the break between meals should be no more than three hours.

Anyone losing weight should remember such an important component of the diet as baby food. It contains useful microelements and substances that stimulate growth, development, as well as a wide vitamin complex that helps you get better. In order for weight gain to occur normally, doctors advise using special nutritional supplements that contain vitamins that help fight exhaustion of the body.

Those who are losing weight quickly should count the proteins, carbohydrates, and fats that enter the body every day. This will help regulate your diet, enriching it with essential microelements. There are kitchen scales on sale that weigh food with high accuracy.

What should be the diet for pancreatitis?

A strict diet becomes an indispensable attribute of patients diagnosed with pancreatitis. Recovery and restoration of normal body weight depends on the accuracy of following the recommendations. Deviations from the diet threaten to worsen the disease.

Basic principles

Food is taken six times a day in small portions;
Products, vegetables and fruits, are boiled or baked;
Avoid eating too hot or too cold food. The optimal temperature is 37 degrees;
Food must be chewed thoroughly to soak in saliva. Saliva contains amylase, a protein that helps break down carbohydrates;
Do not drink water or drinks during meals. The exception is mineral water to wash down your pills;
Half an hour to an hour before meals, it is useful to drink a glass of mineral water without carbon. Borjomi, Narzan, Essentuki are considered the best for pancreatitis;
It is recommended to minimize the consumption of salt, which provokes the secretion of gastric juice. Hydrochloric acid produced in the stomach causes swelling of the pancreas.

It is necessary to consume foods recommended by gastroenterologists and nutritionists. For pancreatitis, a diet that is gentle on the pancreas and other organs of the gastrointestinal tract is recommended. You should not eat foods that provoke fermentation and putrefactive processes in the intestines. When prescribing a diet, doctors take into account the stage of the patient’s disease - acute or remission, the presence of concomitant diseases.

A strict diet is the path to recovery

In the first days of acute inflammation, a regimen of complete abstinence from food is indicated. A small amount of still mineral water heated to 37 degrees or unsweetened warm tea is allowed. On the third or fourth day, when the patient feels normal, pureed soups and purees are gradually added. Then gradually move on to other products. The pancreas recovers slowly, the diet will last at least two months.

What is allowed for pancreatitis:

Conclusion

Some people dream of losing weight, while others suffer from sudden weight loss. Typically, the second category includes patients who suffer from pancreatitis. This name refers to inflammatory processes in the pancreas. Due to disruption, such a gland loses proper functioning, disrupting the digestive tract as a whole.

To get better, you need to remember five basic rules. In addition to them, you should adjust your diet and remove bad habits. Also, patients lose weight due to a lack of vitamins. To gain weight, you need to consume vitamin complexes, vegetables, and fruits.

Why do people lose weight with pancreatitis?

Experts name several probable reasons for the loss of kilograms due to the inflammatory process of the pancreas. First of all, we are talking about organ dysfunction caused by poor diet and lifestyle, since regulation of the digestive process is one of the leading roles of the organ.

As the disease progresses, digestive problems worsen. The absorption of vitamins, minerals and nutrients from incoming food is increasingly impaired, which contributes to rapid weight loss.

The bolus of food, after passing through the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas, should enter the duodenum, where enzyme activation should occur. However, with the abuse of fatty and spicy foods, alcoholic beverages, smoking and other harmful addictions, their activity occurs directly in the gland, without waiting for it to reach its destination. Premature activation of enzymes is extremely dangerous. Their slow outflow into the duodenum becomes the culprit of inflammatory processes in the organ - pancreatitis.

In parallel with this, there is a lack of these same enzymes in the intestines, which does not allow digestion to proceed at the proper level. Poor absorption of food, deficiency of nutrients, dyspeptic disorders, etc. are noted.

Lack of proteins responsible for the construction of tissues and cells;

Deficiency of fats, which take part in the metabolism of cholesterol and vitamins, creating the fat layer and, logically, influencing the loss of kilograms;

Lack of sugar in the blood, since glucose is nothing more than a source of energy for the whole body.

The consequence of all of the above is rapid weight loss, since the body does not receive the substances in the required volume, and it has to take the missing ones from subcutaneous fat and substances from other organs.

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Chronic pancreatitis is a disease of the pancreas in which digestive enzymes do not enter the duodenum, but remain in the tissues of the gland itself. Due to a lack of enzymes, food is poorly digested and not absorbed by the body. This leads to metabolic disorders - osteoporosis, hypovitaminosis, anemia, hair loss. One of the consequences of impaired excretory function is weight loss. For overweight patients, the process of losing weight with pancreatitis is normal. If you are underweight, it is difficult to prevent further weight loss. Only proper dietary nutrition can help with this.

