What can you eat with gallbladder pain

Liver Gallbladder and Pancreas

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Table of Contents Show

What does the gallbladder do?
Gallbladder Attack Symptoms
How long does a gallbladder attack last?
How can gallbladder problems be prevented?
What treatment is available for gallbladder stones?
Can you digest food without a gallbladder?
The role of the gallbladder in digestion
Dietary changes to help with symptoms of gallstones
Summer crunch salad
Editor's note
Cutting down on fat
Practical tips to cut down on fat
What can I eat to soothe gallbladder?
What can you eat with a gallbladder issue?
What foods irritate an inflamed gallbladder?
What not to eat when you have an inflamed gallbladder?

A gallbladder attack can cause sudden and severe pain. If you’ve been diagnosed with gallstones, you might worry about this happening to you. But finding a gallstone on an ultrasound or CT scan doesn’t mean you need treatment.

“Gallstones are fairly common in Western countries because our diets have more processed and fatty foods,” says David Efron, M.D., chief of acute care surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. “Many of us are walking around with gallstones and don’t know it. But that alone isn’t an indication that you’ll have a gallbladder attack or need it removed. Gallstones usually aren’t a problem until they cause symptoms.”

What does the gallbladder do?

The gallbladder is a storage pouch for bile, a liquid that aids digestion. The liver continually makes bile, which is stored in the gallbladder until you eat. When you consume food, the stomach releases a hormone that causes the muscles around the gallbladder to contract and release the bile.

Bile helps break down fat during digestion. It’s made up of several substances, including cholesterol, bile salts and water. Some of those substances, such as cholesterol, can pack together and form gallstones ranging in size from that of a grain of sand to a golf ball. Up to 15% of people have gallstones, but most never become problematic.

Gallbladder Attack Symptoms

When gallstones get stuck while traveling through the duct (tube) to the stomach, they block the outflow of bile, which causes the gallbladder to spasm. This usually leads to sharp pain, like being cut by a knife, under the rib cage in the upper right side or center of the abdomen. The pain can be so severe that it takes your breath away. You might mistake it for a heart attack, says Efron.

Other common symptoms of a gallbladder attack include:

Pain that lasts several hours
Abdominal pain after eating
Nausea or vomiting
Fever or chills
Light-colored stool
Brownish-colored urine
Yellowing of skin or whites of eyes

Seek immediate medical care if you are having some of these symptoms.

How long does a gallbladder attack last?

The attacks usually last several hours. Nothing can be done to stop an attack while it’s happening. The pain typically subsides once the gallstone has passed.

“Gallbladder attacks are often so painful that people end up in the emergency room,” says Efron. “That’s a good thing because it’s important to get evaluated when you have severe pain. Several serious conditions, like heart attacks, ulcer perforations and appendicitis, have similar symptoms to gallstones and need to be ruled out. Also, sometimes gallstones don’t pass on their own and can lead to complications like infection in the gallbladder or pancreas inflammation.”

How can gallbladder problems be prevented?

Gallstones are more likely to form if there’s an overabundance of cholesterol in the bile. So, the best way to prevent an accumulation of gallstones is to reduce your fatty food intake. Diets recommended for lowering high cholesterol levels, such as the Mediterranean diet, are helpful if you have gallbladder problems.

What treatment is available for gallbladder stones?

Medication can ease the pain of a passing gallstone. Your doctor may also prescribe antibiotics if your gallbladder or surrounding organs are infected (cholecystitis).

If gallbladder attacks are a reoccurring problem, the best approach is to remove the gallbladder. “We don’t remove individual stones because new ones just reform,” says Efron. “If your gallbladder is chronically obstructed with stones, it’s not functioning as a healthy part of the digestive system anyway — it’s just causing problems.”

Gallbladder removal surgery (cholecystectomy) is frequently performed laparoscopically. During this minimally invasive procedure, a tiny camera is inserted into one of several keyhole-size incisions to guide the surgeon in the removal process. The benefits of laparoscopic surgery include less need for pain medication and a quicker recovery.

Can you digest food without a gallbladder?

You can still digest food, including fat, after your gallbladder is removed. Your liver will continue to produce bile. Instead of being stored in the gallbladder until you eat a meal, the bile is released directly into the intestines as it’s made. You don’t have to worry about following a strict diet — just eat healthy.

“Some people will have a little bit of diarrhea in the postoperative period,” reports Efron. “But that usually settles down after about a month. The body adjusts and you can function just fine.”

