SerpApi.Org
When we think about protecting our health, we often think of the heart, brain, bones and gut. But not enough of us spare a thought for our pancreas – an organ that plays a vital role in digestion and regulating blood sugar.
“It has an important nutritional role,” Dr Kamran Ala, a consultant gastroenterologist at the Hampshire Clinic, part of Circle Health Group, says. Around five inches long and located at the back of the abdomen, the pancreas has two primary functions: the first is to produce enzymes that help the body to break down food and absorb nutrients. The second is to manage our blood sugar, releasing insulin (which lowers it) and glucagon (which raises it) in order to regulate essential organs such as the brain, kidneys and liver.
However with the rise of weight-loss jabs, there’s also been an increase in cases of pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas). This summer, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) launched a study to assess whether some people are at a higher genetic risk of acute pancreatitis when taking a type of weight-loss medications known as GLP-1s, which include brands such as Wegovy and Mounjaro.
As of June 2025, the scheme has received nearly 400 reports of acute pancreatitis from patients who have used weight loss and diabetes drugs, with nearly half involving Mounjaro. While none of the cases have been confirmed as being directly caused by these medications, the MHRA is investigating the link. They’re encouraging people who experience pancreatitis after taking them to report it through their Yellow Card website, where they’ll then be asked whether they wish to participate in their study.
So, how important is your pancreas, and what can you do to take better care of it?
What happens if you don’t look after your pancreas?
Pancreatitis
Pancreatitis is a byproduct of poor pancreas care, Dr Ala says, with between 6,000 and 12,000 people in the UK given a new diagnosis annually. Around 50 per cent of cases are caused by gallstones, with binge drinking or chronic alcohol use causing a further 25 per cent of cases.
However, a type of weight loss and diabetes medication known as GLP-1 agonists, such as Wegovy, Mounjaro and the Type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic, have also been linked to hundreds of cases of acute pancreatitis (10 of which have been fatal). But it’s not yet clear whether other factors play a role. The study launched by the MHRA will check whether some people are at a higher genetic risk of acute pancreatitis when taking these medicines.
Pancreatitis prompts “the release of these very, very active enzymes into the pancreas rather than into the bowel, where it’s more safely dealt with. These enzymes lead to damage of the pancreas gland,” Dr Ala explains.
Acute pancreatitis can lead to hospitalisation, and cause severe pain in the abdomen, nausea and fever. Meanwhile chronic pancreatitis can lead to pancreatic cancer, which has notoriously low survival rates. Acute forms of pancreatitis can improve on their own, though life-threatening complications may arise in severe cases.
Type 2 diabetes and weight gain
One of the most crucial roles the pancreas plays is in the management of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes – which is thought to affect around 6 million people in Britain – occurs when the pancreas can’t produce enough insulin to function as required, or when cells within the body don’t react to it.
This means glucose lingers in the bloodstream instead of being used as fuel for energy, raising the risk of ailments such as heart disease and strokes, ulcers and nerve damage. It can also trigger loss of vision and blindness, and can result in kidney failure and lower limb amputation.
Insulin resistance is also a primary cause of weight gain as it increases appetite and encourages the body to store glucose as fat. At the same time, excess fat, particularly around the belly, can worsen insulin resistance because it stops the body from using insulin efficiently, so becoming a negative loop of increasing insulin and further weight gain.
Pancreatic cancer
The exact causes of pancreatic cancer are not known, but it has the poorest survival rate of common cancers, with 5 per cent of patients living for 10 years post-diagnosis (compared to around 95 per cent among testicular cancer patients over the same period). “The main risk factors appear to be tobacco smoking, or a history of chronic pancreatitis,” says Dr Ala. “Say you’ve had a trigger for acute pancreatitis, like alcohol or gallstones; then the pancreas gland goes into a state of chronic pancreatitis, where it loses its volume and there’s damage to it.” This damage can then translate into raised incidence of pancreatic cancer, Dr Ala explains.
Gallstones
The gallbladder’s role is to release bile into the small intestine to help break down fats. It’s located just below the pancreas, and the two organs are linked by the bile duct. Gallstones, where small stones form in the gallbladder, can be caused by excessive alcohol consumption, or rapid weight gain or loss. Dr Ala says that he has seen an uptick in young women in particular presenting with gallstones, which affect 15 per cent of people in the UK, and developing them may trigger acute pancreatitis in the process.
