Recommended Vitamin C Intake
Women should consume at least 75 milligrams of vitamin C per day, and men need at least 90 milligrams daily. If you smoke, add another 35 milligrams per day to your vitamin C requirements. You can easily meet these needs by eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Particularly good sources of vitamin C include citrus fruits, bell peppers, kiwifruit, broccoli, strawberries, tomato, cauliflower, cantaloupe, cabbage and brussels sprouts.
If youâre considering vitamin C supplements for gallbladder health, check with your doctor to determine the appropriate amount of vitamin C for you. Too much vitamin C can cause nausea, diarrhea and abdominal cramps and may increase your risk for kidney problems. Vitamin C can also interact with certain statins and chemotherapy medications.
What Helps Digestion After Gallbladder Removal
Can you produce bile without a gallbladder?
You can lead a perfectly normal life without a gallbladder. Your liver will still make enough bile to digest your food, but instead of being stored in the gallbladder, it drips continuously into your digestive system.
What are the long term side effects of gallbladder removal?
Post-cholecystectomy syndrome includes symptoms of:
- Fatty food intolerance.
How To Reverse Gallbladder Disease Without Surgery
If your physician doesnt consider your gallbladder situation life threatening, here are some natural steps you can try to avoid surgery.
You May Like: How Much Cod Liver Oil Per Day
How To Have A Healthy Liver And Good Digestion Without A Gallbladder
First of all its important to realise that you developed a gallbladder problem in the first place because you had an unhealthy liver and a problem with your digestive system. If your liver is not healthy, it will make poor quality bile. The bile will be prone to forming sludge and stones. Just removing the gallbladder doesnt solve that problem, and in fact sludge and stones can form within the liver, compromising its function.
What Does Your Gallbladder Do

A small pear-shaped organ, your gallbladder, is located beneath your liver. The gallbladder stores and releases bile. Bile is a fluid your liver makes and helps you digest fat from your diet. The gallbladder is part of our digestive system, and its primary function is storing bile. Bile helps your digestive system to break down fats. Bile is made up of bile salts, bilirubin, and cholesterol.
The gallbladder connects to other parts of the digestive system through the biliary tract, a series of bile ducts. This pipe-like system will carry bile from your liver to the small intestine.
Before you eat, your gallbladder will be full of bile. Then once you eat, your gallbladder gets signals to contract, squeezing out stored bile through the biliary tract. The bile will eventually go to the largest bile duct, which is known as the common bile duct, and bile will pass through it and into the duodenum.
The duodenum is the first part of your small intestine. Once the bile reaches the small intestine, it mixes with food that needs to be digested. Once you eat, the gallbladder empties, and then it waits to be filled again.
Don’t Miss: Alcoholic Liver Skin Rash Pictures
When To Call Your Doctor
Though diarrhea that persists for several months is common after gallbladder removal, you should still discuss it with your doctor if it persists for more than 3 days after surgery. Additionally, if you have any of the following symptoms, you should talk to your doctor about them:
- Severe nausea or vomiting
- Abdominal pain that doesn’t go away or gets worse
- Inability to pass gas for more than three days after surgery
- Inability to have a bowel movement for more than three days after surgery
Show Sources
Reduce Gallbladder Disease Risk
The Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center notes that the antioxidant and immune support functions of vitamin C may be beneficial for people with gallbladder disease. Other beneficial dietary changes for gallbladder health include avoiding alcohol and trans fats, eating more fiber and antioxidant-rich foods, limiting your intake of red meat and eating more foods rich in iron and B vitamins.
For additional gallbladder support, you should also avoid highly processed foods, such as sugar, white pasta and white bread.
Read more:Side Effects of Gallstones
Read Also: Liver Cancer Surgery Survival Rate
What Foods Should I Avoid
Theres no standard diet that people should follow after gallbladder removal surgery. In general, its best to avoid fatty, greasy, processed, and sugary foods.
Eating these foods after having your gallbladder removed wont cause serious health problems, but it can lead to a lot of painful gas, bloating, and diarrhea. This is partly because bile flowing freely into your intestine works like a laxative.
Can You Have Complications Years After Gallbladder Surgery
The symptoms include fatty food intolerance, nausea, vomiting, heartburn, flatulence, indigestion, diarrhea, jaundice, and intermittent episodes of abdominal pain. Post-cholecystectomy syndrome can present early, typically in the post-operative period, but can also manifest months to years after surgery.
Recommended Reading: Ca 19-9 Pancreatic Cancer
What Happens When You Dont Have A Gallbladder
Your liver continues to manufacture bile, but there is no longer a place to store it or concentrate it. Therefore bile continually slowly trickles into the intestines. If you eat a fatty meal, you will not be able to secrete a large enough amount of bile into your intestines, therefore the fat will be poorly digested. This means many people experience diarrhea, bloating, nausea or indigestion.
