Metabolic Health
Here’s How to Make Your Pancreas Healthier via Lifestyle Choices.
Pancreatic disorders are serious, causing mortality and suffering, but there are viable solutions to lower the risks of disorders.
The Importance of the Pancreas for Health
All organs play a critical role in our survival and prosperity. I write about them to create awareness and reduce associated risks with lifestyle changes.
Interestingly, the pancreas seems to have less attention in the literature than the brain, heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys.
However, like other organs, the pancreas plays a critical role in our health.
A damaged pancreas can cause serious health issues and even death. My goal is to create awareness of the health of the pancreas in this story.
The pancreas, considered a small organ (around six inches long), exists in the upper abdomen behind the stomach.
The pancreas has two critical functions for our health. For example, it creates hormones and enzymes essential for metabolism.
The enzymes created by the pancreas are essential for digesting food, especially macronutrients such as proteins, fats, and carbs.
The most critical hormone for our metabolism is insulin, created by the pancreas. As I mentioned in numerous articles, insulin is a master hormone. Without this crucial hormone, the human body cannot survive.
The prominent role of insulin is to control glucose metabolism, a vital energy source for cells, tissues, and organs, including the brain.
I noticed that on social media, some diabetic patients call insulin pumps “an artificial pancreas.”
In addition, the pancreas creates glucagon, gastrin, and amylin hormones which I plan to introduce in another article.
Diseases Related to Pancreas
According to National Pancreas Foundation, “There are a variety of disorders of the pancreas including acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis, hereditary pancreatitis, and pancreatic cancer.”
Among these diseases, the most severe condition is pancreatic cancer. It is the leading cause of death globally. For example, unfortunately, The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that 49,830 will die from pancreatic cancer in the United States in 2022.
ACS informs that “the average lifetime risk of pancreatic cancer is about 1 in 64. However, certain risk factors can affect each person’s chances of getting this cancer.”
The biggest issue with pancreatic cancer is the symptoms do not show until the advanced stages. Therefore, detecting them earlier can be challenging.
ACS points out that pancreatic cancer is slightly more common among men than women.
I believe that we might reduce the risks of some cancers via healthy lifestyle choices.
Examination Challenges of Pancreas
In addition to the challenges of symptoms, examination of the pancreas by healthcare professionals is also a problem.
As documented by the foundation, “the evaluation of pancreatic diseases can be difficult due to the inaccessibility of the pancreas. There are multiple methods to evaluate the pancreas. Initial tests of the pancreas include a physical examination, which is difficult since the pancreas is deep in the abdomen near the spine.”
Even though blood tests for the pancreas are helpful for physicians, they might produce wrong results. Even worse, examination of the pancreas in critical cases might require surgical operations due to accessibility issues.
However, the good news is that physicians can gain insights using radiography tests such as MRI, ERCP, MRCP, and CAT scans.
Five Lifestyle Habits to Improve Pancreas Health
When I reviewed the literature, I came across some practical ways to improve the health of the pancreas. Therefore, I summarize them to create awareness.
1 — Chew food as much as possible.
Digestion starts in the mouth and is supported by the pancreas.
Chewing our food as much as possible can reduce the burden on the pancreas as it creates fewer enzymes to digest food.
Chewing food can also support the health of the stomach. As a habit, for example, I chew my food at least 80 times for each bite. Therefore it takes me to consume my food for two hours in one meal-eating regimen.
As mentioned before, one of the critical roles of the pancreas is to produce enzymes. Pancreatic enzymes are lipase, protease, and amylase.
I introduced the benefits of digestive enzymes in an article titled Why Digestive Enzymes Are Important and How to Address Deficiencies.
Supplementation of pancreatic enzymes might help some people.
For example, when I started a ketogenic diet consuming large amounts of healthy fats, I needed to supplement with lipase to improve digestion. However, after adaptation, my body does not require the supplementation of lipase or other enzymes anymore.
Refraining from junk foods is necessary for the health of the pancreas.
2 — Control the acidity of the body.
