Pancreatitis Diet Food List – Foods To Eat and Foods To Avoid

If you are looking for a pancreatitis diet food list, a list of foods usually safe to eat and foods to avoid when you have pancreatitis, you have found the right article. So keep reading because …

You have found the pancreatitis “HOW TO” site that teaches common sense strategies for pancreas healing. Strategies that when put into action, will help heal your inflamed pancreas. Afterward you’ll feel good again and stay well.

And these strategies can be found all through this site not just this article. That is what you want right?

Who Needs A Pancreatitis Diet Food List?

A pancreatitis diet food list is extremely important in order to avoid the suffering one can be made to endure from a chronic pancreatitis flare or worse an acute pancreatitis attack for simply eating foods that trigger the event. IF your pancreas were undamaged normal food would not be a trigger.

IF this is your first visit to this site please note I have done my best to make this site easy to navigate with all links opening in a different window so you never leave the page you are currently reading. Please take a moment to read the TOS and …

Then visit THIS PANCREATITIS PAGE. Scroll down until you see “5 Powerful, Must Know Pieces Of Knowledge For Beating Pancreatitis” and read it. Then visit and read the other posts as well. Doing so will give you a leg up. Anyway …

Pancreatitis Diet Food List Knowledge Is Power

Knowing what foods are usually safe to eat will help you avoid pain, nausea and vomiting while also helping you to heal the damage that has been done by acute pancreatitis or chronic pancreas inflammation (chronic pancreatitis).

The reason correct knowledge is so powerful is that new discoveries are being made all the time. I had a Word from the Lord several years ago that the pancreas is able to regenerate cells and guess what?

Here is a fairly recent article (3-4 years old) that proves this “Word of Knowledge” I received from the Lord is true! I mean how exciting is that? The CREATOR of all life says it’s possible and science is discovering that it is in fact possible for the pancreas to regenerate damaged cells so …

Is Diet The KEY To Pancreas Cell Regeneration? 

Resolving the pancreas inflammation by eating anti-inflammatory foods, that are low in fat, yet nutrient dense is one of the most imperative courses of action you can take. I believe several necessary steps need to be taken but this article will cover foods and your personal pancreatitis diet food list. 

I will soon give you pancreatitis diet food list examples; foods to eat and foods to avoid when trying to recover and heal from pancreatitis. I don’t mean to bore you with details that may seem unimportant. They aren’t. It is extremely important to understand what a proper pancreatitis diet will do and why you should want to adhere to one.

So, if it’s important to you to stop the pain, nausea and vomiting and heal your pancreas, keep reading and learning.

If you have just suffered a mild acute pancreatitis attack, your doctor has found the cause and has rectified that cause, it is entirely possible (an 80% chance according to medical stats) that you will heal completely and never have another problem BUT …

Unfortunately doctors and dieticians are not the best sources for learning what is safe to eat and what isn’t. They should be the best sources and you’d think they would be yet, I’ve heard some interesting stories from patients who have visited my sites over the years I have been sharing what I know.

Imagine being in the hospital with acute pancreatitis, drugged up and NPO (nothing by mouth). You’re this way for maybe 5-7 days. Then you are told things are fine and you’ll be going home the next day. That evening they bring you dinner to see if you tolerate food.

Remember, you have been without food for 5-7 days and they bring you roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, a vegetable, bread and butter.

Or maybe it’s baked salmon swimming in lemon butter, baked potato with butter, sour cream and a nice salad smothered in dressing.

You’re feeling better, maybe even hungry so, you eat that food and …

Within a few minutes to a couple of hours you are vomiting what you ate because even though you were feeling better, no longer needing pain or nausea medications, your pancreas was still NOT happy and healed so …

Rebellion occurs.

OR worse you find yourself again in massive pain and vomiting. Your nightmare is beginning all over. Another round of acute pancreatitis. This could all have been avoided with a more conservative approach to introducing solid food back into your diet.

By introducing something easy to digest like vegetable juice or vegetable broth (no meat broth) for one to three days to determine how you tolerate normal feeding again versus no food. But that is just my thinking which I have found via my own experience is correct however …

Most would consider the only test subject, myself, a very small clinical trial. 🙂 

The good news is since I have been beating the drum about proper pancreatitis diet foods I have seen medical sites change their thinking from totally dangerous high fat foods too much safer meal recommendations. It’s like they visit MY site and then put my info on their site but just a tad different so it isn’t outright plagiarism.

