How to eat fat comfortably without digestive distress after gall bladder removal. This ensures adequate fat-soluble vitamins in the diet for optimal health and vitality.
How to eat fat comfortably after gallbladder surgery seems to be an increasingly common dilemma nowadays. You have to wonder if these people tried a simple, doctor-developed gall bladder cleanse before deciding to go under the knife.
Sadly, their practitioners probably never suggested this first.
Why in the world are so many people having problems with this small organ that aids in fat digestion by storing and concentrating bile produced by the liver?
Could the gallbladder laparoscopic surgery epidemic that is occurring even in young girls be related to our fat-phobic society? (1, 2)
Constantly eating rancid fats or avoiding healthy ones like butter has the potential to trigger a malfunctioning or atrophying organ from lack of proper use.
Whatever the reason, there are indeed a lot of folks walking around without a gallbladder. Many are under the incorrect impression that after removal they can no longer eat fats without digestive discomfort.
YES! You Can Eat Fat without a Gallbladder
The first thing to realize after gallbladder surgery is that you can most certainly still eat fat.
The bile necessary to digest most fat is made in the liver, not the gallbladder, and you still have a liver, right?
What you really need is a dietary strategy that compensates for the fact that your body no longer has a place to store and concentrate the bile.
The approach is similar to a person who has had her appendix removed. These people must replenish beneficial flora after intestinal illness because there is no longer a place where good bacteria remain secure during bouts of gastroenteritis.
Please note that the tips outlined below are also very helpful to those who have been eating lowfat for a long time and are just now coming around to the fact that whole, traditional fats in the diet are critical to health.
Many times, folks who start to embrace and eat a plentiful amount of fats again after many years of avoidance experience the same digestive challenges as someone after gallbladder surgery. It’s almost like their bodies have “forgotten” how to digest fats!
So whether you are adjusting to life after gallbladder surgery or simply trying to adjust to eating fats again, keep these tips in mind for making the transition that much easier.
Cholesterol Needed After Gallbladder Surgery
It is very important thing to realize after gallbladder surgery that you still need cholesterol to produce bile which assists with the digestion of regular long-chain fats and oils. Note that short or medium-chain triglycerides like coconut or palm oil do not require bile for digestion.
One of the benefits of cholesterol is the easy production of bile. The very foods that have sufficient and healthy quantities of cholesterol are those that are, you guessed it, quite fatty, like liver, egg yolks, cream, and butter. (3)
Avoiding fat after gallbladder surgery is potentially going to compound problems with digesting fat in the long run as you won’t be getting the healthy, unprocessed cholesterol you need to produce bile!
Do you see the vicious cycle that can occur if you avoid fat after gallbladder surgery?
Please note that this discussion does not include oxidized cholesterol like what is in pasteurized, homogenized dairy (UHT organic milk and skim milk included) and the vast majority of processed foods.
Oxidized cholesterol is to be avoided in the diet and is the type of cholesterol that can trigger heart disease. (4)
Bitters Stimulate Bile Production
Once you are comfortable with the fact that you can and should eat fat after gallbladder surgery and that it is wise to do so in order to provide your liver with the raw materials necessary for bile production, the next step is to “train” your liver to produce the bile. This way, you will have the digestive juices you need at the proper time to digest the fats you eat with your meals.
Eating at regular intervals that your body can adjust to can go a long way toward this goal.
If a regular routine for consuming your fats does not prove helpful after a period of time or you are temporarily off schedule for whatever reason, use of traditional bitters or quality digestive enzymes can be used in conjunction.
Herbal bitters are plant-based extracts that are rich in minerals (vetted and recommended source).
Bitters work better than digestive enzymes in my experience. They are an ancient tonic for stimulating the liver to produce bile.
Traditional Asian cultures have long valued bitters for their digestive benefit. They also use them for their cleansing properties which promote increased strength and healing.
A single teaspoon of bitters in a small amount of water in the morning and in the evening should be sufficient to stimulate your liver to produce adequate amounts of bile. A spoonful of cold-pressed, organic sunflower lecithin after a fatty meal can also be helpful.
Still Can’t Eat Fat Comfortably After Gallbladder Removal?
If despite all your best efforts, you still have digestive issues with fats after gallbladder surgery, you can use a bile salts supplement to assist you.
Supplements should be a last resort, however. It is always best to encourage the body to do its job unassisted if at all possible.
The important thing to keep in mind is that the need for healthy, unprocessed fats does not change after gallbladder surgery. You still need these fats for optimal health. Therefore, finding a way to consume them comfortably is of paramount importance.
Keep in mind the research of Dr. Weston A. Price. The most revered foods in ancestral cultures were all fatty and of animal origin. These foods contained large amounts of Vitamins A, D, and K2 which were responsible for their strong, sturdy babies and children, resistance to chronic and infectious disease, easy fertility, and vitality into advanced age.
These fat-soluble activators supercharge mineral absorption into the tissues. Thus, eating lowfat is a recipe for disaster! It will likely contribute to a mineral starved state and other deficiencies and health challenges over time.
Fat is a critical nutrient that you cannot do without and still enjoy vibrant health.
Finding a successful strategy for consuming foods with the fats you need is the best approach after gallbladder surgery…not avoiding them as recommended by conventional medicine.
References
(1) More Young Women Suffering from Gall Bladder Disease
(2) Your Gall Bladder Needs Fat!
