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Gallstones diet advice - living with gallstones
Submitted by alvin on July 23, 2010 - 6:52pm
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Ugh, my health has destroyed my productivity lately. Due to a mysterious stomach ailment, I've had a lot of "stomach" pain, visited the ER several times, met a lot of doctors, had many tests, and lost 30 pounds in less than seven weeks.
At this time we don't know if it's the main cause of the problem yet, but one thing going on for sure is that I have gallstones. Gallstones are quite literally stones that form in the gallbladder. As I've learned, the gallbladder is a little organ that sits below the liver (see the images below), and stores bile that is produced by the liver. When your body chemistry is out of whack, gallstones form, and gallstones can then cause a lot of pain (though you can also have gallstones and never know it).
After all this, I now realize the actual "stomach" is just one small part of our overall digestive system, and these days my primary focus is on the gallbladder and gallstones, specifically improving my diet to reduce my gallbladder pain.
My gallstones diet advice
Looking at this from a positive standpoint, it turns out that gallstones pain makes for a wonderful biofeedback mechanism. Eat too much, and the gallstones give you pain. Or eat a little, but too much of the wrong food, and the gallstones give you pain. Living with gallstones is like having a natural Lap-Band procedure, and I've found that by eating a "gallstone diet" I've been able to avoid pain and continue losing weight, which in my case is a good thing. (Even after all the weight loss, I could still stand to lose another 10-20 pounds.) As I update this article, now 12 weeks after my initial problems, I've lost 38 pounds and my cholesterol level is down to an amazing 140 -- that's how healthy a good gallstones diet can be for you(!).
For the last eight weeks I've been paying real attention to what I eat, and the resulting gallbladder pain, or non-pain. Based on keeping a log of what I eat, I thought I'd share my gallstones diet advice here, in case it will help anyone else currently suffering from gallstones pain.
Gallstones diet Rule #1: Drink a lot of good fluids
Rule number one of my gallstones diet advice is to drink a lot of water. Whenever I have any gallbladder pain, I immediately start drinking water, and the pain subsides in roughly an hour. Or, if I just drink a lot of water from the morning on, the pain never gets too bad.
That being said, I don't happen to like water, so I usually add a wee bit of lemon juice and Equal to it, and it has a decent flavor. From time to time I'll also drink Gatorade or their G2 product.
Juice is also good. A product named Juicy Juice is actually made from real juice, so I've been focusing on it. I've read that grape juice is supposed to be very good for gallstones and gallbladder pain, and I've had no problems drinking it.
To summarize, okay drinks so far are:
- Water, with or without lemon
- Juicy Juice grape juice
- Gatorade and Gatorade G2
- A little bit of coffee (see the next section)
(An image showing the liver, gallbladder, and related organs.)
Gallstones diet advice - Foods that are okay
Next, here's a list of foods that I have been able to eat in my gallstones diet without any gallbladder pain:
- Saltine crackers (I lived on Saltines, chicken broth, and Gatorade G2 for five weeks)
- Rice
- Chicken soup with rice
- Tomato-based pasta sauces
- Olive oil
- Cereal (with just a bit of milk)
- Oatmeal
- Small amounts of Smart Balance (fake butter)
- Fruits like apple sauce, peaches, pears, and grapes
- Vegetables
- Gatorade
- Chicken
Oreo cookies Even though they have a lot of fat, I have been able to eat some Oreos, though I never have more than one at a time.
Coffee Plain coffee seems to be okay, though I don't drink more than 1-2 cups all day. (Three weeks ago I couldn't even think about drinking coffee, so be careful here.) Also, I only add skim milk to it any more; the days of cream, whole milk, or even 2% milk seem to be gone.
Avocados I've read many pages of gallstone diet advice, and avocado advice varies. Personally, I've had five avocados now in the form of a simple guacamole recipe I make (avocado, salt, lemon juice), and I've had no problems with them, typically consuming nearly a full avocado in one sitting with some saltines.
Fiber I've been told to load up on the fiber. I already had to do this because of scar tissue pain in the area where my appendix used to be, but the doctor tells me to add even more. (As fiber supplements go, Metamucil is the best fiber product I've used, Citrucel the second best. I've found that other products cause, er, tons of bloating, "intestinal distress", and other socially unacceptable behavior, lol.)
