Tuesday 7 April 2015

Foods To Eat When You Have Gallstones


When I was 32 weeks pregnant with baby number two I suffered horrendous tummy pains - seriously it was more painful than childbirth! After numerous tests and an ultrasound scan I was diagnosed with gallstones, which are apparently very common during or soon after pregnancy. As I was pregnant and on a maternity ward at the time the medical staff did not give me much information other than to try and avoid foods with more than 5% fat in. 

I was unable to get my gallbladder removed due to being pregnant and there was no way I wanted to suffer that pain again (I had 4 attacks in a week). So I spent hours searching online to see what I could eat without trigging another gallstone attack. Honestly there wasn't very much information available and the information that was available was very contradictory. 

I lived with gallstones for six months before I got my gallbladder removed when my daughter was four months old. Honestly getting it removed was the best thing I did and 9 years later I have not suffered any complications or pain. Over the six months that I lived with gallstones I worked out what I could eat without triggering an attack and what foods were safe to eat with gallstones and what foods to avoid. I did have a few slip ups along the way and suffered a few more attacks whilst waiting for it to be removed, but the fear of that pain ensured I stuck to my safe foods most of the time. 

food to eat when you have gallstones



The best advice I can give is to not eat any foods with more than 5% fat in them, check labels and avoid foods that you know will trigger a gallstone attack. 






So what did I eat? Well I got into the habit of reading labels and only eating things that were less than 5% fat. I also cut down on diary products as they triggered attacks in me and obviously I was pregnant at the time so I cut out alcohol and caffeine too. Please remember that I am not a medical professional these are just steps that I took to stop having gallstones attacks and foods that I could eat when I had gallstones. 

Tips

  • Don't eat anything with more than 5 % fat in
  • Swap your normal milk to skimmed milk
  • Avoid any kind of butter or margarine
  • Avoid chocolate
  • Cut out high-fat sauces such as mayonnaise
  • Check all food labels before you eat
  • Drink lots of water
  • Cut out coffee and alcohol
  • Don't cook anything in any kind of oil 
  • Drink apple juice as this is meant to help with gallstones
  • Try not to eat late at night, I ate at least two hours before bedtime
  • Eat lots of fruit and vegetables
  • Avoid red meat and eat lots of lean chicken, turkey and white fish
  • Avoid spicy food's

Breakfast's 


  • Cereal that is less than 5% fat with a dash of skimmed milk
  • Toast with jam, no butter
  • Toast with laughing cow extra light cheese spread, no butter
  • Fruit and a fat-free yoghurt
  • Dry fried low fat Turkey rashers & mushrooms sandwich with ketchup
  • Tinned tomatoes on dry toast

Lunch

  • Turkey or chicken salad sandwich, no butter/margarine or dressing
  • Turkey or chicken salad
  • Fat-free super noodles
  • Low-fat vegetable soup, such as Heinz vegetable soup or the big soup
  • Tinned spaghetti or beans on toast with laughing cow light cheese (no butter)
  • Jacket potatoes with bakes beans 

Dinner

  • Chicken or turkey stir-fry, with stir-fry sauce (check the fat content in the label first)
  • Chicken or Turkey with steamed veg, potatoes and a small amount of gravy
  • Turkey mince (less than 5% fat) bolognese with pasta
  • Sweet and sour or lemon (from a jar) chicken with boiled rice
  • Mild fajitas in a reduced fat wrap or with steamed/microwave rice
  • Baked fresh white fish ( no sauce) with low-fat oven chips and salad
  • Grilled lean gammon steak with a baked potato

Snack's

  • Fruit
  • Crab sticks
  • Fat-free yoghurts
  • Very low-fat crisps (less than 5% fat) such as the walkers baked ones
  • Rich tea biscuits
  • Low fat cake bars (check less than 5% fat)
  • Fat-free jelly pot's
  • Jelly sweets, such as Haribo 
  • Ice lolly

Drinks

  • Tea with a dash of skimmed milk
  • Water
  • Apple juice
  • Diet Coke
  • Diluted squash juice

Eating out


I was so scared about eating out but I found a few things that I could eat without having any pain. I could have Subway chicken or turkey salad sub with no dressing or cheese. I could eat at carvery's I would just have turkey and then lots of steamed vegetables and a small amount of gravy and avoided the roasted vegetables, Yorkshires and stuffing. I could also eat salads and grilled chicken with plain jacket potatoes if we ate out and I would ask for it with no sauces or butter. I could also eat a takeaway grilled chicken kebab with salad and pitta bread without any sauce. I found if I stuck to plain grilled meats and avoid any dressings or high-fat foods eating out was okay. 

