Nutrition For Pancreatitis: What You Need To Know

Author's Bio: Marcie Vaske, MS, LN, CNS

Hi, and welcome back to our channel.

Today we're going to talk about nutrition for pancreatitis and what you need to know.

So first we're going to go through what are key nutrients for pancreatitis?

What are foods that you should avoid or keep in if you are struggling with pancreatitis?

And as well, are there supplements that can be helpful with pancreatitis and any lifestyle changes?

[Video Transcript Below Video]

But first, before we dig into all of that, my name is Marcie Vaske.

I'm a licensed nutritionist with Oswald Digestive Clinic and at Oswald Digestive Clinic I see a lot of clients that struggle with all sorts of different gastrointestinal issues.

And if you are having an issue, I'm going to link our website here where you can easily make an initial appointment.

And as well, I'll link our free guide, which is 5 Ways to Improve your Gut Health.

So let's dig back into our today's topic, which is going to be all about pancreatitis.

What is the pancreas?

Now, our pancreas is a very important organ needed for our health and wellbeing.

Our pancreas helps to supply an amount of enzymes for digestion as well as hormones to keep our blood sugar stable.

But when our pancreas becomes inflamed, this is where we say you have pancreatitis.

So when our pancreas becomes inflamed, we really are at risk for many digestive issues as well as even nutrient imbalances or deficiencies.

So now you can see how important nutrition is if you are struggling with pancreatitis.

So the role of nutrition and pancreatitis is going to be very important, and this will help to alleviate symptoms as well as support the healing process of the pancreas.

Nutrition for pancreatitis?

Protein

If you have pancreatitis, and there are some key ones, and number one is going to be protein.

Consuming enough protein is going to help support our immune system as well as tissue healing and maintaining muscle mass.

So getting in enough protein is going to be very helpful in that healing process.

Healthy Fats

The second nutrient that's very important is going to be healthy fats.

Healthy fats like omega fatty acids are going to be helpful in reducing inflammation and again, improving that healing time.

Antioxidants

Number three in the list of key nutrients is going to be antioxidants and antioxidants like vitamin C and vitamin E, help to reduce the oxidative stress on our body, which then improve healing time and reduce inflammation.

Fluids

And number four is going to be fluids, so making sure you're well hydrated so that you can flush out any toxins. And the last key nutrient is going to be electrolytes.

So maintaining good electrolyte balance, which consists of potassium and sodium and magnesium. This will help your body stay more hydrated and also able to support many bodily functions.

So now we know what kind of foods and nutrients we want to keep in when we're struggling with pancreatitis, but

What is a pancreatitis friendly diet?

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What would that look like?

And I think you can probably guess from some of the things I said above, but number one is going to be making sure that you have a nice amount of protein in your diet.

So eating enough grilled or baked chicken or Turkey or having beef or fish, that's all going to be supportive in the immune system and in tissue healing.

Also, improving that antioxidant amount in our body by adding in enough fruits and vegetables.

Those are both really high in antioxidants that we need to keep down that oxidative stress and help our body heal.

And of course, healthy fats, healthy fats like avocado or butter or nuts and seeds, olive oil, those are all going to be helpful in nourishing our body well and improving, excuse me, and reducing that inflammation.

And lastly, by incorporating probiotic rich foods.

So things like sauerkraut, kimchi, keefer, those will all help to boost our flora in our digestive system, helping to keep a good balance going in there and helping that healing process as well.

What foods can trigger pancreatitis?

Now, if you've ever struggled with pancreatitis full well that there's some foods that really can trigger more symptoms, and number one is going to be high fat foods.

Now I know I said healthy fats, but what I'm talking about when I say high fats will be foods that are fried foods or things that are really high in damaged fats. So things like soybean oil, cotton seed oil, those are all inflammatory fats.

So we want to be sure that we're keeping that kind of fats out of our diet. Also, taking or partaking in drinking alcohol, alcohol can be very inflammatory and triggering for a pancreas.

So as you're moving through it, refrain from drinking alcohol. Now, in addition to alcohol, you want to also kind of reframe from any caffeinated beverages.

So things like coffee or tea or any soda with carbonation, that can all be really irritating to the pancreas, so you want to avoid or greatly limit those as you're letting your pancreas kind of heal and calm down.

And lastly, you want to stay away from any refined carbohydrates.