For those who are healing after acute pancreatitis or those who want to relieve the symptoms, even heal their pancreas from the damage of chronic pancreatitis this is very good to see. So, some are learning and that is a good thing.

There are two basic enemies (things you can put in your mouth and swallow) for those who suffer with pancreatitis.

One is alcohol (do NOT drink alcohol or consume it in food or medications); The other is fat.

Food is not your friend when you have unresolved pancreas inflammation or have sustained enough pancreas damage to cause chronic pancreatitis. What you put in your mouth and swallow is extremely important so let’s take a look at what is usually safe to eat.

Your Pancreatitis Diet Food List

This list will contain foods that are usually safe for most people who have sustained pancreas damage. BUT nothing is perfect. IF it isn’t on the list it isn’t safe to eat.

Like I said earlier food is not your friend when you have pancreatitis. This is a fact you need to keep in mind at all times.

If the food you are thinking of eating is NOT on this safe list I would suggest you avoid it. I would also suggest doing a food diary starting with the proper prep (fast and cleanse).

Keep in mind you can make the following usually safe foods unsafe by preparing them incorrectly. Adding unsafe foods or ingredients (FATS) to them will make them unsafe.

Safe Foods For Your Pancreatitis Diet

For the average person with an undamaged pancreas, most foods are safe. For those who have sustained damage via acute or chronic pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer this is no longer the case. 

After pancreas damage there are TWO new mantras, catchphrases or jingles we should learn and those are:

1) “Food Is Not My Friend.”

2) “Eat to live instead of living to eat.”

With those in mind we are going to look FIRST at foods that are usually safe for a damaged pancreas. Keep in mind that if your pancreas is still highly inflamed almost any food can and often will cause problems.

NOTE: I DID NOT say that any food will cause problems all the time or that everyone is different. Your pancreas, unless congenitally different, as in pancreas divisum, is the same as mine.

The only other difference is damage and damage can and often does make a lot of difference. The more extensive the damage the less foods you may be able to tolerate and …

Inflammation causes more damage.

This is EXACTLY why it is best to resolve any inflammation ASAP by:

1. fasting (no food, just water for hydration) to rest the pancreas.
2. Using anti-inflammatory medication (Ibuprofen or aspirin) 
3. Supplements grape seed extract, curcumin and vitamin C

The fast, in conjunction with proper medication and supplements, will resolve the inflammation quite quickly unless there are complications such as pseudocysts, calcification, pancreas divisum or another condition that may impede healing. With complications healing will take longer.

The first category of safe foods comes under the group heading of vegetables. This group has various sub-groups. These sub-groups are mine not scientifically based. They are NOT all-inclusive.

Group one: “leafy greens” which consist of: 

1. Lettuce – all types (iceberg, romaine, red leaf etc etc etc)
2. Spinach
3. Kale
4. Turnip greens
5. Beet greens
6. Mustard greens
7. Collared greens
8. Watercress
9. Swiss chard
10. Dandelion greens

Group Two: Cruciferous and Other Vegetables

1. Cabbage
2. Broccoli
3. Cauliflower (oh not green? pretend it is lol)
4. Bok choy
5. Brussels’ sprouts
6. Sweet green pepper (red, yellow, orange etc)
7. Cucumber
8. Squash (some are green lol)
9. Celery
10. Artichoke
11. Asparagus

Group Three: Tubers or ROOT Vegetables

1. Carrots
2. Potatoes (white, sweet, yams, etc)
3. Onions
4. Radish
5. Turnips
6. Parsnips
7. Rutabagas
8. Garlic
9. Kohlrabi
10. Celery root
11. Beets

The above vegetables all have one thing in common, They are highly ant-inflammatory, full of inflammation fighting polyphenols and nutrient dense. Some like broccoli, Brussel’s sprouts, cabbage, kale and cauliflower are full of sulforaphane which kills cancer cells. They also offer protein content. There are a lot more vegetables. This is not a complete list.

I’m blessed by God. I can eat raw vegetables. Some people with a lot of pancreas damage can not tolerate raw vegetables but are able to eat them cooked. Remember damage makes the difference and that’s why it’s imperative to test, test, test!

