The Best Diet After a Cholecystectomy or Gallbladder Removal

Your doctor will most likely give you a list of recommendations. However, this article provides some other tips on what you should and shouldn’t eat after a gallbladder removal.

Was your gallbladder removed or will it be removed soon? When this happens, people commonly have doubts about what they should eat afterwards. Your doctor will most likely give you a list of recommendations. However, you still may have some doubts.

Taking a look at this list of dietary recommendations that you should follow can certainly help you out with process. You’ll see that, although it’s a somewhat restrictive diet, it’s not impossible to follow. Certainly by following these recommendations, you’ll heal in no time. What are you waiting for? Give a shot today!

Why do you need to make some diet changes after getting your gallbladder removed?

The first thing you should know is that the gallbladder is a small organ that you can live without. Its function is storing the bile produced by the liver to digest the fats you eat.

For this reason, when you don’t have a gallbladder, your bowels will have trouble absorbing nutrients from high-fat foods. Also, you can have frequent abdominal pain and diarrhea.

Good foods

The following is a list of foods you can eat. It will help you create a more efficient eating plan so you can avoid getting any stomach problems.

Cooked vegetables

Eating vegetables is really important. When you don’t have a gallbladder, keeping your gut clean becomes even more important. Therefore, cooked vegetables are easier to digest and will help reduce the acidity caused by bile.

This article may interest you: 3 Ways to Make Broccoli

The problem with raw vegetables is that your stomach has a harder time digesting them. Although they provide the same amount of fiber, it’s best to avoid them so you don’t make your body work harder. The most recommended vegetables are:

• Peppers
• Green leafy vegetables
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower

Foods that are high in soluble fiber

Eating soluble fiber reduces the negative effects of acid in the stomach. This nutrient helps eliminate bile more efficiently and quickly. The best options are:

• Apples
• Beans
• Brussels sprouts
• Carrots
• Blueberries
• Bananas
• Lentils
• Lean proteins

There is a belief that, after a gallbladder removal, people should avoid meats. However, this is a half-truth. You should obviously avoid fatty meats, but you can eat lean proteins often. Doctors recommend ham, turkey, lean cuts of beef, chicken, and turkey, fish, and eggs.

Healthy fats

Although your body won’t be able to digest fats as it used to after a gallbladder removal, you still need healthy fats. Two very good examples are omega-3 and 6 fatty acids, like avocado, fish like sardines and salmon, walnuts, almonds, olives, linseeds, chia seeds.

Read this article too: Tricks to Prepare Avocados and Keep them Fresh

Foods you should avoid after a gallbladder removal

Now that you know what you can eat after a gallbladder removal, it’s time to talk about what foods you should avoid at all costs. Although it may seem excessive, remember that following this diet will help avoid unnecessary discomfort.

• Fried foods. These are the first foods you should eliminate from your diet completely, even if you have a gallbladder. Fried foods contain hard to digest fats that affect your cardiovascular health.
• High fat foods. Although you should eat certain fats, it’s important to avoid high fat foods. They may be natural but will cause heartburn and reflux. Some examples include bacon, high fat cheese, fatty cuts of beef and pork, and chicken skin. Vegetable oils: although some vegetable oils provide omega-3 and 6, it’s best to avoid them because they’re harder to digest once cooked. It’s important to avoid foods that contain them, such as mayonnaise or dressings.
• Prepared foods. Ready-to-eat foods may seem like a simple solution to satiate your hunger. However, they also contain sugar, refined flour, and unhealthy fats that will make you feel bad quickly. Some examples are cookies, breads, instant soups, chips, etc.

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