(Gallstones in the gallbladder and duct system.)
Gallstones diet advice - Foods that definitely cause pain
Chocolate I love chocolate, but it's now one of the worst foods for me. Chocolate used to be my favorite food group in the food pyramid, but recently I've tried chocolate chip cookies and Starbucks caffe mocha, and both of those cause gallstones pain. I can slip in very small quantities with a lot of water, but at some point you ask yourself if it's really worth it.
Milk I originally wrote that "Milk in all forms seems to cause problems", but as an update, I have been alternating skim milk and 2% milk in my gallstones diet, and while I still don't drink much, it has been okay. (The short story here is that I wasn't getting enough fat in my "gallstones diet", and was constantly light-headed. My doctor told me to try a little more milk, and it has worked out okay.)
High fat content I've read that any food with high fat content is going to cause gallstones pain. As I've mentioned, I don't eat much meat, and I don't eat much fried food, so I don't know all the details here yet. (But Avocados do have a ton of fat in them, and for some reason I've been able to eat them with no problems.)
Gallstones diet - Foods I don't know about yet
Here are some food products I like but haven't tested much yet, so the jury is still out on them.
Cheese I've had only two meals lately with small amounts of cheese, but given the problems I've had with milk, I assume this will be a problem. People who have had their gallbladder removed tell me that foods like pizza and ice cream can't be eaten too often without side effects.
Ice cream I have had a little bit of ice cream at night the last week, and while it hasn't caused any immediate problems, I have had gallstones pain when I wake up in the morning. Again, I drink a lot of water immediately, and the pain goes away.
Soda I used to be identified by always having a can of soda in my hand, but I've had very little soda in the last three months. I do mix some diet Sprite in with my water from time to time to get a different flavor, but the ratio is probably at least five parts water to one part Sprite. I have no idea how a full can of soda would do, and with the pain of intestinal distress still in my memory, I won't be going there any time soon.
Fatty meat Again, I don't eat much meat, so not eating it isn't a real problem for me, except for Gyros. I have had some small amounts of chicken, and haven't had any problems from it. I'll be trying some Gyros next week, and you can be sure I'll have a big bottle of water (and fiber) with me.
Tomato juice Because I don't like vegetables I used to drink a glass of low-sodium V8 juice every day to make sure I was getting some sort of vegetable intake every day. I haven't gotten back to this practice yet.
Spicy foods I love spicy foods. I could put hot sauce or jalapenos on just about anything. When I lived in Texas there was a place that made a "deathburger" -- a hamburger with hot sauce, hot pepper cheese, and jalapenos, and I could eat those every day. Next to a daily cup of coffee, I miss spicy foods the most. I put some hot sauce on some rice yesterday and I seemed to get away with it, so I'll be trying that again soon. :)
Gallstones diet advice - update
It's now mid-August, 2010, and I've learned a few more things. First, because I lost so much weight so fast on a nearly fat-free diet, I started getting very light-headed and dizzy. In short, the doctors recommended that I try to get more fat in my diet, so I have added in more "good fats" by adding in Smart Balance butter, olive oil, 2% milk, and even a little low-fat ice cream. Again, you still shouldn't have much overall fat in your gallstones diet, but a ratio of 10-15% fat seems to be working just fine.
When I added some milk and ice cream back in my diet I also took a look at the bottle of Hershey's Chocolate that has been sitting still in my refrigerator for nearly four months now. Sure enough, it doesn't have any fat in it, so I've been adding a little bit of that to my ice cream to help satisfy my chocolate cravings.
Gallstones diet advice - summary
I'll keep updating my "gallstones diet advice" here as time goes on. While the doctors try to determine if something else is happening, there are no immediate plans to remove by gallbladder, so living with gallstones is the current plan.
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Gallstones pain and exercise
One thing I forgot to mention when I wrote this article is that regular exercise also helps me. The only two things I really do right now are (a) walking and (b) mild yoga exercises, but I find that both of these help with the gallstone/gallbladder pain that I currently have. I don't know why, but I assume that any boost to the metabolism is always helpful to the body.