So that is what I ate when I had gallstones, it is just basically eating very healthy avoiding red meat and processed foods and only eating foods that are 5% fat or less. By changing my diet and eating this way I never suffered another gallstone attack and I lost a lot of weight too as I actually weighed two stone less after my daughter was born then before I fell pregnant.

Gallbladder removal surgery


I did have my gallbladder removed, six months after my first attack. I had my surgery done on the NHS and it was honestly the best thing that I have done and have never regretted it. Living with that constant fear of if I was going to have an attack and the pain of the attacks was stopping me living my life. I was terrified of having surgery but it was very quick and recovery went well. 

I had keyhole surgery under a general anaesthetic to remove my gallbladder as a day patient, I went to hospital for 7am, had surgery at 9am and was home by 3pm. I have 4 very small scars - two of which you can barely see. Recovery was better than I expected, I did not have a lot of pain - it felt like I had done hundreds of sit-ups for a week or so rather than painful. Within a few days I felt back to normal and was out and about shopping. I have had no side effects from the surgery which was 9 years ago now. 

* Please note these are just the foods that I found I could eat when I was suffering from gallstones, I just came up with this list of foods myself as these were my 'safe' foods. But everyone is different and what worked for me might not work for you as what you can eat with gallstones varies from person to person and is very much trial and error. 
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45 comments

  1. Oh gosh! What a nightmare....So glad you are better now :) x

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    1. Thank you Kim, it really was such a nightmare was torture not being able to eat when pregnant haha. xx

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    2. Unbelievably helpful thank you

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    3. Thank you so much !
      This has helped me so much I'm 31 and having my surgery in 2 weeks time. It's so hard finding foods to eat especially that I don't like veg or salad.

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  2. That must have been a really tough time at the end of pregsncy. Glad you're better now. I had raised blood sugar at the end of mine so no sweet things at all for 3 months, that was tough but I didn't have any side effects at all to deal with.

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    1. It really was, something i had no idea could even happen in pregnancy. So glad i got my gallbladder removed and can eat 'normal' again. Oh that would of been tough , the things we go through in pregnancy xx

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    2. I this is my first child I am 29 weeks and I have gallstones this is probably one of the worst things in my life that has ever happened

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  3. Fab tips that I'm sure will help lots of people in similar situations. Pleased you are all better now xx

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    1. It was horrendous way more painful then childbirth which i never thought possible. It is very common to happen when pregnant or after you have children, something to do with your hormone levels. But there is no information out there on what you can eat , hopefully someone will see this post one day and find it useful xx

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  4. Thank you so much that will help me loads i didnt know what i could eat sick of it hurting me cant wait till i get it out when ever that is lol thanks again x

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    1. I am glad you found it helpful and I hope you are feeling better now x

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    2. I have been looking for things to be able to eat since I have had trouble with my gall bladder. It's been over a month, in and out of the ER, suffering from horrible pain. I have surgery to have my gall bladder taken out next week . I found your comments on Google. It was very helpful to me because it gave actual foods beside just low fat. Thank you for being so to the point it was very helpful for me

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  5. I was in A&E a couple of days ago with suspected gallstones and was told to eat healthy but with me being a bit fussy I didn’t know what I could have. This has helped me so much!! Thank you for posting this!!

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    1. I am glad that you have found it useful, I hope your feeling better now x

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  6. Thank you I am currently waiting to have my gallbladder out as it is full of stones. I was in emergency room about a month ago and have had about 3 really painful attacks since didn't really know what to eat too,feeling so nauseous all the time at the moment. I brought some peppermint tea as it suppose to help with nausea and help with pain I've been eating grapes for 3 day but have had a stew about 20 mins ago and a tea and for the first time in ages seems to be subsiding thanks again for your information x

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  7. I’ve been in hospital with gallstones and the pain was horrendous the hardest thing I have found is I’m a great lover of cheese and it’s a no no I will be glad when I have the op I found you’re information was wonderful and the list of things. I can have 😊 thank you so much

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    1. Glad you have found it useful, ah you need to avoid cheese - I stuck to skimmed milk as I was told some gallstones are trigged by calcuim in dairy (not 100% sure how true that is mind as I am not medically trained).

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  8. ihave just been diagnose with fatty liver and one gaul stone i just dont know what t eat for the best

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  9. I have been in so much pain for the last 2 years still waiting on my opp but covid hit i can't eat or drink any thing in the last week is so hard im on very strong pain killers I'm going to try home made chicken soup tomorrow thank you for sharing your story I feel so guilty on my children because some days the pain is the
    at bad I can't get out of bed xx

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    Replies
    1. I hope you feel better soon. They really are awful, hope you get it removed soon.

