The pancreas is named after Greek terms meaning “all flesh,” and while it might not seem like the most essential of organs at first glance, it is indeed necessary for multiple functions within the body. In fact, the pancreas works continuously throughout your life to produce hormones that control your blood sugar, such as glucagon and insulin, and also creates enzymes that help with absorption of nutrients from food.
If you ever experienced issues with the pancreas, such as pancreatitis, or know someone who has had pancreatic cancer, you will know how devastating an afflicted pancreas can be. Hopefully, you are part of the population that doesn’t want to deal with the pain and discomfort that comes from illness related to the pancreas and want to learn how to promote a healthy pancreas.
The phrase “food is medicine” is all the more true for the pancreas, since it plays a role in digestion. By eating the following 14 superfoods, you can keep your pancreas healthy and working optimally:
Garlic
Garlic is an allium, similar to chives, shallots, leeks, fenugreek, and onions, and has powerful antioxidants that do more than scare away vampires. The levels of sulfur, oligosaccharides, selenium, and flavonoids in garlic are high enough to have a positive impact on pancreatic tissues. Furthermore, garlic increase the efficiency of the pancreatic digestive functions by helping release a more controlled amount of insulin while helping lower blood glucose levels. Interestingly, a study from the San Francisco Bay area that was published by the National Cancer Institute found that individuals with a diet high in garlic had a 54-percent lower risk of pancreatic cancer.
So go on, put that garlic on everything.