Gallstones and Exceptable Chocolate
Hi Alvin,
I'm a recent victim of an attack of gallstones, and the first thing I did after I accepted that I would have to change my lifestyle dramatically is figure out how I could still eat chocolate. You mentioned that you are a fellow chocoholic, so I thought I'd share my answer with you. Baking chocolate. The powdered kind you buy in the baking isle at the store. One serving size of that has VERY little fat in it, and I find that if I mix a tbsp of that into my oatmeal, with a little sugar to balance the dark chocolate, it's very satisfying for those chocolate cravings. You can mix it into anything wet, so you might also try a tbsp over that tiny bit of milk in your breakfast cereal and turn those rice crispies into cocoa crispies. :) Best of luck.....
Gallstones
Hi Alvin, I have recently been diagnosed with two large gallstones and a thickened gall bladder wall. I have had two attacks in the past week which resulted in hospitalisation. I have done a lot of googling about diets which all seem to contradict each other so I have found your advice to be the most common sense approach. Please keep us updated on your progress as will I. Thanks for sharing your experiences and best of luck...
Gallstones diet
I'm sorry to hear that you have to deal with also. If it helps to know it, changing my eating habits really has made a world of difference, and I've been able to live with the gallstones so far, with very little pain lately. I figure any diet that lets me have some chocolate can't be all bad, lol.
Gallstone Diet
Just wanted to share the past week since changing my diet. I have had no problems with avocado or tomatoes, which Ive been told on other forums to stay away from.
I am even able to drink a can of Diet Coke each day although I have just been sipping on it all day.
Very small amounts of red meat with no fat have been fine along with heaps of fruit and vegies.
I wash everything I eat down with water just to be on the safe side.
Im in Australia and have come across Uncle Tobys Apple delight bodywise bars which have very little fat and sugar content (a very hard task) and they get me through the tummy grumbles with no problems at all.
I have found if my tummy is feeling a little upset eating an apple helps settle it.
The only thing I have been unsure about is salt. Has anyone had troubles with using salt? Seeing as all the flavour has been removed from diet due to lack of fat, I would like to add some taste using salt.
Thanks again and keep us up to date Alvin.
Gallstones and salt intake
With my recent weight loss, my blood pressure is very low these days, so I've probably been getting a little too much salt in my diet lately, mostly from the canned soups I've been trying. I also use a little sea salt in oatmeal, which I usually have five times a week. I use the sea salt in my simple guacamole recipe, which I've been having 1-2 times a week, though I've gotten a little tired of it lately.
I just added a little soda back into my diet like you have, just one can a day. It's amazing, but after everything I've gone through, one can of soda a day is a really nice treat.
In other updates, I've had absolutely no problems with canned chicken and tuna, which I added back in two weeks ago. I've also had small portions of ice cream lately, with no bad side effects. In fact, if a doctor were to ask me about any aches or pains these days, I wouldn't even mention my gallbladder or gallstones as a problem. Proper eating really has an amazing affect(!).
Best wishes to you on your diet!
Good luck with the diet
Hi Alvin,
Yesterday after an ultrasound scanning I was told that I had a 5mm gallstone. The ultrasound doctor pressed on my gall bladder to see whether it hurts. There was no pain and the walls were thin and healthy. His advice to me was not to get the gall bladder removed and instead try to live with it at least for next 7-8 years. I'm 32 years old and will try to go for gall bladder diet with alot og exercise. So far I have lost 7 kg in 6-7 weeks and trying to not loose more so quickly. Only had one gallstone attach yet = the worst thing I have tried in the life. Beside that my stomach gets filled up with air few hours after a mean (any meal).
I will write about my experiences with food. Currently I have given up spices and coffe. Eating apples helps my stomach to calm down.
Please keep us updated on your progress as will I. Thanks for sharing your experiences and best of luck.
Gallstone diet
Hi everyone,
Its been nearly two weeks since my last attack. A change to a high fibre diet has made a huge difference.
I have been experimenting with alot of different low fat foods such as Skinny Cow icecream, small amounts of cheese, cottage cheese, pasta, rice, eggs and homemade flour recipes, all in small quantities of course and so far no problems. I still have no problems with tomatoes or avocados. Mashed potato with milk only, seems to be fine and all the fruit, vegies and salad anyone can digest.
I recieved a letter from the public hospital saying that I had a considerable wait time before being considered for surgery. I have decided this wont kill me as I am 36 years old and losing the kilos would be a huge benefit to my health anyway.
The only negative so far is that I like to entertain at home and dont mind a few beers with friends but havent been game enough to even experiment.