Learn more about gallstone disease treatment.

Gallstones occur when bile, which is normally fluid, forms stones in your gallbladder. This is the organ that sits beneath the liver. Most commonly, gallstones contain lumps of fatty (cholesterol-like) material that has solidified and hardened.

Sometimes bile pigments or calcium deposits form gallstones. Sometimes just a few small stones are formed; sometimes a great many. Occasionally, just one large stone is formed.

About one in three women and one in six men form gallstones at some stage in their lives. Gallstones become more common with increasing age. The risk of gallstones forming increases with:

Pregnancy.
Obesity.
Diabetes.
Smoking.
Rapid weight loss.
Having a close relative with gallstones.
Taking certain medicines such as the contraceptive pill.
Eating a generally unhealthy diet, particularly a diet which is high in fat.

You can reduce your risk of developing gallstones by:

Eating vegetable protein - for example, beans and pulses.
Increasing fibre intake.
Eating nuts.
Increasing dietary calcium.
Increasing vitamin C intake.
Drinking coffee.
Drinking a moderate amount of alcohol.

The role of the gallbladder in digestion

The gallbladder plays a part in the digestion of food. It collects and stores bile, then releases the bile into the small intestine when food enters the small intestine from the stomach. This helps with the digestion of food because the gallbladder contains bile salts (and other substances) which break down fat.

The bile duct which connects the gallbladder to the small intestine can become blocked by gallstones. This may cause symptoms such as pain, bloating, a feeling of sickness (nausea), and being sick (vomiting). The stone may cause a blockage and make it difficult for the bile to be released from the bile duct.

Dietary changes to help with symptoms of gallstones

There is no specific diet for treating symptoms of, or to prevent, gallstones. Most people with gallstones will have surgery to remove the gallbladder in an operation called a cholecystectomy. However, eating a low-fat diet is likely to reduce symptoms while you are waiting for the operation, as the gallbladder will not be stimulated to release bile into the small intestine. If you find that any particular foods trigger the onset of the pain then try to avoid eating those foods until you have had your gallbladder removed.

Once you have had the operation there is no need to follow any particular diet, although of course it is always a good idea to eat as healthily as possible.

If you are overweight, attaining a healthy weight will be beneficial. However, it is important to do this gradually, as rapid weight loss has been associated with the development of gallstones. A safe weight loss of 1-2 lbs (0.5 to 1 kg) per week is recommended.

Summer crunch salad

Crunchy summer salad of green beans, juicy tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, fresh herbs, and parmesan...

A healthy balanced diet consists of:

Plenty of fruit and vegetables. Aim to have at least five portions each day.
Plenty of starchy carbohydrates. Examples include bread, rice, cereals, pasta, potatoes, chapattis and plantain. Choose wholegrain varieties where possible.
Some milk and dairy products (2-3 portions per day). Choose low-fat dairy products.
Some meat, fish, eggs and alternatives such as beans and pulses.
Limited amounts of foods high in fats and sugars. Limit saturated fat that is found in animal products, such as butter, ghee, cheese, meat, cakes, biscuits and pastries. Replace these with unsaturated fats found in non-animal products, such as sunflower, rapeseed and olive oil, avocados, nuts and seeds. But remember that unsaturated fats can also trigger gallstone pain.
Make sure your diet is high in fibre. This can be found in beans, pulses, fruit and vegetables, oats and wholegrain products, such as bread, pasta and rice.
Drink plenty of fluid - at least two litres daily, such as water or herbal teas.

Try not to eat too much fat at one mealtime. It might be helpful to have smaller, more frequent meals. Some people find that specific foods are the triggers for symptoms. Keep a food and symptom diary to identify trigger foods. Avoid these foods for a two-week trial period and note any improvements in symptoms.

Editor's note

Jul 2017 - Dr Hayley Willacy has read a study by researchers at Nuffield Department of Population Health at the University of Oxford on vegetarianism and gallstone disease - see below. British vegetarians tend to consume more fibre, less fat and have a lower BMI – all factors which are associated with lower rates of gallstone disease. Therefore, it might be expected that vegetarian diets would have a protective effect for gallstone disease. However, this study has shown there is a small but statistically significant positive association between vegetarian diet and symptomatic gallstone disease.

Cutting down on fat

A high-fat diet and fatty foods can sometimes cause discomfort and painful symptoms. They may also cause fatty stools (steatorrhoea), which are oily, pale and smelly. Steatorrhoea is a sign that fat is not being digested properly.

