Gall Bladder Diet

From LoveToKnow Diet

Why do some people need a gall bladder diet? When the gall bladder malfunctions, excruciating pain may result. While waiting for surgery or other treatments to solve the problem, and after gall bladder removal, the right dietary approach can help minimize pain and optimize health.

What Is the Gallbladder?

The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ located underneath the liver. It stores a substance called bile that is secreted by the liver and required for fat digestion. Bile is a yellow-green liquid consisting of bile salts, water, cholesterol, lecithin, and trace minerals, as well as the pigments bilirubin and biliverdin. The gallbladder's function is to secrete bile into the intestines when fat is present and must be digested. When the gallbladder becomes diseased, it cannot fulfill its function properly, and several health problems may result. Certain dietary habits may also cause the production of gallstones, which can become lodged in the bile ducts, causing severe pain -- this pain ranks with childbirth and heart attack as the most severe pain known to medical science.

What Is the Gallbladder Diet?

The gallbladder diet is a lowfat regimen designed to allow the gallbladder adequate rest and to prevent painful attacks by minimizing the organ's contractions. After its removal (cholecystectomy), the gall bladder diet is necessary because insufficient bile will be available for the digestion of fats, and excess fat in the diet will lead to diarrhea and other unpleasant effects.

What Can I Eat?

The primary concern in the gallbladder diet is to avoid fats. Therefore, fatty or fried foods should be avoided. In addition, carbonated drinks and large meals are also discouraged.

The gallbladder diet focuses on lean meats, lowfat dairy products, and fruits and vegetables. Because fat cannot be digested normally, it is important to include plenty of fiber in the diet. A person with gallstones should add starchy foods to the diet, such as bread, to ensure adequate fiber consumption.

Essentially, the gallbladder diet follows a typical food pyramid, with vegetables, fruits, and grains making up the bulk of the diet, supplemented by lowfat dairy products and lean meats in moderation, and with fats and sweets relegated to "sparing" usage.

Supplementation with fish oil capsules has been recommended for gall bladder patients to ensure that they get sufficient amounts of the omega-3 and omega-6 essential oils. In addition, increasing use of the spices turmeric and ginger has been shown to aid digestion, so adding them to the spice cabinet and using them frequently is desirable.

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Comments

Hi Cindy,

I can so relate to the emotional eating. I wake up in the morning with the best intentions... We've got a small group that meets over at the 21 Day Challenge. The first 21 days of each month we set diet goals to help establish new habits. You might want to come on over and say hi.

-- Contributed by: Donna Sundblad

Which is it? Eat what you want, or this low-fat regimen? I was scared after my surgery (of the stitches) so only had low fat food (soy meat products instead of meat) The surgeon asked how I was eating. Forgetting that I was on eggshells, I said 'Fine'. He looked at the nurse, laughed and said, 'It's amazing what the liver can do!' He then said, 'Watch the fat'. Unfortunately though, I like chocolate, dairy and baked goods, and am an emotional eater with enormous amounts of stress, so have not stayed on that. I was then diagnosed with IBS (?) due to terrible cramps, sweating, diarrhea bouts, and constipation. Seeing this page makes me think of getting back to the basics again (thank you!) Interestingly, the diet for IBS says low fiber, but this says high fiber. It may be trial and error. The IBS diet, just says that food should be well cooked. I guess eating a balanced diet and low fat is just good anyway, and stress and emotional eating isn't (so I need to work on those). Eating I guess needs to be more of a conscious thing (more managed). Should be interesting. I'll check in later, with how I'm doing.

-- Contributed by: Cindy

Hi Charles,

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. It really helps that you were eating low fat before your surgery, because now it is life as usual for you with weight loss! Staying in shape does pay off.

Donna

-- Contributed by: Donna Sundblad

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