What you can't eat

Regardless of the form and severity of the disease in question, patients are strictly prohibited from consuming:

legumes - peas, lentils, beans;
lard, lamb, combined fats;
ice cream, chocolate, any confectionery sweets;
corn, millet and barley;
raw garlic and onions, arugula, sorrel, radish, turnips and spinach;
juices from sour fruits, even with added sugar, kvass;
canned food, smoked products, pickled;
ketchups, mayonnaise, mustard;
ginger, horseradish;
any fast food, chips, crackers with chemical flavoring fillers.

In addition, it is worth excluding spicy herbs - oregano, cilantro (coriander), because they are irritating to the pancreas and can cause an exacerbation of the disease.

Consequences of enzyme deficiency in pancreatitis

In patients with chronic pancreatitis, undigested food irritates the intestinal villi, causing diarrhea. Constant injury to the intestines reduces the ability to secrete its own enzymes, which leads to malabsorption:

Proteins are building materials for the body.
Fat is a component of subcutaneous fat and the layer around internal organs.
Glucose is the main source of energy for tissues.

If there is a lack of supply of these substances, the body begins to take them from reserves - fat under the skin and glycogen from the liver. If the weight loss process is not stopped in time, it leads to protein dystrophy - a decrease in muscle tissue. To restore the deficiency of enzymes, drugs for replacement therapy are prescribed: Creon, Pancreatin, Panzinorm, etc. on the recommendation of the attending physician.

Principles of dietary nutrition for pancreatitis

Restoring impaired digestion is only possible with proper nutrition. Its main principles:

The energy value of the diet should be at least 2200 kcal.
Meals are split six times a day. For snacking, especially in a work environment, baby purees are recommended.
Chewing food thoroughly, as this reflexively stimulates the production of enzymes.
The food is warm and freshly prepared.
Proteins should be obtained 60% from products of animal origin: lean meats, fish, cottage cheese, fermented milk drinks, egg whites. Completely low-fat foods are not recommended, as they lack valuable lipotropic (fat metabolism-improving) factors.
Fats are poorly tolerated by patients. All animal fats, especially beef, goose, and pork, cause attacks of pain and increase diarrhea. You can consume up to 15 g of butter and up to 20 g of vegetable oil per day. They are added to the finished dish.
Glucose must come from complex carbohydrates. Porridge, bread and potatoes are recommended. Simple carbohydrates from honey, jam and sugar cause insulin spikes.
It is recommended to take alkaline mineral water. Water should be drunk outside of meals so as not to reduce the concentration of digestive enzymes (enzymes).

Menu and recipes

Based on the above recommendations of nutritionists, the menu for 1 day could be as follows:

morning - omelet made from 2 egg whites + 2 slices of stale white bread + 200 ml of dried fruit compote;
snack – chicken fillet soufflé + 100 ml low-fat whole milk + chicory drink;
day – 150 ml of soup with vegetable broth + stew of meat and vegetables + weak tea;
afternoon snack – natural yogurt without flavoring and low fat;
evening - steamed meat or fish cutlets + baked vegetables + compote or fruit jelly.

Having studied the list of permitted products, you can create a varied menu for a patient with chronic pancreatitis for a long time. Dishes are prepared in a variety of ways, here are just a few recipes:

Chicken fillet soufflé . Boil ½ breast in salted water, cut the meat into pieces and place in a blender. Add 1 chicken protein, 3 tablespoons of milk and beat everything until pureed. The finished mass is placed in a mold and baked in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes over medium heat.
Fish with vegetables . Cut any permitted fish into large pieces, additionally prepare zucchini and carrots in the same way. Place fish and vegetables in a thick-walled pan or stewpan in layers, salting each of them and adding finely chopped dill and parsley.
Pour water over everything so that it barely covers the mass, cook at low boil (“on the boil”) for half an hour. 5 minutes before the end of cooking, add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to the dish.
Cottage cheese and apple casserole . Mix 2 tablespoons of semolina thoroughly with 200 g of grainy (low-fat) cottage cheese, add to the mixture a whipped egg white and a thinly sliced apple. Then the mixture is transferred into a mold and baked in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes. After the dish has cooled, you can decorate it with powdered sugar.
Vegetable puree soup . Carrots, zucchini, cauliflower or broccoli – peel everything and cut into large pieces. Boil them until fully cooked in a small amount of water (it should just cover them), cool slightly. Then beat everything in a blender, add salt to taste. Add a little dill or parsley to the plate, 1 teaspoon of low-fat sour cream and a handful of homemade wheat crackers.

Losing weight with pancreatitis: is it normal or dangerous?