Note in the diet for people with gallstones

This is an automatically translated article.

The article is expertly consulted by a Doctor of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy - Department of Medical Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Da Nang International General Hospital.
The diet for people with gallstones needs adequate nutrition, reducing bad fats, and adding good fats to ensure the health of the digestive system as well as prevent complications due to stones. So what should people with gallstones not eat to help avoid pain and bloating?

1. Diet for people with gallstones

Similar to other healthy bodies, the diet for people with gallstones should also be balanced between essential nutrient groups, namely:
Fat: Fat is always the first element listed in the diet. List of people with gallstones what to eat. However, completely giving up fat will prevent the gallbladder from being stimulated to contract and push bile down the digestive tract. Diet for people with gallstones needs to consume healthy fats from salmon, olive oil, soybean oil, avocado or nuts like walnuts, almonds, sesame.... These are considered foods. Very good for patients with gallstones because it will support the gallbladder to work better.
Fiber, vitamin C and fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K): Patients with gallstones should eat a lot of green vegetables (about 400 - 500g/day), fresh fruits containing fructose easily absorbed, whole grains such as oats, brown rice, black bread.... This food group not only provides many vitamins and minerals, but especially contains soluble fiber to help prevent cholesterol stones or Bile sludge forms in the body.
Low-fat milk and dairy products: Low-fat dairy products, including skimmed milk, skim milk, skim milk (high in choline) and yogurt, have nutritional effects when caring patients with gallstones without raising cholesterol. In addition, soy milk or rice milk is also recommended by many experts to be present in the diet for people with gallstones.
Vegetable protein: People with gallstones should best supplement vegetable protein from sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, dark green vegetables - a regular way to fight fatty degeneration of liver cells. In addition, soybeans and some other beans can be used, but they are easy to cause a feeling of fullness and need to be cooked. If you want to use meat, choose only fish or lean meats, white poultry, but need to remove the skin and do not consume meat broth because these two dishes contain a lot of unhealthy fats.
Carbohydrates: This nutrient is found in many familiar everyday foods, which are white rice and cereals. However, this is also a source of raw materials for the body to make cholesterol. Therefore, patients with gallstones should only add carbohydrates from the whole food group with the bran intact such as brown rice, whole grains and rye bread.
Water: Everyone needs to drink a lot of water every day to help eliminate toxins in the body, especially patients with gallstones.
For patients with stones that cause cholecystitis or after having just had gallbladder surgery, it should be noted that they should only eat porridge, soup or cooked rice, soft stewed vegetables and other easily digestible foods.

2. What do people with gallstones eat?

Answer to the question "What should gallstones not eat? ", doctors believe that the pain caused by gallstones, especially gallstones, mainly occurs after a greasy meal. The reason is that the circulation of bile into the intestinal tract to absorb this substance has been obstructed by stones. Therefore, experts recommend that people with gallstones should not eat more than 200mg of cholesterol per day.
In the care of patients with gallstones, patients should avoid eating the following foods:
Red meats, animal organs and egg yolks: This is a food group containing quite a lot of cholesterol, pepper Consuming in large quantities will cause indigestion, abdominal pain, affect hepatobiliary function, stimulate the gallbladder to contract too strongly and even increase the size of stones.
Refined starch: The foods that contain a lot of sugar, refined starch, high in fat and calories that gallstone patients need to limit are desserts, snacks such as cookies, chocolate....
Full-fat milk: Contrary to low-fat milk, whole milk, butter, cream, and cheese are also on the list of gallstones not to eat that patients need to limit as much as possible.
Stimulant drinks: Some drinks such as wine, beer, or even coffee, tea and soda should only be used in moderation in the diet for people with gallstones. The group of stimulant drinks will have a negative effect on the liver, making the liver more prone to fatty deposits and cirrhosis, leading to impaired bile secretion function of the liver.
Fried food, fast food: Patients with gallstones often experience symptoms such as pain in the right lower quadrant, slow digestion, bloating and nausea after eating a lot of fat. So these are also foods to avoid when you have gallstones. In particular, patients in the stage of stones causing cholecystitis should absolutely abstain from animal fat. Cases after cholecystectomy must also minimize fat, in order to avoid increasing the burden on the operation of the hepatobiliary system.

3. Tips when preparing food for patients with gallstones

Besides understanding what gallstone patients should eat and what foods should be used, the way of processing also plays a very important role when caring for patients with gallstones. Improper cooking can inadvertently increase cholesterol and bad fats in the gallstones diet, aggravating the symptoms of digestive disorders. You can refer to and apply some tips when preparing the following meals:
Limit frying, if possible, use absorbent paper to reduce oil being absorbed into the dish; Prioritize cooking by grilling, steaming, and boiling methods; Skim fat when cooking stews; Avoid over-oiling and limit salt (under 6g/day) when seasoning. In summary, a diet for people with gallstones is the best one with a proper nutritional balance accompanied by cutting down on unhealthy fats. In addition to referring to what diet gallstones are as well as choosing a healthy menu, patients should also spend time exercising regularly from 30-45 minutes a day. Building healthy living habits can limit stagnation of bile as well as avoid the impact of increasing stone size, thereby supporting more effective treatment and prevention of disease.

Please dial HOTLINE for more information or register for an appointment HERE. Download MyVinmec app to make appointments faster and to manage your bookings easily.