Your Diet After Gallbladder Surgery

When you have a problem with your gallbladder, like gallstones, your doctor may recommend that you have surgery to remove your gallbladder. You can live without your gallbladder, but it may take some time for your body to adjust to its absence.

Dietary Adjustments After Gallbladder Surgery

If you’re recovering at home, you’ll need to introduce foods slowly and consume mainly clear liquids, broth, and gelatin at first.

As you start feeling better, you can gradually reintroduce solid foods to your diet. But you may need to avoid certain foods for a while if you experience bloating, diarrhea, and gas during this time.

Why Gallbladder Diet Changes May Be Necessary

The gallbladder is a small organ that sits under your liver.

If you need to have surgery to remove your gallbladder, your liver will still produce enough bile for normal digestion. But instead of being stored in your gallbladder, bile will flow directly from your liver into your small intestine.

Foods to Avoid After Gallbladder Surgery

While your body adjusts, it’s a good idea to avoid high-fat foods for a few weeks after your gallbladder removal.

• Fried foods, like french fries and potato chips
• High-fat meats, such as bacon, bologna, sausage, ground beef, and ribs
• High-fat dairy products, such as butter, cheese, ice cream, cream, whole milk, and sour cream
• Pizza
• Foods made with lard or butter
• Creamy soups and sauces
• Meat gravies
• Chocolate
• Oils, especially palm and coconut oil
• Chicken or turkey skin

High-fiber and gas-producing foods can also cause discomfort after gallbladder surgery, so you may want to slowly introduce them back into your diet.

High-fiber and gas-producing foods include these items:

• Whole-grain breads and cereals
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Legumes
• Brussels sprouts
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Cabbage

It’s a good idea to avoid larger meals after gallbladder surgery, since your body can no longer store as much bile as before. Smaller, more frequent meals may be easier to digest.

If you need help developing a diet plan after surgery, ask your doctor to refer you to a registered dietitian.

Will a “Gallbladder Cleanse” Help?

Health influencers often tout the so-called “gallbladder cleanse” on social media as a treatment for gallstones or an alternative to gallbladder removal. There are many recipes but most involve drinking large amounts of citrus juice, Epsom salt, and olive oil.

The advertised benefits may sound enticing, especially if you’re facing a gallbladder removal. However, Erik Holzwanger, MD, the director of endoluminal surgery and bariatric endoscopy at Tufts Medical Center, says that "to date, there is no strong scientific evidence to support" the claim that these cleanses break up gallstones.

When patients report passing small round objects after a cleanse, Dr. Holzwanger says that those are not gallstones. "In fact, they are exactly what you’ve taken by mouth. These are actually small globules of citrus juice, oil, and other contents," he says.

Holzwanger clarifies that the vast majority of gallstones result from cholesterol and bile hardening. “These are quite tough in texture. They may be round, square, rectangular, or irregularly shaped, and they typically do not float, as they are denser than water,” he says. “The by-products formed from the cleanse are the opposite in buoyancy and texture. In fact, they are more likely to float and may be softer.”

Although Holzwanger supports his patients when they are looking for natural alternatives to medications for the treatment of medical disorders, he recommends natural remedies only if the benefits outweigh the risk. He maintains that this isn’t the case with gallbladder cleanses

“Gallbladder cleanses do carry risk. Most commonly, patients experience symptoms that may include nausea, vomiting, abdominal discomfort, and diarrhea,” he says. “There are also more serious consequences, including drug-induced liver injury, in which a patient may have liver failure, and in rare cases, this could lead to death.”

He warns that marketed mixtures may contain ingredients that are not safe to ingest, and dosages could be at extreme levels that could lead to adverse effects, since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t regulate gallbladder cleanse products or recipes.

Check with your doctor before trying any over-the-counter treatment for gallbladder problems.

When to Call Your Doctor About Problems After Gallbladder Surgery

• Persistent abdominal pain, especially if it worsens
• Severe nausea or vomiting
• Fever
• Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes)
• Lack of bowel movements for more than three days after surgery
• Inability to pass gas for more than three days after surgery
• Frequent diarrhea that lasts more than three days after surgery

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• Redness or pain at a port site that gets worse.

The Takeaway

• After gallbladder surgery, carefully follow your doctor's dietary guidelines, which may initially include clear liquids and avoiding of high-fat foods.
• Gradually introducing foods can help determine what your body tolerates after surgery, and keeping a food diary may help identify foods causing discomfort.
• Claims about cleanses to remove gallstones without surgery lack scientific backing, and you should discuss them with a healthcare provider before attempting one.
• If you experience severe symptoms such as intense nausea, abdominal pain, or jaundice after gallbladder surgery, contact your healthcare professional immediately, as these may be signs of complications.