Acidity is a known risk factor for the pancreas. For example, acid reflux might negatively affect the pancreas.
The body controls acidity tightly. Different parts of the body require different pH levels. pH level 7 is considered normal. The ideal alkaline range is considered between 7.35 and 7.45.
However, the stomach is an exception, with a pH of around 3.5. It requires high acidity. However, as excess acid also causes stomach upsets, people use anti-acids. I was one of them who suffered from the side effects of anti-acids.
Gratefully, my caring family doctor helped me stop anti-acids and find better solutions. In the beginning, the best way to increase stomach acid was by introducing a little lemon and apple cider vinegar diluted in water before meals.
After fixing my digestive issues, I did not need lemon or vinegar.
If you have acidity problems such as acid reflux, getting support from qualified healthcare professionals will be essential to address the issues timely.
In addition, excessive caffeine from coffee, tea, or other caffeinated drinks might increase the acidity leading to inflammation of the pancreas.
3 — Maintain good hydration.
Dehydration of the body is a severe health issue.
Unfortunately, the pancreas is also sensitive to dehydration. This is because the cells of the pancreas require constant hydration.
One of the lifestyle risk factors for the pancreas is the use of alcohol. For example, excessive alcohol consumption can cause dehydration.
If the pancreas gets dehydrated, it can create inflammation. Electrolyte abnormalities are well-documented risk factors for pancreatic disorders.
For example, the primary cause of acute pancreatitis is inflammation. Its symptoms are vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, bloating, and fever.
Dehydration is also associated with gallstones, a primary cause of acute pancreatitis. Therefore, drinking enough water and maintaining electrolyte balance is essential for the health of the pancreas.
4 — Move the body regularly.
Cells, tissues, and organs need movement to stay healthy. Exercise is another no-brainer for the health of organs.
Like all other organs, the pancreas needs movement to get the necessary blood supply.
Regular exercise is essential to keep the pancreas healthy.
5 — Give a rest to the pancreas via time-restricted eating.
I leave this to the end as it is one of the most critical lifestyle interventions for good health, even though it is still controversial for unknown reasons.
In my experience, observations, and reviews of metabolic and mental health for decades, fasting is invaluable for managing insulin for healthy people. Of course, fasting might have side effects, which can be reduced however fasting is not for everyone.
As the pancreas creates the insulin hormone, when we fast (intermittently eat), the pancreas gets a chance to rest.
So the benefit of fasting for metabolism is a no-brainer. Thus I don’t understand why some people still argue about its value for healthy people and as an intervention mechanism by qualified healthcare professionals.
In addition, during the fasting period, the pancreas does not need to create pancreatic enzymes. So intermittent fasting might be valuable to rest the pancreas and give it a chance to improve.
So one of my crazy reasons for choosing a one-meal-a-day eating regimen is to keep my organs, including the pancreas, healthy.
In addition, since fasting can significantly reduce inflammation in the body (even better than some over-the-counter medications, in my experience), fasting can also relieve those suffering from pancreas inflammation.
Regarding resting, like any organ, sleep is also essential for the pancreas to function better.
Conclusions and Takeaways
Even though the pancreas is a small organ, it does excellent work for the body.
Unfortunately, symptoms of pancreatic diseases, especially pancreatic cancer, are challenging to detect before reaching the latest stages. As a result, treating cancers at later stages is extremely difficult for healthcare professionals.
In addition, the pancreas's location also challenges monitoring its health.
Getting timely support from qualified healthcare professionals is critical.
However, a preventative approach is necessary to sustain our health and well-being. Therefore, it is wise to prevent diseases before they manifest.
Simple lifestyle habits such as chewing our food, controlling acidity, keeping the body hydrated, and resting the pancreas with time-restricted eating and restorative sleep might significantly reduce the risks.
As some pancreas diseases are also genetic, consideration of DNA screening can be valuable for hereditary pancreatitis. The well-known risk factor leading to pancreatic disorder is cystic fibrosis.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
If you enjoyed this article and have time, you might also check my stories about other organs included in the following links.
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