To give your overworked pancreas a break, it's best to create a diet primarily composed of natural foods such as vegetables, seaweeds, mushrooms, and legumes, allowing your pancreas to rest.The overuse of the pancreas (이자) is the root cause of lifestyle diseases like hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and cancer. 

The pancreas performs two crucial functions essential for life: 'digestion' and 'blood sugar regulation'. 

These involve secreting about 1.5 liters of digestive fluid daily to break down carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, and secreting insulin to supply nutrients to cells and store excess calories in the body.

This small organ, approximately 15 cm long and weighing about 100g, handles these vital tasks. Koreans have a pancreas that is about 12% smaller and has a fat content about 22.8% higher than Westerners, making them more susceptible to diabetes. 

The increasing number of diabetes patients is related to Koreans maintaining their native pancreas size while adopting Westernized dietary habits. Furthermore, as one ages, the already small pancreas becomes less functional due to the natural aging process of the organ.

The Pancreas Secretes Digestive Juices and Enzymes

In younger years, overeating, binge eating, or late-night meals can be easily managed by the body, as digestive juices and enzymes are secreted efficiently without causing significant strain. However, in old age, overeating, binge eating, or late-night meals are akin to forcing an elderly person to work overtime and pushing them into exhaustion.

Fatty foods, cold foods, irregular meals, and inadequate chewing habits also pose problems. Fatty foods slow down digestion, increasing the burden on the pancreas, while cold foods hinder enzyme activity, forcing the pancreas to secrete more digestive enzymes. 

Irregular meals also rob the pancreas of its rest time. Additionally, if food is not chewed properly, the pancreas has to compensate for the teeth's work, becoming even busier.

The Pancreas Secretes Insulin

Another critical function of the pancreas is secreting insulin into the bloodstream to deliver glucose to cells and store excess energy as fat.

Location of the pancreas (이자). Ⓒ Seoul National University Hospital

Blood sugar refers to glucose circulating in the blood. When we consume carbohydrate-rich foods, they are digested into glucose and then absorbed by the body. 

Refined carbohydrates such as white sugar, white flour, and white rice are digested quickly, causing glucose to enter the bloodstream rapidly. Rice mixed with soup or rice cakes made from ground grains are also digested in a similar short timeframe.

Consuming these refined carbohydrates triggers the body's homeostasis system, causing the pancreas to secrete insulin forcefully. This results in a rapid spike and subsequent drop in blood sugar levels, known as a blood sugar spike.

Normally, blood sugar levels are maintained between 70-140 mg/dL. However, eating white rice can cause blood sugar to soar to 250 mg/dL. To rapidly lower this high blood sugar, the pancreas secretes a large amount of insulin. 

Overworking the pancreas in this manner can lead to insulin resistance. When insulin resistance occurs, the effectiveness of insulin decreases, causing blood sugar levels to continuously rise, leading to the onset of diabetes. 

Furthermore, blood sugar spikes increase oxidative stress in the blood, damaging blood vessels. When blood vessels are damaged, low-density cholesterol accumulates around the damaged areas, leading to conditions such as arteriosclerosis, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and cerebrovascular diseases. 

There is no Medicine for the Pancreas; Only Rest

While there are specific remedies for lung problems like bellflower root or ginkgo, and for liver issues like water parsley, no particular ingredient or medication benefits the pancreas. There is only one way to restore pancreatic function: to let it rest. 

To allow the pancreas to rest, it is advisable to: △ reduce consumption of processed foods with many additives, △ avoid foods that are difficult to digest such as fried items, △ cease intake of concentrated sugars like jams, raisins, and dried persimmons, and △ avoid meat raised in unhealthy environments, opting for meat, milk, and eggs from animals raised in good conditions.

In terms of eating habits, it is important to: △ chew food thoroughly, △ eat small portions, △ avoid soaking rice in soup or water, and △ avoid cold foods like beer and iced coffee.

A small portion meal is fundamental, and it is beneficial to select foods that help the pancreas rest. 'Pancreas rest' foods include: ① fresh vegetables (cabbage, lettuce, cucumber, carrots, kale, etc.), ② fermented foods (doenjang, cheonggukjang, kimchi, natto, etc.), ③ mushrooms (shiitake, enoki, button mushrooms, etc.), ④ seaweeds (wakame, kelp, seagrass, gim, etc.), ⑤ nuts (walnuts, peanuts, almonds, pistachios, etc.), ⑥ mixed grain rice (mixed grains of 5 or fewer types, including germinated brown rice), ⑦ vegetable oils (olive oil, perilla oil, etc.), ⑧ tofu and legumes, ⑨ seasonal fruits, and ⑩ good salt (Korean sun-dried sea salt, medicinal salt, etc.).

◆ Director Park Chan-young

Director of Eoseongcho Korean Medicine Clinic in Sadang-dong, Seoul. Doctor of Korean Medicine from Dongguk University. He sparked a detox sensation in Korea by appearing on health programs such as MBN's 'Umjiui Jwang'. His books include 'Atopic Dermatitis Treated with Eoseongcho', 'Seasonings are Medicine', and 'The Miracle of Detox'.