Other specialised cells embedded in the pancreas make hormones, including insulin, to balance sugar levels in the blood and overall energy stores in the body. Pancreatic juice flows into the upper intestine (duodenum) and mixes with the food and bile to digest food. It does this in two main ways: the main bulk of the pancreas makes digestive juices that balance the acid made in the stomach, and contain enzymes to digest protein, starch and fat in our food. The pancreas is essential for digesting the food we eat. It is salmon pink in colour, about nine inches long and about as thick as your wrist at its widest part. It lies in the upper half of the abdomen behind the stomach and in front of the spine. The pancreas gland is an essential part of the digestive and hormone systems. This factsheet is about acute pancreatitis
