The gallbladder is an organ that we humans can do without due to discomfort. Whether a life without gall bladder brings restrictions and which nutrition is important now, you will find out here.
Life without gall bladder: Liver as a supplier of bile juice
The gallbladder is located below the liver. The liver supplies the gallbladder with bile. Bile helps digestion, especially fats , such as cholesterol and triglycerides.
The gallbladder itself serves primarily as a storage site , as it absorbs the bile juice and used only when needed for digestion and optionally releases it to the duodenum again.
The bile or bile juice includes:
- water
- cholesterol
- Bile acid / bile
- bilirubin
Life without a gallbladder: Problems with bile
- When the bile becomes clumped, gallstones can form , which are deposited in the bile duct as well as in the gallbladder. One cause can be high cholesterol levels. How to implement a low-cholesterol diet , you will find out here.
- If gallstones are present, little or no bile can be released into the intestine. As a result, sufferers suffer from pain in the body, usually in the right abdominal area .
- Basically, gallstones can disappear over time or be treated with medications (very small stones), but often the removal of the gallbladder is the last step .
Life without gallbladder: possible without problems?
Many people today live without a gallbladder and their body does not make any complaints about it. Your body can digest food without the organ . In addition, the surgical removal of the gallbladder is a routine intervention that you need not fear.
After the operation, it may take a while until the bile juice is completely enough for digestion again, as the previous storage of bile in the gallbladder is eliminated, but it should normally not be a major problem in the diet .
Life without a gallbladder: 2 tips for a diet immediately after the removal
As just mentioned, immediately after removing the gallbladder there should be no major discomfort in the digestion of the food. But the tolerability of food is basically different from person to person , so that a universal nutritional recommendation is hardly possible.
If you find that your body is still bothered by digestion, especially of heavy foods, be sure to pay attention to the following tips:
- Proper food: There is food where your body has to do a lot of work for digestion. These include, for example, legumes or a lot of raw food. Especially avoid these foods immediately after surgery. In addition, you should refrain from high-fat foods and your food rather stew or cook.
- No big portions: To make digestion even easier, it makes sense to restrict yourself to smaller portions and eat more meals throughout the day.
Life without a gallbladder: This diet is important
Even without a gallbladder you do not have to do without certain foods per se. A healthy, not too high-fat diet should still be a goal. As always, the crowd makes the poison.
The following foods can help you with digestion without a gallbladder:
- Drinks: water and spritzers, tea
- Low-fat or reduced-fat dairy products
- Lean meat like turkey or chicken
- Lean fish
- Selected fruits: apple, banana, pear, peach
- Light vegetables such as zucchini or carrots
- potatoes
- Whole grains: pasta, bread, cereal flakes