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  10. Anyone wanting low fat sausages try M&S they do a tasty 3% fat one which helps me with gall stones I also eat smoked salmon and eggs for breakfast a few times a week. Hope this helps someone. Colin

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  11. After spending a day in A&E and a week off work with gallstones,your article is great. Have been reading so many articles on what to eat this week but yours is by far the most concise & informative as you have actually been through this pain. I am now on a waiting list to have my gallbladder removed....fingers crossed it happens a lot earlier than the predicted 3 months! Thank you again

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  12. Hi Hi from Canada, my daughter gave birth three weeks ago and was diagnosed with gallstones10 weeks ago, what a disaster! She can’t see the specialist until mid August,, thank you for the tips that worked for you,, I will use them as a guideline to keep her as pain free as possible

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  13. Thank you for this! I am very early pregnant (7+ weeks) and I’ve been in hospital with gallstones and a gallbladder infection! To top things off, since having my now 4 year old - I have IBS! I have no idea what I can eat without triggering another attack! 😣 of course, like you, I can’t have my gallbladder out until after pregnancy! I’m so worried about getting good nutrition to my baby if there is hardly anything that I can eat! 😳 there’s no information anywhere regarding recipes!
    I’ll be saving your page to come back to 😊

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  14. Wow what a brilliant description, I have been diagnosed with two 25mm gallstones and experiencing everything you had. Thanks for your detailed list of foods that helped you. I've just found out I'm 4th on the list to get surgery so fingers crossed it will soon.

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  15. Thanks for that great list of choice foods re gallstone flareup. I've been in hospital this last three days after yet another attack and, as you say, it's terrifying to figure out what best to eat so not to trigger an attack. Hopefully it won't be too long until my op and,again thanks for the food tips.

    Anthony from Glasgow

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    1. I hope that you are feeling better now and that gallstones are a thing of the past for you

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  16. I know im years late, but thank you so much for sharing this post. I am suffering pretty bad eith this, its all a sudden. Im so excited to find real examples. I guess ill soon bite the bullet and have the surgery too….. uuuugh

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  17. Brittney Lineberry24 May 2023 at 00:16

    I'm also years late to this post and suffering so much! I had my third son in January and less than a month later was suffering from gall stones. Just started having attacks everyday and this is the best list I've found so far!! Hopefully soon I will be able to afford the surgery. Thank you

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    1. I am glad you found it useful and I hope you are feeling better soon

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    2. I have no pain yet. Maybe some constipation, dizziness, and acid reflux. I don't know if these symptoms are related to the gallbladder. I'm waiting to see the surgeon. My medical provider told me that I need to get the gallbladder removed. I'm hesitant about getting the gallbladder removed, because I don't have pain yet. In the mean time I'm eating fruits and vegetables. Thanks for posting gallbladder information. It really helps out with what to eat and with what not to eat. If I was in pain I would definitely have it removed.

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  18. Was you able to eat anything you wanted after the removal? I’m currently diagnosed with gallstones and just had another attack earlier today and peppermint tea activated it. So now idk what to drink as far as teas. But I’m fearful of surgery but can’t take the pain anymore. Just order some pills on Amazon to help with my gallbladder, the reviews seems promising. So ima give it a try. But what are you able to eat after/ since you had it removed? Do you experience any pain anywhere?

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    1. Before I had them removed I just ate nothing with more than 5% fat and that seemed control it. It was awful waiting to see if I would have a attack though. I was terrified of the surgery but so glad I had it done. Recovery was very quick and I have not had any attacks since and can eat anything, nothing at all causes pain.

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  19. Thank you so much for sharing your experience. You are correct, so much contradictory info out there on what to eat and what to avoid. Did you feel like you could not eat fresh fruits and vegetables, especially ones that have more fiber?

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    1. I was fine with fruit and veg but everyone is different and just have to see what works for you.

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  20. Glad I found this page. I'm going through what feels like hell with pain and vomiting. I've saved your info to my phone I'll try anything to help the symptoms. I'm currently on the waiting list for removal so goodness knows when that will be

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    1. I hope you get sorted soon and don't have too long to wait

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  21. I’m going through this now waiting for surgery! This was such a positive read! How were you exercising? Pre surgery after the attacks? I ended up in hospital for a week after my latest attack and my liver and pancreas were also inflamed. Since I feel very tender when lifting or carrying shopping bags. X

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    1. I did not really exercise as I was heavily pregnant when I had them. I was fine after surgery was up and about shopping etc within 3 days and recovered quickly and no pain afterwards

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  22. I can't believe how confusing and pointless some of the information is when you Google what to eat and drink with gallstones. I'm trying to find out if orange squash is ok to drink, and it takes me to eating squash is a good source of fibre. I mean, what? I can't get an answer. Your list is the only one I've found that's any real help...so thank you x

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