Diet taboos for gallbladder polyps

There are only three pitfalls that patients with gall polyps have clear evidence-based and clinically recognized pitfalls to avoid - long-term high-oil and high-cholesterol diet, irregular diet (especially long-term skipping breakfast), and long-term excessive drinking. The rest of the statements, such as "can't eat eggs", "can't touch soy products" and "can't eat spicy food", are mostly derived from individual experience and have no universal applicability. It all depends on your own reaction after eating.

Let’s first talk about why high oil and high cholesterol are the top taboos. After all, more than 80% of gallbladder polyps are cholesterol polyps. To put it bluntly, they are small crystallization groups formed by the precipitation of cholesterol in bile. If you stuff them with fried chicken, cream cakes, fat sheep and cows, and animal offal, it is equivalent to directly "feeding" the polyps growth raw materials. It will be strange if they don't grow. I met a 32-year-old Internet programmer before. He ordered fried chicken and full-sugar milk tea, and his physical examination revealed 3mm cholesterol polyps. The doctor asked him to adjust his diet first. He couldn't control his mouth and stayed up late every day. In half a year, it grew to 6mm, and he almost had to have his gallbladder removed. Later, he gritted his teeth and gave up fried sweet drinks. He ate all three meals at home. A year later, when he was reviewed, the polyps had shrunk to 2mm. Speaking of this, someone must have asked, are egg yolks inedible? At present, there is indeed no consensus among academic circles: one school of thought believes that the cholesterol content of egg yolks is not low, and people who already have cholesterol polyps should eat less, with a maximum of 3 whole eggs a week. ； Another school of thought believes that 70% of the body's cholesterol is synthesized by itself, and dietary intake accounts for less than 30%. As long as blood lipids are normal, eating a whole egg a day will not have any impact at all. Instead, it can supplement high-quality protein, which is much healthier than eating messy snacks. Among the patients I have come into contact with, I have not seen many polyps grow wildly among those who eat one egg a day. On the contrary, those who only eat egg whites and boiled vegetables every meal are dizzy due to dietary restrictions. Due to insufficient nutrition, their immunity has declined, and the inflammatory polyps have become larger. There is really no need to go to extremes.

Rather than worrying about whether to eat eggs or egg whites, many people ignore that irregular diet is the "invisible killer" of polyps becoming larger. I have a nurse friend who works three shifts all year round. He is so busy that he doesn’t even have time to drink water. He often only eats one meal a day. Last year, he had multiple cholesterol polyps during a physical examination. The doctor said that the bile is stored in the gallbladder for a long time and is not emptied. The concentration is getting higher and higher and is repeatedly stimulated. Later, even if she went to bed late at night, she would eat a steamed bun or boil an egg as a cushion after waking up. Six months later, when she checked again, the polyps had not grown again. By the way, there is no need to stick to the standard of "you must have breakfast at 7 a.m.". If you stay up until 2 or 3 a.m. or don't get up until 12 noon all year round, then your "breakfast" is the first meal you get up. As long as you eat regularly, even two meals a day is better than eating one meal when you are hungry and one meal when you think about it.

Another taboo that is not controversial is alcohol. Whether it is liquor, beer or low-alcohol fruit wine, alcohol entering the body will stimulate abnormal contraction of the gallbladder, damage liver function, and affect the normal metabolism of bile. If people who have polyps themselves drink it for a long time, it will not only easily stimulate the rapid growth of the polyps, but may also induce cholecystitis, which is so painful that they cannot straighten their waists. Last year, I met a 40-year-old brother who was diagnosed with a 5mm polyp. The doctor said that it would be fine to have regular check-ups, but he drank two taels of white wine every time. As a result, the polyp grew to 1.1cm in one year, so he had to have his gallbladder removed. Fortunately, the pathology was benign, and there was a real risk of malignant transformation if it continued.

As for the various mythical taboos posted on the Internet, such as not eating soy products, not eating seafood, not eating spicy food, and not eating raw or cold foods, there is really no need to believe them all. For example, some people say that the phytoestrogens in soy products can stimulate the growth of polyps. Currently, there are no clinical studies to prove this conclusion. Unless you feel bloated in the upper right abdomen and feel nauseous after eating soy products, then you should eat less. Otherwise, drinking soy milk and eating tofu normally is completely fine. There are also spicy foods. I have several patients from Sichuan and Hunan who quit spicy food for three months after being diagnosed with polyps. Their moods were much worse. Later, I found out that as long as they don’t feel uncomfortable, they can eat it. They can go back to eating it normally, as long as they don’t touch high oil or alcohol. After two or three years of reexamination, the polyps were very stable. Oh, by the way, if you are diagnosed with adenomatous polyps, then diet actually has little impact on it. The most important thing you should do is to review the ultrasound every 3-6 months to see its growth rate. If it grows too fast and exceeds 1cm, cut it off in time. Don’t delay things by eating taboos.

To be honest, I have come into contact with too many patients with gallbladder polyps. As soon as they were diagnosed, eating became a chore. They did not dare to eat this or touch that. In fact, it was completely unnecessary. Biliary polyps are very common benign lesions, and 95% of people will never become malignant in their lifetime. As long as you don't stuff your gallbladder with garbage heavy in oil and salt every day, don't let it idle all the time, and don't stimulate it with alcohol, the rest will be as comfortable as possible. After all, a good mood is more important than anything else. There is really no need to take away the fun of eating just for a polyp of a few millimeters, right?