Any thoughts on alcohol?
Thanks guys and keep up the good work...
Gallstones diet and alcohol
I haven't had much alcohol since all this started, so I don't know. I'll have to try an experiment, lol.
Thanks for your other comments. I didn't mention salads above, but yes, they are also good.
Thank you.
I suffered a recent attack and have been living off of wheat toast and yogurt, I appreciate this greatly, I needed the advice.
Eating Out
Hi All,
I am also a gallstones sufferer and am on the waiting list for an appointment to have gallbadder removed in hopefully 6-8 weeks. I am nearly scared to eat food because the thoughts of the pain is so bad but at the same time not being able to eat really depresses me. I have been steering clear of dairy, eggs, oil, pork, lamb etc. So far by just eating plain old fashioned meals - meat, veg and potatoes I have had no attacks.
I am eating out this evening with friends and really unsure what to pick - hopefully there is a plain chicken or fish dish that I can have with baked potato and salad. I am also curious about alcohol?
Cheers
Hey guys, just a quick
Hey guys, just a quick update. I have been pretty much able to eat anything in small quantities. Although I have steered clear of chocolate and chips (crisps) and all deep fried food.
I have had no troubles with dairy in small amounts but only consume the low fat variety including milk, cheese, and yoghurt.
Still have not tempted fate with alcohol as of yet.
To be honest this is probably one of the best things that has happened to me, I am feeling great and have lost a truck load of weight.
Sensible choices seem to be working for me, every now and again I may get a twinge of pain but a big drink of water usually subsides it within minutes.
Keep up the great work everyone, and thanks again for all the support.
Please let us know how the surgery goes and the after affects.
Gallstones, gallbladder, and alcohol
Okay, I'll take the hit for the team tonight and try some alcohol. :) I do like a good margarita, lol. From what I've read, fat intake is the real problem, so I don't think this should be a problem, except the liver and gallbladder do seem to have a very close relationship in there.
I did try a Cafe Mocha at Starbucks two days ago, and that didn't seem to be a good idea. I drank less than half of it before I started feeling a little something in the upper-right quadrant, and immediately drank some water. I didn't have a long-term problem, but it was a bit of a scare.
Also, thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences here.
Me too, thought I'd pass along what I know
Hey, I was diagnosed with gallstones earlier this month. I was told to stay clear of foods with high cholesterol and so far it's worked out. I have noticed that eating salmon triggered an attack though. I'm also lactose intolerant (yay me...), but I've been able to drink my lactose free milk without any problems. From what I remember the taste isn't too different from normal milk, maybe slightly sweeter. Also, other foods that I've been fine with are yogurt, pancake mix, canola oil, chicken (white meat, sans skin), and all forms of rice (like cereal and crackers). I'm fortunate to have an appointment with a surgeon soon and plan to ask to be refered to a nutritionlist. If I find out any more info I'll be sure to leave a comment.
Dont skip meals
Hey guys, just wanted to let you all know, I was out of milk this morning so I skipped breakfast. This was not a very wise decision on my part as it seemed to lead to excrutiating pain in my side, back and sternum. I spent a couple hours at the shops enduring the pain and came home with a bottle of no fat milk and ate breakfast about half and hour ago and the pain is slowly subsiding. I am unsure if it is at all related but I cant put it down to anything else. So my advice is dont skip meals.
Drank some wine
I finally tried a little alcohol experiment, and had a little bit of wine the last two nights. I didn't have any problems with it, other than the need to go to sleep a little earlier than normal, lol. To be clear, I would never try something like this when I was having gallbladder/gallstones pain, but because I seem to be in "maintenance mode" right now, it wasn't a problem.
I was a little worried, because the liver and the gallbladder are right there next to each other and work together, but really, I didn't have any problems.
Oh yeah, that reminds me,
Oh yeah, that reminds me, you're absolutely right. It is related. Do not skip meals. One of the causes of gallstones can be from rapid weight loss or fasting as it causes the liver to secrete extra cholesterol into the gallbladder. Which if you already suffer from gallstones will lead to pain or an attack. There are many resources about it. Most just say from "rapid weight loss", so I dug around more for the reason and that was what I discovered. But I too found out the hard way. :( It's really damned if you do, damned if you don't. I was scared to eat anything because I didn't want another attack, but in turn caused one from not eating...
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