Diet for After Gallbladder Surgery
After gallbladder surgery, many patients experience diarrhea. Bile has a laxative effect on the body and becomes less concentrated when the gallbladder is removed from the digestive system. Your body will eventually adapt, but in the interim, it’s critical to maintain a healthy diet. The following foods should be included in your diet after gallbladder surgery to help reduce symptoms and speed up your body’s healing process:
- Avoid fatty foods. After surgery, avoid fried or high-fat foods for at least a week. This includes gravies, butter, and ice cream.
- Increase fiber. Consume more fiber in your diet but don’t go overboard. This can be as easy as having oatmeal for breakfast with skim milk. Be cautious, as too much fiber can cause stomach issues.
- Smaller meals. Eat small, frequent meals for better digestion. Smaller bile production will be more appropriate for digestion if food intake is restricted.
- Avoid caffeine. Additionally, until the diarrhea stops and your bowel movements return to normal, you should abstain from caffeine. This includes coffee and tea. After your digestive system has stabilized, you can gradually add it back to your diet.
Fruits (2 portion per day or 3 small portion)
| Food allowed | Food not allowed/ to reduce | Tips/other info |
| – Fresh, frozen and fresh fruit juices: banana, cantaloupe, honeydew, apple, applesauce, lemon and lemon juice, papaya, strawberry, pear, orange, orange juice. | – Nuts and seeds, peanut butter or nuts butter, dried fruits, avocado and coconut. – All fruit skins, stalks, seeds and stones.– Smoothies | – Use fruits as a snack: you can bake apple or pear with cinnamon and a bit of honey if you like. – The fruit recommended are easy to be digested and you will not have any intestinal symptoms after consumption. |
Milk and dairy products
| Food allowed | Food not allowed/ to reduce | Tips/other info |
| – Avoid till 1 week after the procedure. | – Milk, buttermilk, chocolate milk and cream. Regular and processed cheese, hard cheese, mascarpone cheese, soft cheese, low-fat creamy cheese and sour cream. | – Please don’t add milk, cream and yogurt during the cooking. – In the reintroduction phase, please use low-fat milk and dairy, cottage cheese, low-fat creamy cheese and sour cream. |
