What are the dietary taboos for pancreatitis?

The most core dietary taboos for patients with pancreatitis can be summarized as not to "increase the workload" on the pancreas. In the acute stage, fast as directed by the doctor, and in the recovery stage, resolutely avoid high-fat, highly stimulating foods that can induce large amounts of pancreatic juice secretion.

I just met a 28-year-old young man a while ago. He was hospitalized for the first time due to acute pancreatitis. He was rolling on the floor in pain. He was discharged after five days of stay. My friend asked him to go have a late-night snack with skewers and cold beer. He thought the pain was gone anyway, so he couldn't hold it back. He ate more than 20 skewers of grilled tendons and drank three bottles of cold beer. That night, he was admitted to 120 because of severe abdominal pain. There was more leakage around the pancreas than the first time. He had to stay in the hospital for another week to get better.

When it comes to diet in the acute phase, there are indeed some different opinions in the academic circles. In the past, everyone thought that as long as pancreatitis was diagnosed, it was necessary to completely abstain from food and water, rely on infusions to replenish nutrients, and only eat after the amylase is completely normal and the pain has completely subsided.； Many studies now support that patients with mild pancreatitis, as long as the abdominal pain is significantly relieved and there is no vomiting, drinking a few mouthfuls of fat-free liquids such as rice soup and lotus root starch early can protect the gastrointestinal mucosa and shorten the recovery time. The specific choice depends on the judgment of the doctor in charge. After all, everyone’s inflammation and tolerance are different.

Once you get out of the hospital and enter the recovery period, don’t really feel like you’re liberated. You can think of the inflamed pancreas as a leaky pipe that has just been repaired. The wall of the pipe is already thin. If you put too much pressure on it all at once, the leaky area will definitely collapse again. Foods with ridiculously high fat content, such as butter hot pot, braised pork, pork elbows with sauce, crab roe, and animal offal, as well as various kinds of wine, whether it is white wine, beer, or fruit wine, will crazy stimulate the secretion of pancreatic juice, which is equivalent to adding water pressure to the water pipe. The newly grown pancreas will not be able to withstand it, and it will relapse if you are not careful.

Another pitfall that many people fall into is that they think "I'm a vegetarian and it's okay." As a result, they add half a pot of peanut oil when cooking, or eat fried dough sticks or fried vegetarian meatballs. Excessive vegetable oil is actually the same as animal fat, and it will still put a burden on the pancreas. There are also overly sweet cream cakes and full-sugar milk tea. High sugar will also indirectly stimulate the secretion of pancreatic juice. It is best not to touch them in the first one or two months after recovery. It is also best to avoid spicy and cold spicy foods as much as possible. The pancreas is already delicate and cannot withstand such torture.

I know an uncle who has been suffering from chronic pancreatitis for almost five years. For the first two years, he couldn't keep his mouth shut and had to be hospitalized basically every two or three months. Later, the pain got so bad that he gave up smoking and drinking completely. He only added half a spoonful of olive oil every time he cooked. He usually only ate steamed fish, lean chicken breasts, and more boiled vegetables. Occasionally, he only dared to pinch a piece of braised pork if he was craving for it. He never had to be hospitalized for pancreatitis in the past two years, and he rarely suffered from pain.

In fact, to put it bluntly, there are not so many dietary taboos for pancreatitis. The core is not to be greedy or put extra burden on the pancreas. Pay more attention during the period of recovery. When the pancreas is completely healed, it is not too late to slowly try to add a small amount of food. After all, the pain when you are sick is so painful that you can't stand up and even breathe hard, which is much harder to bear than eating a few sips of barbecue milk tea.