(3) Digestion and Absorption of Food Fats
(4) Atherosclerosis. 2000 Mar;149(1):181-90
Is there a particular type of bitters you recommend? Angostura or Swedish? I’d like to try this. I had my gallbladder removed at 26 when I was fervently following the government Food Pyramid, eating low-fat, lots of pasta and cereals (without proper preparation) and wondering why I couldn’t lose weight. I’m now 53 and eating the WAPF way, feeling great and maintaining a healthy weight.
I know that drinking milk from a regular store is bad but if I don’t have access to the healthy raw butter, is regular organic pastured butter ok to consume? Is it only pasturized and not homogenized? Isn’t it the homogenization that makes it that much worse for the body?
Michelle, I can’t drink homogenized milk primarily because I think I can’t digest those fats that they’ve changed in composition. I thought I was intolerant to dairy but I can handle raw milk and cheese made the right way.
Michelle, I too was wondering about the “oxidized cholesterol” mentioned in this article. So Kerrygold grassfed butter is bad? And yogurt from the store is bad (because it comes from past. milk?) this is alarming information because I guess I thought we could eat these things from the store with no problem but raw was always better. But if the latest info is saying that these products will cause heart disease, then a lot of people like me who are trying to be healthy, are going to be in trouble!!
Hello and thank you for this blog! I find so much good information here! I hope my experiences will help someone who wants to keep their gallbladder! At one point, my gallbladder was so bad that I could hardly walk 100 feet without a really bad “stitch” in my side. I fasted for 2 weeks (nothing but water) which helped me walk further without pain, but still couldn’t jog. I scoured the internet and learned of the olive oil/lemon juice trick. (The internet is a dangerous place, folks! Haha!) After fasting the day, drinking a half cup of olive oil with a half cup of lemon juice at bedtime, laying on my right side half the night, feeling kinda wasted/sick the next day, and doing this routine a few times, the only noticeable thing that happened was I got to where the very smell of olive oil made me feel ill. Thankfully, that ill feeling at the sight of olive oil has improved with time, much time! Then one day, I discovered naturopathic medicine! Dr. Huber at natureworksbest.com (she specializes in cancer treatment –90-95% success rate–, and a wonderful doctor/person she is too!!!! She helped my family and I in many, many ways!) gave me a tincture of dandelion root and leaf, iris and chelidonium. Two droppers full, twice a day. It has taken a few months and several bottles of the stuff, but I have had zero problems since I started, and the last ultrasound showed ALL inflammation/thickening of the gallbladder had vanished (thanks to the chelidonium) with reduced stone count. I’m due for another ultrasound soon and I expect the stones will be all gone. My family and I are so thankful to have found her and wish there were a million more like her!
Are you saying the dandelion root and leaf, iris, and chelidonium helped you keep from feeling sick when you smelled olive oil? Or was there more to it? That’s the way I feel with olive oil and coconut oil. Even bacon grease resembles coconut oil to me. I’ve used a lot of the oils but I don’t think it was too much because it gave me a lot of energy at first. I’d just like to know what you did. It would be appreciated.
I went to medical school with Dr. Huber. She is amazing indeed!
I am having terrible problems since having my gallbladder out about 6 months ago. I was upset with my gastro dr because he just seemed like he was in it for the money. I did not go back for my follow up, I now regret it. I had always heard we didn’t need our gallbladder. Boy was I wrong. But when I try to understand this blog, the information is all over the place. People with their gallbladders, people talking about something that can be left hanging when they remove the gallbladder. It leaves me really confused. I have sent for a book on how to eat your way back to health. I hope it doesn’t leave me as confused as I am right now.
@Diana do you use AVG? Please let me know so I can report this issue to my tech team.
@Vitality Thank you 🙂 I think my real blogging talent (and I don’t have that many sad to say) is simplifying complex things in an understandable way which is what I try to do with each and every post.
Yes, eat your healthy fats!!
And anyone who has had gallstones must learn this:
In Robb Wolf’s Book, “The Paleo Solution”, he reveals that if you have had your gallbladder removed, you are almost CERTAINLY undiagnosed CELIAC. (Robb is a research biochemist specializing in autoimmunity.) Gluten intolerance and the resulting Celiac disease is what causes gallstones. Stop eating the grains – especially the ones containing gluten: wheat, barley and rye to restore your health.
I keep getting security warnings both on the web site and pinterest.
I just want to say, hats off to you for consistently choosing to write about sometimes difficult-to-understand but relevant topics. You always provide unique content to the blogging world. I love reading all of your posts! Thank you 🙂
Thank you for writing about this! You don’t know how hard it is to find information regarding diet and gallbladder removal. I lost mine 14 years ago and it is most definitely a combination of what Daniel shared– I just found out last year I’m gluten intolerant! And I have no appendix. I’m definitely home here in this post. In the 80’s I subscribed to the low/no-fat diet and when I started eating whatever I wanted (anyone remember Weigh Down by Gwen Shamblin? Don’t do it btw), it sent me into a huge gallbladder attack which also followed two back-to-back pregnancies. Supposedly pregnancy can also add to this condition. I am on a full-fat WAPF diet and haven’t noticed any difference. My digestive issues cleared when I gave up gluten. I take digestive enzymes when I remember which is mostly never. But I also have gained a lot more weight since being on a full fat diet and I always wonder if part of it is that my digestion of fats isn’t what it was before losing my gallbladder when I was naturally thin?