Eight ways to protect your pancreas
Boost your vitamin C levels
Research has shown this can “have a therapeutic and preventative role in pancreatic cancer,” with those who were prescribed vitamin C around half as likely to suffer from the disease. Scientists at the University of Iowa last year found that when coupled with chemotherapy, high-dose intravenous vitamin C doubled the chances of survival for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, too.
Avoid it in supplement form, Dr Ala suggests, and instead opt for “natural sources of vitamin C, [like] citrus fruits and apples.”
Work up a sweat to ward off gallstones
“Exercise is meant to be good in terms of lowering gallstone risk,” says Dr Ala, with a 2024 review published in Frontiers in Medicine noting “a significant association between physical activity and risk of cholelithiasis [gallstones].”
The majority of studies analysed suggest that “regular physical activity, particularly moderate to vigorous intensity exercises, can help prevent the formation of gallstones”. For this reason, swimming, lifting weights and hill walking at least twice a week are advised.
Avoid calorie crashing...
“Perversely, obesity and rapid weight loss both lead to increased incidence of gallstones,” says Dr Ala. “Very calorie-restricted diets – so less than 800 calories a day – generally are a bad idea, and it has to do with the fact that the bile in the gallbladder is squirted out every time we have a meal.”
When food reaches the stomach, it prompts a contraction of bile from the gallbladder. Calorie restriction can lead to bile lingering there, so the gallbladder becomes “super saturated with all the cholesterol and bilirubin salts [a primary component of bile] that lead to the formation of gallstones,” says Dr Ala.
...but consider fasting
Fasting can be a useful tool for regulating blood insulin levels, Dr Ala notes, particularly for obese people. “As we become heavier and heavier, we have higher levels of insulin in our body, and our body just stops responding to it.”
This can lead to insulin resistance, which can cause Type 2 diabetes. “In order to resensitise our bodies to insulin, there is evidence that if you do prolonged fasting so that your blood sugars come down, next time you eat, you are much more [responsive] to the effects of insulin. And so you can reduce the insulin resistance, [which] helps people lose weight.”
Fasting is also a common treatment for acute pancreatitis. Some research has suggested a 12-hour eating abstinence window for best, but eating this way doesn’t suit everyone, Dr Ala says. “Patients need to work out what works for them. It has to do with how old we are as well; older people can’t tolerate as long fasting windows [the same as] younger people.”
Focus on (good) fats
Fat in our diet stimulates the gallbladder to empty, a vital component of pancreatic health. “Various types of nuts are meant to be protective against the formation of gallstones,” says Dr Ala: the essential component being mono and polyunsaturated (or “healthy”) fats like nuts, fish and plant oils.
These also help to regulate cholesterol in the blood. High cholesterol can disrupt pancreatic function, often via raised likelihood of insulin resistance and diabetes. Healthy fats maintain levels of HDL cholesterol (or “good” cholesterol) while reducing levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol.
It’s essential to differentiate good fats from bad, however: high and saturated forms such as those found in fried or processed foods can be challenging for the pancreas to process. People with pancreatitis are also typically advised to follow a low-fat diet.
Consider upping your coffee intake
Dr Ala points out that there is some evidence to suggest coffee consumption can be good for the pancreas. One meta-analysis of 20 studies found that “high coffee consumption was associated with a reduced pancreatic cancer risk”, though noted that this was not consistent across all continents.
Reasons for the reduction in risk could be a result of the antioxidants in coffee, the paper posited, and its ability to mitigate DNA damage and inflammation markers. Dr Ala advises consuming “high quality coffee, so not your instant stuff – beans that have been ground up” to get most of the benefits.
Cut down on alcohol…
The NHS says that adults can safely drink 14 units per week (or just under five large glasses of wine), but Dr Ala says that “we need to reduce alcohol consumption. It is a directly toxic molecule to many, many organs in the body, including the pancreas.” An international study of 2.5 million people published in PLOS Medicine earlier this year found that for every 10g of alcohol (around one glass of wine) consumed daily, the incidence rate of pancreatic cancer appeared to rise by 3 per cent.
… and smoking
Multiple studies have shown that smoking is linked to a rise in incidence of acute and chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. Researchers at Yangzhou University last year found that the damage needn’t be permanent, however, concluding that “people who quit smoking had comparable odds for the diseases as those who never smoked.”
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