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
Sarah, hi there! I just got my gallbladder removed and I’m searching for the right thing to do with my diet. Thank you for your post. I just had a problem trying to translate BITTER… I speak Brazilian portuguese, I know this word as kind an opposite of SWEET, but never heard it as a noum… I tried to find it in some dictionaries without success… is BITTER a kind of almond of something? Would you help me clarify it?
Thanks a lot!
Hi Francisco, I hope you are feeling better by now. In Spanish bitter translates as amargo, but it is often interchanged with the translation of sour. There are 4 basic taste buds on the tongue, Sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Unsweetened chocolate is a bitter taste. Hope that helps, but by now you probably have your question answered anyway.
What works for me is eating cultured vegetables with every meal as it’s another way to help break down the fats after gallbladder removal.
I just had my gallbladder out a few months ago.
At first everything seemed allright. bowl movements seemed ok, but then it slowed down and rapid wieght gain is occurring.
I’ve been tested for celleiacs and diabites and that’s been ruled out. I’ve tried eliminating glutan as a precaution for a month but it had no effect. I’ve been eating good fats and avoiding fast food, exercising and doing everything I should be doing. So the weight gain is baffling.
I don’t have trouble eating anything
I’m going to try the bile salts, and bitters. I’m crossing my fingers
I have the same problem with my weight…………mine was removed in 2014 and I have gained 25 lbs since then. Never had weight issues before. If you find out anything, please let me know thank you.
I looked on the net to learn more about the issue and found most people will go along with
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Bile dumping. Surgery was 7/2011. Had 3 attacks before, including one vomiting. Did not know it was GB, instead mistook symptoms for food borne illness of some sort, a “bad taco”. The 3rd attack happened just before 4th of July weekend. Could get any doctors appointment after the weekend. The doctor I finally got was in a hospital in the poor area of the town. Had high fever. Doctor said immediate hospitalization and in the bucket with it. Could not believe it. I wanted a second opinion. I asked the doctor what life without GB is, but got no answer other than “it is possible to live without GB”. This is exactly true, ironically. The difference between a carefree life, and being alive. No artificial gallbladders exist, but I would sure pay good money to get one in retrospect. I Needed a sonogram. Couldn’t get a sonogram in the hospital, despite only 3pm in the afternoon. Tried to ride it out. Next day fewer was higher, and got fever chills despite 80 degrees inside room temp (Texas). Had to go to ER. Ultrasound at ER shows “slurry” not stones. GB was enlarged and signs of scarring. Recommendation to operate next morning, Laparoscopic. Normally release from hospital next day. My fever did not go down so on antibiotics one extra day, staying 2 nights in hospital. Once I got home felt “burning up” very hot. Had to put on cold compresses. The antibiotics from pharmacy kicked in later in the afternoon. In the after surgery check up after 2 week received information that liver biopsy shows fatty liver, which may progress to liver scarring and reduced liver function. The doctor did not mention the odds, but read from internet that some 10% of fatty liver turns to liver failure. If fatty liver not caused by alcoholism, then supposedly not a good initial setting for the disease. Autoimmune rheumatoid arthritis, RA is bad combination. I had a very crappy job that constantly had on call work jogging back and forth between day and nigh time work. Liver works better when melatonin and regular sleep patterns.
Before surgery had diarrhea, but after surgery really explosive diarrhea. I have had problems mostly summertime due to extreme heat. Sweating a lot on my right side where liver is. Difficulties to stay cool enough. Had white stools twice. When too little bile, the intestines will refuse to go to work. Very little sound from the bowel, and bowel nearly completely stopped moving. Got filled up to the point where I could not eat food. Was worried that once bowel stopped, then would dehydrate due to hot weather. Used the squeezed lemon advice to jump start digestion. I think the lemon helped. I used electrolyte drink to help against dehydration, but it might have been a mistake. Some 1 or 2 days later got swollen up ankle and hand, which was sign of fluid retention. In general too much bile, and in a couple instances too little bile. The remedy for bile dumping is to buy bags of frozen veggies. Typically the broccoli and carrots mix works best, per my own notes. A bowl of veggies microwaved for 3 minutes helps. The bile dumping happens night time. Typically the GB buffers 50% of the bile, and the other 50% goes bile duct – pancreas – sphincter of oddi aka ampulla of Vater – duodenum. Without GB a continuous flow through. With loss of buffering capacity the sphincter will loose it’s tone in the long run (?).