So foods like pastries or buns or just white bread in general, things that are going to just be high in processed or high in sugars and highly processed.

Those things also typically contain those damaged fats I was talking about. So just kind of cleaning up the diet and putting in whole real foods is going to be much more helpful in that healing process and reducing that inflammation and to avoid as many triggers as well as avoiding or diminishing our symptoms.

Meal Planning for Pancreatitis

So as you're thinking about how you're going to make changes to your diet, you're going to also start thinking about how to make some meal plans.

And for many people who struggle with pancreatitis, one of the biggest things that helps them feel better most quickly is first of all, taking out all that inflammatory food that we talked about, but also in meal timing, eating smaller, more frequent meals.

So maybe you're having a small breakfast and maybe a couple three hours later you have another small snack, and so you're not even having these really three big meals a day.

Sometimes that's much too difficult on the pancreas and you can definitely feel the symptoms.

So for many people kind of spacing those meals three hours apart, two, three hours, and just having smaller meals in general.

And then of course, making sure that the food you are choosing is going to be nutrient dense, making sure that it's going to be full of good proteins and the antioxidants I talked about and the healthy fats as well as making sure you stay hydrated.

As I mentioned above, being well hydrated can help flush out the toxins in our body and help our body just function so much better.

Our organs actually need a lot of water, so making sure you're taking in as much as you can comfortably.

Supplements for Pancreatitis

Now that you've learned what key nutrients are important, what kind of foods you should keep in, what you should be taking out, and then how to do it, what are some supplements that could be helpful when you're struggling with pancreatitis?

And one of 'em is going to be digestive enzymes.

Digestive enzymes are a great help because as I mentioned, when we have inflammation of our pancreas, what part of what our pancreas does is help to support enzymatic function in our digestion. And so by taking a digestive enzyme that just gives you some extra support so your pancreas has time to rest and taking digestive enzymes with your meals will help digest the foods better and often reduce a lot of your symptoms.

Number two is going to be increasing omega fatty acids. So in supplement form is sometimes a really nice and effective way to get enough omega fatty acids and that can help to reduce the inflammation.

And again, then the healing process goes much quicker.

The third supplement is going to be adding in antioxidants. So if you're unable to eat as many fruits and vegetables because you're just not feeling very good when you do, adding in maybe an extra vitamin C or vitamin E can help to support that oxidative stress as well as improve your overall wellbeing.

Now, lastly, you can add in a probiotic too. So probiotics will help to rebuild the flora in your intestinal tract as well as in your stomach.

I would recommend not doing all four of them at one time, but rather start with one. See if that gives you some relief from symptom and pay attention to what you're eating. So if you think you're not getting enough fruits and vegetables, maybe it's a digestive enzyme and some antioxidants you're adding in, I think it's really important to be mindful because we can't out supplement a bad diet or even all with the time symptoms.

We really have to do these things in tandem.

Lifestyle Changes for Pancreatitis

Now, in addition to adding in supplements, if that's something that's calling to you, there's also lifestyle changes. And one I talk about all the time on this channel is going to be stress.

If we have a lot of stress going on in our life, then stress is definitely going to be a trigger to pancreatitis, as well as making sure you're getting some regular exercise.

Moving your body isn't just to keep your heart healthy, it keeps our whole body healthy.

And lastly, making sure you sleep, which is another thing I talk a lot about on this channel.

Sleeping is where we heal our bodies, where our bodies recuperates overnight. So making sure you're getting adequate amounts of sleep per night is only going to make your pancreatitis heal and go away more quickly.

Now, this kind of wraps it all up, and I will say that pancreatitis can be pretty complex and I made it sound kind of easy today.

Just make a few food changes and you'll feel amazing. Sometimes that's not the case for everybody.

And so if you're struggling with it, I would recommend and hope that you would help or get help seeking out a health practitioner like myself to help you walk through what can be your next steps.

As I said, it can be pretty complex, and sometimes when we're hurting, we just can't put a whole plan together.

So reaching out to someone like myself can really kind of take that stress off, which we want to do, and just put it in the hands of somebody that knows what they're doing.

So I hope this helped answer some questions for you, and for those of you who may be struggling with pancreatitis, try making a few of these changes and see how you feel.

Thanks for watching today.

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If you'd like to explore any of this information further or obtain an individualized nutrition plan, you can schedule an initial appointment at our clinic. We also take insurance and some of our clients get full coverage, which is great.