What food should I eat for gallbladder issues?

When my mom had gallbladder problems several years ago, she was only able to eat bland, low fat or fat free, easily digestible foods. Her meals usually consisted of baked/broiled chicken breast or fish, plain baked potato, bread, broth and jello. I know she could eat some veggies, but corn was not one of them...it doesn't digest well. She ate like this for 3 - 4 months while undergoing test after test before the dr. finally decided it was definitely her gallbladder. She had it removed & hasn't had problems since. She said it was great to lose the weight that she needed to lose (40 lbs), but wasn't very fun doing it.

Lots of fiber, no caffeine

Hi F.,
You only want to eat foods that are low in fat and somewhat bland. I had Gall Stones and Sludge, which was not very pleasant. I was on my way to a cruise to Mexico when I found out. I was very careful about what I ate and followed the doctors advice of a low fat and bland diet. I did aggravate it when we got back from the trip...(bacon and eggs). Was ended up having it removed two days later.
Good luck to you!

Stay away from fatty foods and gasey foods or anything that may cause indigestion.

Try drinking a couple of tablespoons of apple cider vinegar mixed with an equal part of water.

An excellent book to read would be, "Patient Heal Thyself", by Jordin Rubin. As a college student, Jordin started losing weight and feeling run down. The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. He was sent home told to prepare to die. He started researching foods and diets and remarkably he is healthy and alive today. His book addresses many health problems and the foods to eat and which to avoid.

No fat, fried or greasy foods. Only healthy foods and no carbonated drinks that bloats and causes an attack.

You can google Gallbladder cleansing. You'll get stuff about fasting for various amounts of time and drinking apple juice, and then drinking olive oil and going to bed for a day or so. This is supposed to clear the stones from your gallbladder. My brother in law, who is a physician interested in native medical practices, says they use this alot in South America. He said it seems to work for some people, but most end up having their gall bladders out sooner or later. The principle behind it is that the bile builds up in the gallbladder while you fast, and the apple juice is supposed to make the stones softer, and then the large dose of fat causes the gallbladder to contract strongly and shove the stones out. But you should run it past your doctor before doing anything like that, especially since you could have a non-functioning gallbladder instead of stones.

As for what else to eat or not eat, stay away from fatty foods and salad.

When I was in college, I had a gallbladder attack because I had gallstones. I went to the emergency room Christmas morning not knowing what it was. They wanted to do surgery to remove it that day. I said no way not on Christmas. They told me to stay away from leafy veggies and eat bland. Hope this helps.

I had gallbladder problems and ended up having surgery to remove it. The best things are jello, dry toast, broths, stay away from fast food and things with a lot of fat. I hope things get better I know how painful it can be.

Nothing! Do you have your gallbladder still? I found that anything spicy or greasy would set me off.

When it got so bad though any foods could set me off.

F.,
Here are some sites and info that you may find useful.

Although you don't say if you have gallstones or if you have your gallbladder removed. I did take some info from the site but depending on what you have will determine what you should do. So please check out the site and scroll down to read more information regarding your particular circumstances.

http://www.gallbladderattack.com/gallbladderdiet.shtml

****HELPFUL FOODS****:
Beets
Cucumbers
Green beans - are NOT the same as dried
Okra
Sweet potatoes
Avocados - a good way to get needed fats directly from food
Vinegars all types
Garlic and onions help with liver cleansing but not processed types like flakes or powder. But some people have trouble digesting them so pay attention
Shallots
Tomatoes - ripe
cold water fish
Lemons (lemon juice in the morning with hot water helps to clean the liver)
Grapes and fresh organic grape juice
apples, berries, papaya, pears
Omega 3 oils like flax or hemp. Use these with fresh lemon juice or vinegar on your salads. DO NOT COOK flax oil.