The conversion of “human” 3 meals a day digestion towards the “bovine” cow eats grass all day long type of digestion. Now back to the cooked veggies. I’m no doctor. I think the veggies that are half cooked, and only partially broken down by chewing will form a porous mass, to which the continuously secreted stream of bile will mix into. Noticed that daytime goes by, because can snack food every now an then. Skipping the veggies before going asleep will get punishment every time. Wake up in the early morning hour with strong bowel sounds. The intestines protest against being filled with mostly bile. Intestines containing bile but little food will simply not work. The intestines will dump its content very quickly, resulting in explosive diarrhea in the morning. Eating too much veggies result in too slow intestinal turnover. The abdomen feels too slow, and you get a feeling of being lightly bloated, feeling “fat” when actually not being overweight. The too much veggies is not as bloated as the bloating that accompanies the light colored stool times. The option of taking taking bile supplement if light colored stools.
For me it has been bile dumping 99% of the time. It is possible that drastically reduced fat consumption would also reduces bile production. I have intentionally lost some weight after the surgery. I was 205 lbs, now between 185 and 190. Unfortunately I have not had the fortitude to get down to the 180 lbs (at 5ft 10) that would be best for me. I just don’t seem to have the energy to manage my daily task without the unfavorably food items. Cant manage the expected tasks daily without the energy boost, but at same time these wrong foods takes be closer to my grave every day. What should I do? The frequent diarrhea is probably harmful to the health of the intestines and alters the way the nutrients are absorbed. Hemorrhoids worsen with diarrhea. Sometimes I treat myself with grilled steak, as many dieticians warn that Americans eat too much processed foods, instead of preparing meals from fresh materials.
Janet, for your mom?
I still struggle with stomach issues, but they began long before I had my gallbladder out (about a year and a half ago), it just exaggerated them. I did have one terrible stomach ache after having fast food (last time I ate it almost a year ago, yay!) which was a good excuse to cut it out of my life completely. But there were so many days where it didn’t seem to matter if I ate something fatty or a carrot, my stomach rejected every single meal.
I started worrying about nutrient absorption because nothing was staying in my system very long. The only information I could find on the internet said to cut out most fats, but I’d been reading up on Weston Price ect, and I couldn’t believe that a bad diet would cure the problem. What I ended up doing was taking both a digestive enzyme and a probiotic with EVERY meal for several months, which did wonders for me. I’ve actually been considering taking them again on a daily basis since my stomach still acts up.
I remember when this article was first published I was SO very thankful for you writing it, Sarah. For me, having my gallbladder out was very necessary (I had a blocked duct) and there is so little information out about this.
Hi Lydia! could you please suggest which digestive enzyme and probiotic you started taking with your meals. My sister is recently got her GB removed and she is not able to eat anything. Your suggestion would be of great help.
I still struggle with stomach issues, but they began long before I had my gallbladder out (about a year and a half ago), it just exaggerated them. I did have one terrible stomach ache after having fast food (last time I ate it almost a year ago, yay!) which was a good excuse to cut it out of my life completely. But there were so many days where it didn’t seem to matter if I ate something fatty or a carrot, my stomach rejected every single meal.
I started worrying about nutrient absorption because nothing was staying in my system very long. The only information I could find on the internet said to cut out most fats, but I’d been reading up on Weston Price ect, and I couldn’t believe that a bad diet would cure the problem. What I ended up doing was taking both a digestive enzyme and a probiotic with EVERY meal for several months, which did wonders for me. I’ve actually been considering taking them again on a daily basis since my stomach still acts up.
I remember when this article was first published I was SO very thankful for you writing it, Sarah. For me, having my gallbladder out was very necessary (I had a blocked duct) and there is so little information out about this.
Monica- you can do a stool sample to test what fats have been digested.