Group Four: Legumes

1. Beans (ALL kinds EXCEPT soybeans, garbanzo and peanuts). Yes peanuts are in the legume family. Soybeans, garbanzo beans aka chickpeas and peanuts all have too much fat for many people. You’ll also need to avoid or be cautious of soy milk, soy cheese, etc and hummus which is made from chickpeas (garbanzo beans). 
2. Peas (all)
3. Lentils (all)

Group Five: Grains

As far as I know ALL grains are fine as long as you do not cook them in a manner that makes them unsafe. Again, it is easy to make safe food unsafe simply by combining safe foods with those that are not safe. The following list of grains is not a complete list.

1. Wheat
2. Barley
3. Rye
4. Bulgar
5. Rice (All)
6. Corn
7. Oats
8. Pseudo Grains such as quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, etc

Group Six: Fruit

All fruit except avocado, coconut and some weird fruits you may never see are fine to eat. Avocado and coconut have way too much fat for most people with a damaged pancreas. Grapefruit is excellent BUT can cause serious interactions with many drugs. So ask your doctor and pharmacist if eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice is safe for you. The following are suggestions for fruit to enjoy:

1. Apples
2. Bananas
3. Berries (ALL)
4. Oranges
5. Grapes
6. Pears
7. Pineapple
8. Mango
9. Papaya
10. Melons (ALL)

Remember just like the vegetable groups above these are all safe foods but you can make them unsafe by adding things like whipped cream, booze, vanilla extract (use vanilla BEAN instead, FRESH vanilla bean that is NOT processed). Another thing to watch for is fruit that is too ripe. When fruit become too ripe the sugar turns to alcohol and of course that is how peach brandy, etc is made.

Group Seven: Animal Protein

Most animal protein, especially red meat, pork, goose and duck contain too much fat.

AVOID them!

FAT and ALCOHOL are the two major villains to avoid.

Yes you do need some fat in your diet for your body to accomplish several things such as absorbing fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) but it doesn’t take nearly as much as a doctor or nutritionist is going to tell you.

According to them I should have likely been dead years ago but here I am enjoying life 42 years after diagnosis.

I’m not as damaged as most in my support group so if fat makes me sick what is it going to do to you if your pancreas is far more damaged than mine?

Instead look for your protein fix in legumes, Skinless Turkey and Chicken (white meat), fish and seafood. You can still have your tuna sandwich simply avoid mayo and use canned white albacore tuna (canned in water not oil) mixed with onion, celery, garlic, salt, pepper and honey mustard. The white albacore tuna has 29 grams of protein and 1 gram of fat. Tasty, high protein without the fat. By the way most people should avoid salmon, mackerel, sardines, trout, whitefish and other oily, cold water fish. If you try them test small amounts to see how you tolerate them.

Unless You WANT To Be Sick AVOID These HIGH FAT Foods!

Here’s the list of foods I know you should avoid like the plague. And it’s not just high fat junk food. Foods HIGH in fat are BAD, even if you’ve been told or think otherwise. I don’t care if your doctor says they are fine, they aren’t.

I chatted with one doctor in a support group who was waiting patiently for her surgery to remove her pancreas. She had no clue how to heal herself. And when I asked her what her diet was like she told me diet didn’t make a difference. Now …

I’m healed, she’s sick BUT because I don’t have an M.D./O.D. she wouldn’t listen and blew me off. Just another pompous, stupid doctor. The world is full of them. I’ve met two who really knew anything about pancreatitis.

I see people post in support groups, mine included, about their food choices and the majority make me cringe.

I see people spout that they enjoyed their steak with trimming and suffered no problem yet they are always in the ER department, admitted to the hospital and popping narcotics at home for pain relief. Ya right! No problems! 

Sometimes even a brick upside their head doesn’t wake people up. Let’s get to that list of foods to avoid. This is off the top of my head and not a complete list.

1. Red Meat
2. Pork
3. Goose
4. Duck
5. Mayo
6. Butter/margarine
7. Cheese 
8. Milk
9. Egg yolks
10. Baked goods (pies, cakes, cookies, candies, sweet rolls, donuts etc)
11. Chocolate
12. Gravy/sauces
13. Dark meat on the turkey and chicken (twice the fat as white meat)

I know my diet isn’t easy. It isn’t easy to personalize via testing and it isn’t easy to continually adhere to. Unless you enjoy being sick, visiting the ER department and possibly dying due to complication of acute pancreatitis you might want to consider making a prudent lifestyle change.

And if you think your diet may be difficult I’m also a Celiac which means I have a lot less choices than you. IF I can do it you can do it. It all boils down to this: Do you enjoy being sick or would you like to heal and feel decent again?