Can I Still Eat Olive Oil After Gallbladder Removal Surgery?

If you’ve had a cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) to treat gallstones or another gallbladder condition, you’re not alone. In fact, more than 1.2 million people in the United States undergo this surgery each year, according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists. Removing the gallbladder will initially lessen your body’s ability to digest fatty foods, even foods with healthy fats like olive oil. But over time, your body should adjust and you’ll likely have fewer issues digesting this important macronutrient.

How Fat Is Digested

The gallbladder is a key part of the digestive system’s fat-processing process, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Your liver produces and releases bile, a fluid that helps digest the fats in the foods you eat, and your gallbladder stores bile until you need it. The gallbladder is also connected to other parts of the digestive system via a series of ducts, pipelike structures that move the bile.

When you consume a food that contains fats, like olive oil, it stimulates your gallbladder to contract and release bile into your small intestine. With your gallbladder removed, bile flows into your intestine from your bile ducts continuously, says Adam S. Harris, MD, a general surgeon in Birmingham, Alabama. This increase in bile flow can have a laxative effect and cause diarrhea. Your fat digestion may also become less efficient, at least temporarily, because your bile isn’t as concentrated. The body usually adjusts over time, however — the intestines typically get used to the extra bile.

Dietary Guidelines

After a cholecystectomy, you’ll want to stick to a clear liquid diet in the days immediately following surgery, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Once you’re able to tolerate solid foods, stick with a slow introduction of soft, bland, low-fiber foods over several days to ease your body back into the digestive process. As you heal, stick to small, frequent meals — four to six per day — that are full of nutrients and relatively low in fat. Reintroduce high-fiber foods slowly, as these can cause digestive issues such as diarrhea, cramping, bloating, and gas.

It’s generally recommended that people (even those who have gallbladders) get less than 30 percent of their daily calories from fat. If you’ve had your gallbladder removed, it’s especially helpful to follow this guideline. Try to ensure that your diet is healthy and balanced, focusing on whole and minimally processed foods. In the adjustment period after surgery, make sure you’re eating healthy fats, rather than the fats in highly processed foods, high-fat meats, and full-fat dairy products. Use a moderate amount of cooking oil — right after surgery, even olive oil will likely cause digestive upset.

Most people can return to a regular diet within a month after surgery, but some have to permanently alter their diet. Talk to your doctor if you have chronic or worsening abdominal pain, severe nausea or vomiting, yellowing skin or eyes (jaundice), or bowel issues that persist for more than three days following surgery. In rare cases, some people’s bodies aren’t able to adapt their digestion after surgery, and they need to take a medication that helps regulate bile.

Digestive Trouble

Some people suffer chronic diarrhea following gallbladder surgery — studies say it happens in about 20 percent of cases but stops soon after the procedure, according to the Mayo Clinic. In rare cases, it can last for years.

Limiting foods that can cause diarrhea, such as those fried in olive oil or other oils, and other greasy, high-fat foods, might help to reduce your diarrhea. Limiting dairy products, caffeine, and sweets may help as well. While the exact cause of diarrhea following gallbladder removal remains undetermined, some experts believe it’s due to the increased bile flow’s laxative effect.

Treatment and Considerations

If you’re having digestive problems when you consume olive oil and other fats after gallbladder surgery, there are steps you can take. Taking the enzyme lipase with meals that contain fats such as olive oil may help, according to Dr. Harris, because lipase helps break down fats in food.

Chronic diarrhea and other digestive symptoms can be caused by the body’s inability to absorb the increased amount of bile acids that flow to your intestines, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Normally, bile acids are absorbed by the small intestine after they’re used for digestion, to be recirculated to the liver and recycled into bile again so your body can properly break down nutrients, including fats. With chronic diarrhea, bile acids leave the body in your feces. About half of people have constant symptoms, and half experience chronic diarrhea occasionally. It can be treated by a class of medications called bile acid sequestrants or bile acid binders, which prevent bile acids from acting on your colon to trigger diarrhea. These include cholestyramine (Locholest, Prevalite) and colestipol (Colestid).

Talk to your doctor if you’re experiencing chronic digestive symptoms after surgery, as well as before trying any supplements.