Vegetable-Rich Diet Protects Against Acute Pancreatitis

STOCKHOLMIndividuals who consume 4 servings of vegetables a day reduce their risk of developing acute pancreatitis by 44% compared to those who eat less than 1 serving of veggies a day, according to a new study published online in the journal Gut.

Pancreatitis refers to inflammation of the pancreas, which releases digestive enzymes to break down food. Acute pancreatitis is a potentially life-threatening disease that occurs when those enzymes begin to eat the pancreas itself.

Researchers at the Karolinska Institute investigated whether an imbalance in antioxidant levels, associated with dietary factors, might make the pancreas more sensitive to the effects of free radicals and so increase the risk of acute pancreatitis. They tracked the health of a population-based sample of 80,000 adults living in central Sweden between 1998 and 2009. In 1997 each of the participants completed a comprehensive questionnaire on how often they had eaten from a range of 96 food items over the preceding year.

On average, those surveyed ate just under 2 servings of fruit and about 2.5 servings of vegetables daily. During the 11-year study, 320 people developed acute pancreatitis that was not associated with the complications of gallstones, a relatively common cause of the condition. The amount of fruit consumed did not seem to influence the risk of developing acute pancreatitis, but this was not the case for vegetables. After taking account of factors likely to influence the results, the analysis showed that those who ate the most vegetables-more than 4 servings a day were 44% less likely to develop acute pancreatitis than were those who ate less than 1 serving a day.

They also found overweight people and those who consumed more than one alcoholic drink per day appeared to get the most positive benefit from eating a lot of vegetables.

The researchers said the most likely explanation for the protective effect of vegetables is the high level of antioxidants they contain. The reason why fruit, which also contains high levels of antioxidants, did not seem to affect the risk of acute pancreatitis, may lie in its fructose content, which might counter the effects of antioxidants.