March 29, 2024

Keto guidelines after gallbladder removal

People worry that you can’t follow a high-fat diet (like keto) if you don’t have a gallbladder because the gallbladder makes bile, which helps us digest fats.

But this is not true.

After having your gallbladder removed, you may need to change your keto diet and start taking digestive health supplements, but you can still enjoy all the benefits of keto.

Purpose of the gallbladder

The Function of the Gallbladder: It’s Not Just a Liquid Storage Bag

A bag with a thin wall known as the gallbladder is often located between the lobes of your liver.

Essentially, it serves as your gallbladder’s storage organ (bile).

Your liver produces 400 to 800 ml of bile per day, which is transported by the bile ducts.

When you are fasting, your liver will send the majority of the bile it makes to your gallbladder, where it will be five times more concentrated.

When you eat a meal that contains fat and it passes into your small intestine, your body releases hormones that cause the gallbladder to release bile into the small intestine and instruct the liver to produce more bile.

The bile has a variety of functions as it enters the small intestine, including:

Dietary lipids are emulsified in a way that promotes absorption.

removing too much cholesterol, possibly toxic chemicals, and other heavy materials that the kidneys cannot filter.

Preventing intestinal infections in humans.

Governing blood sugar management.

Supplying a variety of hormones and pheromones that support the intestine’s growth and development.

Approximately 95% of the bile that reaches the small intestine’s end is reabsorbed into the circulation and recycled in the liver so that it can be used to digest the following meal.

Now that we are familiar with the anatomy of the gallbladder and bile, we can clearly see its evolutionary function.

Although the gallbladder is often thought of as a basic storage organ, it actually plays a critical part in the bile’s concentration, which increases the amount of things that this useful fluid can accomplish for us.

The gallbladder isn’t always the most effective organ, which is unfortunate, especially when there’s a high-carb and high-calorie diet present. This can have major consequences.

Reasons for removal

It can happen that the bile becomes overly thick and forms gallstones or other obstructions in the channel where it usually empties.

Acute or ongoing gallbladder inflammation brought on by gallstones, perhaps accompanied by an infection, can result in:

Major discomfort and bloating.

However, the patient may get relief from these symptoms by changing their food and lifestyle.

Normally, the gallbladder will only be removed if certain symptoms continue:

Severe discomfort in your right upper abdomen that may spread to your middle abdomen, right shoulder, or back is accompanied by fever and nausea.

When biliary illness is the cause of bloating, jaundice, or skin discoloration, which often denotes a bile duct obstruction,

The following conditions also might necessitate gallbladder removal:

Dyskinesia of the liver.

This happens when the gallbladder’s contractions are flawed, resulting in an improper bile ejection.

Then gallstones go to the common bile duct and become trapped there, preventing the gallbladder from draining normally. This can lead to: gallbladder inflammation, inflammatory pancreatitis.

What Happens If You Don’t Have a Gallbladder?

If you don’t have a gallbladder, the liver can’t store bile to use in between meals.

Instead, bile will go straight into the intestines when it is made.

Bile is still in the intestine, so it can still mix with food and help the body digest fats.

Bile won’t be as strong or as abundant as it used to be, but there will still be enough for digesting fat.

You can live comfortably, and for a long time, without your gallbladder. But some discomfort should be expected. Changes in your diet will help you adjust to life with a gallbladder.

The fact is about half of the people who have surgery will have digestive problems afterward.

The most common side effects are diarrhea and loose stools.

Because of this, bile will be released into their intestines more often. Bile seems to control how quickly food moves through the intestines, so this will make it happen more often.

Also, in the first few weeks to a month after surgery, some of the fat in a high-fat meal might not be fully digested. This could cause fatty diarrhea.

So, once the body is able to make the necessary changes, digestion can still work normally even without a gallbladder.

Your gallbladder won’t hold bile on its way to your small intestine, but it will get there in the end.

So, you can keep eating the same keto way you did before your gallbladder surgery.

Just be sure to be open to change if you find your current meal plan causes discomfort; you may have to switch from one keto food item to another that’s easier on your digestive system.