If you have been diagnosed with EPI, you should work with your doctor or nutritionist to make sure that all your dietary needs are being met. But it’s especially important that people with EPI eat a nutrient-rich diet-along with taking pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy with every meal and snack-since EPI interferes with nutrient absorption. Eating healthy is important for all of us. If you have EPI, your pancreas cannot properly break down foods, resulting in poor digestion of nutrients-especially fats. Carbohydrates are broken down into sugars. PROTEIN comes from foods like meat, poultry and fish.ĬARBOHYDRATES can be found in bread and pasta. Your body uses these nutrients to help give you energy to function.įAT is found in foods like nuts and cheese. The food you eat contains 3 main nutrients-fat, protein, and carbohydrates. Living with EPI Getting nutrition from food And make sure to open up and share all of your symptoms at your next visit. That is why it is so important to talk to your doctor about your medical history and all of your medications including all vitamins and supplements you take. Only your doctor can tell if your GI symptoms are due to EPI or another digestive condition. In addition to preventing adequate digestion, EPI produces uncomfortable gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. If you have exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI), your body cannot properly digest fats, proteins, and carbohydrates in the food you eat. Many people living with CF are unable to properly digest food because they may also have EPI. In patients with CF, a thick, sticky mucus is produced in certain organs throughout the body, most commonly in the lungs and digestive system, including the pancreas. Cystic fibrosisĬystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited genetic condition that leads to chronic disease that mainly affects the lungs and digestive and reproductive systems. Over the course of years the inflammation can lead to irreversible damage to the pancreas, including the cells that secrete pancreatic digestive enzymes and the cells that produce insulin leading to diabetes. Chronic PancreatitisĬhronic pancreatitis (CP) is the most common cause of EPI in adults. If you have one of these conditions and symptoms of EPI, we recommend that you talk to your doctor.Īmerican Gastroenterological Association DigiReachĪGA whiteboard videos in English and Spanish. Some of these diseases you are born with, like cystic fibrosis, while others may occur later in life, as is the case with chronic pancreatitis.ĮPI may be associated with chronic pancreatitis and cystic fibrosis. Who gets EPI?ĮPI is associated with certain diseases and conditions that affect the pancreas. Pathfinder’s Circle Corporate Recognition ProgramĮxocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) is a condition characterized by deficiency of the exocrine pancreatic enzymes, resulting in the inability to digest food properly, or maldigestion.Circle of Courage Individual Donor Recognition Program.