What dietary taboos should you pay attention to when dealing with gallstones?

The core dietary taboos for patients with gallstones are never not to eat this or that, but not to consume a large amount of high-fat and high-cholesterol foods in a short period of time and not to eat irregularly. Other taboos vary from person to person and there is no need to be overly strict.

I was diagnosed with 3mm gallstones during a physical examination in 2019. The doctor repeatedly stressed these two points to me at the time, but I didn’t take it seriously. The next winter, I went to eat hot-pot meat with a friend, and showed off two plates of fat lamb and a bowl of thick sesame sauce. That night, I curled up on the floor in pain and took 120. The stone got stuck in the bile duct, causing cholecystitis, so I had my gallbladder removed. When she was hospitalized, Aunt Zhang, who was in the clinic, suffered even more. The stone was only 0.3cm. Originally, the doctor said that she could keep a conservative observation. She secretly ate the braised pork chop brought by her daughter-in-law. She ate half a catty in one go. She suffered from biliary colic that night, and emergency surgery was arranged.

Many people immediately blacklist meat, eggs, and seafood as soon as they are diagnosed with gallstones, and eat boiled vegetables every day. I also stepped into this trap after the surgery, and I was on a vegetarian diet for two months. As a result, the doctor told me during the review that if I did not consume fat at all, the bile would not be emptied regularly at all, but would accumulate in the gallbladder. The original small stones would grow larger, and new stones would easily develop.

As for whether you can drink coffee, drink milk, and eat soy products, there is a lot of quarrel on the Internet. In fact, there is no unified conclusion in the academic community. I specifically asked my surgeon and also checked the latest hepatobiliary surgery guidelines. Take coffee as an example. Some studies believe that caffeine can Promoting gallbladder contraction can actually reduce the probability of stone attacks. There are also studies saying that strong coffee can stimulate biliary spasm and easily induce pain. There is no absolute rule of what you can or cannot eat. If you don't feel uncomfortable after eating it, just eat it normally. If it hurts, just don't touch it. The same goes for soy products. In the past, the old belief was that high calcium content could aggravate gallstones. But now new clinical data shows that people who eat soy products in moderation have about 30% lower incidence of gallstones than those who don’t eat them at all. As long as you don’t stuff a pound of marinated tofu in one meal, there is no need to limit the food.

Talking about the small details that need to be paid attention to in daily life, the most easily overlooked thing is actually eating irregularly. Half of the reasons why I got stones in the first place was that I skipped breakfast for more than half a year in order to sleep in. The bile accumulated all night and could not be excreted, and cholesterol crystals slowly precipitated. Also, don’t overeat suddenly. During Chinese New Year and festivals, relatives gather for dinner. Don’t overeat the delicious food. It’s okay to take one or two bites to satisfy your cravings. If you stuff too much high-fat and high-sugar food in one meal, it will really hurt. Oh, by the way, try to avoid those overly sweet milk teas and cream cakes. High sugar will promote the liver to synthesize cholesterol. High cholesterol content in bile will also make stones grow larger.

It has been almost 4 years since my surgery. Apart from rarely eating fatty meats and repeatedly fried foods, I basically have no dietary restrictions. I eat one egg a day, shrimp and fish regularly, and one cup of coffee a day. The follow-up examinations have always been quite normal. In fact, to put it bluntly, don’t be greedy and don’t be hungry. It is easier to use than any strict taboo list.