Here are some ways to cut down on fat in the diet.

High-fat foods	Lower-fat alternatives
Butter, lard, ghee, oils, spreads.	Lower-fat/light spreads, oil sprays for cooking, jam, honey.
Whole milk, cream, full-fat yoghurts.	Skimmed or semi-skimmed milk, half-fat crème fraîche, low-fat evaporated milk, low-fat or fat-free yoghurt.
Full-fat cheese, such as Cheddar, Brie and Stilton.	Cottage cheese, light soft cheeses such as Philadelphia® or Dairylea Light®, quark, reduced-fat Cheddar cheese or naturally lower-fat cheeses such as mozzarella and ricotta (matchbox-sized portion).
Snacks, such as cakes, biscuits, pastries, crisps and nuts.	Toasted teacakes, low-fat popcorn, fruit and vegetables, dried fruit, meringues, rice cakes, Rich Tea® biscuits, low-fat crisps such as Quavers® or Skips®.
Puddings, such as pies, ice cream and custards.	Jelly, sugar-free jelly, low-fat custard, rice pudding made with semi-skimmed milk, sorbet, tinned or stewed fruit, low-fat yoghurts.
Sauces and dressings, such as mayonnaise, creamy sauces.	Light mayonnaise, vinaigrettes, mustard, lemon juice, fat-free salad dressings, tomato-based sauces (some can contain oil), salsa, balsamic dressing.
Meats and processed meats, such as sausages, salami, corned beef, bacon, gammon, pork, lamb, beef mince, beefburgers, meat pies, fish tinned in oil.	Chicken, turkey, lean ham, lean or extra lean beef mince, turkey mince, red meat with visible fat cut off, and white fish, such as cod, haddock, pollock, and fish tinned in brine or water.

Note: many processed foods that are low in fat can contain high amounts of sugar. Check the labels for high-sugar products and try to keep these to a minimum. A product that is high in sugar contains more than 10 g of sugar per 100 g.

Reduced-fat, light and low-fat are not the same thing. If a product is low-fat, this means that the product contains 3 g or fewer of fat per 100 g and is actually low in fat. A reduced-fat product does not mean that the product is necessarily low in fat. It means that the product contains 25% less fat than the original product, which is usually a very high-fat product, such as mayonnaise or Cheddar cheese. This is similar for 'light' products, which contain about a third fewer calories than the original product, or 50% less fat. Therefore, keep these to a minimum when choosing reduced-fat or lighter products.

Practical tips to cut down on fat

Adopting some healthy habits can really impact on the amount of fat you consume. Here are some tips you can use during cooking and food preparation.

Try to avoid processed foods and cook from scratch when possible. This will help you to have control over how much fat goes into your food.
Check labels for high-fat products. A product that is high in fat contains 17.5 g or more of fat per 100 g. Try to avoid foods with red colour coding on the label for fat. Look for foods that contain 3 g of fat or fewer.
Bulk out meals with vegetables and pulses. For example, a Bolognese sauce could be made with half the amount of meat by adding kidney beans and mushrooms.
Use oil spray when cooking, or wipe off extra oil using a paper towel.
Measure your oil when cooking, rather than pouring it. A good measure is about one teaspoon per person.
Try to use fat/oil in food only when it is absolutely necessary.
If you are cooking meat that is sticking to the pan, a small drop of water may help rather than adding more oil.
Make your own dressings using low-fat yoghurt, lemon/lime juice and herbs.
Remove all visible fat and skin from meat and choose leaner cuts of meat.
Skim fat off the top of casseroles and stews.
Try not to fry food. Bake, steam, boil, grill or roast on a drip tray instead.

What can I eat to soothe gallbladder?

Increasing nutrient-rich foods in your diet, such as vegetables and fruits, can improve gallbladder function and prevent complications..

dark, leafy greens..

brown rice..

whole grains..

olive oil..

beans..

citrus fruits..

What can you eat with a gallbladder issue?

Eat whole grain cereals, breads, crackers, brown rice, or pasta. Avoid breads that have been fried or deep-fried, like bannock or doughnuts, or breads that have a high fat content, like croissants. Flavour your foods with herbs and spices (such as basil, tarragon, or mint), fat-free sauces, or lemon juice.

What foods irritate an inflamed gallbladder?

Foods that aggravate your gallbladder fast food. foods high in fat, especially saturated fat. foods containing trans fats, such as deep-fried foods. eating a diet that is overall low in fiber.