Not digesting fat well means you will not be able to digest essential fatty acids, including omega 3 and omega 6 fats. It also means youll have a hard time absorbing fat soluble vitamins such as vitamins D, E, A and K. A lot of the antioxidants in vegetables are fat soluble: lycopene, lutein and carotenoids are all fat soluble. If you dont produce adequate bile, you will not be adequately absorbing these life saving compounds from foods. If you take any of the above mentioned nutrients in supplement form, without sufficient bile you will sadly not absorb them well.
Some common symptoms of poor fat digestion are dry, brittle hair dry skin and premature aging of the skin weak nails and painful joints. Essential fatty acids are important for optimal brain health, therefore low mood, anxiety, depression and impaired cognitive function are all possible manifestations of poor fat digestion.
The Best Vitamins And Supplements To Support Gallbladder Health
The gallbladder is one of those body organs we dont think about much, if at all, until it starts acting up, and then the pain can become unbearable. What is the gallbladder? It is a small pouch, or sac, situated just beneath the liver, which is its partner of sorts. The liver manufactures bile an acidic-like substance that is stored in the gallbladder and then released into the small intestine to help in the digestion of fats.
By the time we eat one of our three meals a day a standard still holding its own as a healthy dietary regimen recommended by health experts the gallbladder may be full of bile thanks to the livers steady supply. By meals end, the pouch resembles a balloon that has been deflated, lying there empty and flat. Thats because the bile has since departed to the small intestine via a series of tubes known as ducts, per webmd.com.
Heres the fascinating thing about the gallbladder, though OK, there are other intriguing facets about this pouch-like organ, but for now lets focus on one the fact that its presence is not absolutely necessary to our well-being. It can be surgically removed from a person otherwise healthy without any anticipated future issues concerning health or digestion, albeit a minimal chance of diarrhea and fat malabsorption.
Read Also: Foods To Avoid With Pancreatitis
What Vitamin Supplements Are Good For The Gallbladder
When it comes to vitamins for gallbladder health, vitamin C is one of the most frequently mentioned in research studies. It may protect against gallstone disease, gallstones and cancer of the gallbladder. You shouldn’t take large doses of vitamin C for gallbladder support without first consulting your doctor, however, because it isn’t safe for everyone.
Video of the Day
Tip
One of the best vitamins for gallbladder support is vitamin C, which may protect against gallstones and gallbladder disease and improve overall gallbladder health.
What Oil Can I Use After Gallbladder Removal

Unsaturated fats like corn oil, soy bean oil, canola oil, olive oil and omega-3 found in cold-water fish, nuts, seeds, flaxseed oil and fish oils are easier to digest than saturated fats, but they are not as healthy for you as saturated fat. Saturated fat is a type of fat that is stored in your body as triglycerides and stored as fat in the liver.
This process is called lipolysis, and it is the main source of energy for your muscles, brain, heart and other organs. However, if you are overweight or obese, you may not be able to store as much fat as you would like, so you will need to eat more calories to get the same amount of fuel from your fat stores.
Read Also: Why Is My Stomach Big
Weight Gain After Gallbladder Removal
For some people, maintaining a healthy weight after having their gallbladder removed is difficult. In fact, you may find that you gain weight after your gallbladder procedure.
The British Medical Journal published a study showing that around three-quarters of people who had undergone gallbladder surgery experienced weight gain. The reason that doctors pointed to was the reintroduction of fatty foods sometime after the surgery. With some patients, obesity was the reason for gallstones and a cholecystectomy and they resorted to poor eating habits post operation.18
After having your gallbladder removed, it is important to stick to a healthy, well-balanced diet. Doctors from the National Health Service say that after a gallbladder surgery you should eat fresh fruit and vegetables, wholegrain rice, wholewheat pasta and bread, seeds, nuts and oats.11
Donât Miss: What Happens If Vitamin B12 Is Low
When To Call Your Doctor About Problems Post Gallbladder Surgery
Although its common to have some food-related symptoms after surgery, its important to contact your surgeon if you experience any of the following symptoms, since they may indicate a more serious complication:
- Persistent abdominal pain, especially if it worsens
- Severe nausea or vomiting
- Lack of bowel movements for more than three days after surgery
- Inability to pass gas for more than three days after surgery
- Frequent diarrhea that lasts more than three days after surgery
- Redness or pain at a port site that gets worse.