Vegetable juices - Beet and cucumber are especially helpful to gallbladder You can add other green vegetables like tender baby greens, swiss chard, dandelion greens, beet greens, celery, carrots -- avoid the cabbage family)

Avoid all fruit juices except organic grape juice and organic apple (self-juiced is best).

All the vegetables listed above for juicing are good. Use baby mixed organic greens for salads and avoid the bitter greens for now.

Fiber such as found in fruits and vegetables and guar gum
........................

****FOODS TO AVOID*****

Eggs, pork, onion, fowl, milk, coffee, oranges, grapefruit, corn, beans, nuts, in that order.
Trans fats
Hydrogenated, partially-hydrogenated oils
Margarine
Fried Foods
Saturated fats
(even coconut oil until feeling better)
Red meats
Dairy products
Eggs (Research showed that eggs caused symptoms in up to 95% of patients. However, in my clinical experience soft-boiled or poached with no fat added seems to be okay. Perhaps this is due to the lecithin content that is present in the raw or close to raw egg.)

Coffee, regular or decaf
Chocolate
Ice cream
Black tea
Alcohol, beer, wine, liqueur
Fruit juice
Carbonated water
Tap water
Raddishes and turnips
Cabbage, cauliflower
Colas and all sodas
Oats (for some people)
Wheat
Barley
Rye (although the sour German ryes seem to be less troublesome)
All legumes (beans) as they tend to increase the cholesterol in the bile.

Avoid all artificial sweeteners, sugar, preservatives, refined and bleached foods (like white flour)
Many steamed greens like collard, mustard and kale, also brussel sprouts and broccoli seem to be a problem for some people. Greens (and especially kale and brussel sprouts) are used by the liver to detoxify. It may be necessary to avoid these until you have done some work with the products and flushes as well as diet. Your goal should get to the point where these foods do not cause distress, as they actually target the root of the problem.

As everyone has said, foods without fat are generally safe. The thing is, though, my doctor told me that the amount of fat in a Ritz cracker can trigger an attack if you have gallstones. If it's to the point where you're having attacks, having it removed laproscopically seems to be a good option. I had surgery ten years ago and it cleared it up, and I avoided getting stones stuck in the liver duct or other complications. I was up and around within a couple of days.

I had my gallbladder out on April 4th. Prior to that, I discovered that greasy foods and rich foods would bring on an attack. During worst attack I ever had (that landed me in the hospital) I had been eating mexican food in a mexican restaurant.
My advice is, don't mess around with it. If you have insurance, find a surgeon that will take it out and do it! They do it laparoscopically now and only have to make about 3-4 incisions. I had my surgery on a Friday and was back to work the next Tuesday. I could've probably gone back a day earlier, but didn't want to push it. There is no sense in suffering so just take the plunge and have it removed!

I had gallbladder problems in 2006 and had to have my removed. As for food that you can eat, anything, but fried fatty food and spicy foods.
E.

Hi:
Just last week I read an article about gallbladder problems and what food you should eat to ease the problem. I subscribe to this health newsletter called RealAge. Their website is ____@____.com . I hope this helps.

M.

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When I had problems anything greasy and red meat made me deathly sick. Eventually it only got worse until I could have surgery. By then I was eating mashed potatoes and jello. Good luck!

Hello F.,
After I had my first child I had a severe Gallbladder attack. And had to have my gallbladder removed due to several stones, I was told to stay away from a lot of fried foods and to drink plenty of water and eat a lot of fresh veggies. Hope you feel better.

When my sister-in-law had trouble with hers she didnt eat any greasy foods. When she did it seemed to cause her problems.

Hi F.,
I had my Gallbladder out in 2000, during the time before the surgery I was pretty restricted w/ food. It seemed that any big, heavy meal would upset it. I found that low fat and staying away from fried foods ie...anything that you would cook primarily in oil, and smaller meals thru out the day helped. What you don't want is to overstimulate your system with food, it releases more bile for digestion and then causes you the pain, especially if you have stones. Hope this helped.
B.