Recommended Reading: Supplements To Improve Gallbladder Function
Effect Of Vitamin C On Postoperative Pain After Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy
The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details. |
Verified October 2016 by Taeho Hong, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital. Recruitment status was: RecruitingFirst Posted : September 17, 2015Last Update Posted : October 18, 2016 |
Drug: Vitamin CDrug: Placebo | Not Applicable |
The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of Vitamine C supplements to be helpful to reduce the postoperative pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy through the double-blinded randomized controlled trial.
The primary purpose of this study is to confirm the reduce of postoperative pain through the oral supplement of Vitamine C before and after the surgery. For this purpose, we compared the dosage or counts of opioids usage with the oral supplement of Vitamine C or not.
The secondary purpose is to assess the pain score, postoperative morbidities, postoperative length of stay or postoperative time between two groups.
Study Type : | |
Triple | |
Primary Purpose: | Treatment |
Official Title: | Effect of Vitamin C on Postoperative Pain After Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy a A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial |
Study Start Date : |
What Is The Work Of The Gallbladder In Our Body
The gallbladder is an organ that helps the body get rid of bile. Bile is a yellowish-green liquid made in your liver and stored in your gallbladder. It’s released from the gallbladder into small tubes called ducts, where it flows to your digestive tract to help with digestion. Your gallbladder is located just under your liver.
In the body, bile is essential for breaking down foods in the small intestine and absorbing fat-soluble vitamins like Vitamins A, D, E, and K, which help promote healthy skin. It also helps with the digestion of fats from food. The gallbladder stores this bile until the digestive system needs it. The gallbladder also releases bile into the small intestine to help digest food that comes from the stomach.
Recommended Reading: Why Does All My Fat Go To My Stomach
Death Or Disability Due To Surgery
Disability is one of the most severe risks associated with gallbladder removal surgery. In most cases, death results from poor general health or other preexisting conditions in gallbladder surgery patients. It is rare for someone to die during gallbladder removal, but there are some cases where this may happen. If you have a genetic predisposition for gallstone disease and have been diagnosed with gallstones in the past, you will be at higher risk for complications during your surgery.
Supplements For Gallbladder Removal
This author has been verfied for credibility and expertise
Your gallbladder is a small organ located just below your liver and is important for fat digestion and the storage of bile produced by your liver, which helps break down fat in your stomach. According to MedlinePlus, gallbladder removal surgery is sometimes necessary if you have gallstones or if your gallbladder is not functioning properly 2. Gallbladder removal is usually well tolerated, as your gallbladder is not essential for survival 2. Some vitamin and mineral supplements may be beneficial following gallbladder-removal surgery 2. Talk with your doctor before using any supplements after having your gallbladder removed to make sure they are safe for you to use.
If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, seek emergency treatment immediately.
Don’t Miss: Diet After Gallbladder Removal Long Term
Must Have Supplementation After Gallbladder Surgery
Perhaps you tried to change your diet and use non-invasive treatment options but your doctor advised gallbladder removal and now you need to know how you can have the healthiest digestive system possible, without it.
There are extreme cases where gallbladder health cannot be restored and acute cholecystitis, pancreatic inflammation or infection may indicate removing the gallbladder to save someoneâs life. Unfortunately, many people are under the impression that the digestive process with remain unchanged after gallbladder removal and that the gallbladder is an, âunnecessary organâ. This is only partially true as we can certainly live without the gallbladder, however, overall health and nutrition may change due to its absence and GI problems such as frequent diarrhea, gas, bloating and pain may remain an ongoing problem. It is possible to develop gallstones in the liver and when underlying health issues are not resolved, gallbladder removal will unfortunately not represent a âfixâ. The good news is, there are steps you can take to help make up for what you are missing.
Many people report ongoing digestive upset after surgery and while pain, diarrhea and bloating can be temporary, in other cases it is not and will require careful use of elimination diets to help reset and track the offending foods.
Supplements After Gallbladder Surgery
For Vegetarians
Non-Vegetarian Supplements
Fermented Foods And Drinks
B-12, Vitamin E, Vitamin D
Essential Fatty Acids
Stay Away From Fatty Foods

Avoid high-fat foods, such as hamburgers, hot dogs, bacon, and ice cream. Choose lean meats and low-fat dairy products like skim milk or yogurt instead of whole milk or cheese, which tend to be high in fat. Also, avoid fried and greasy foods. You can start eating these foods about five to seven days after your surgery.
You should incorporate proteins in your diet as much as possible. These proteins will aid healing, repair damaged cells, and promote cell growth. Foods high in proteins include meats like chicken, eggs, and fish such as cod and tuna.
You May Like: Location Of Pancreatic Cancer Pain