Galbladder Out & Low Carb & Questions

[nsmith4366]

What is the medical/nutrtional reason people are expected to GAIN weight after galbladder removal? Everyone, every thing I've read says weight gain is inevitable.

It doesn't make sense to me! After galbladder removal the body does not digest fats as efficiently so wouldn't less efficient fat digestion = less fat digested (regardless of fat consumed) =weightLOSS in people ...low carb or not?

1. Do low carbers lose or gain after galbladder removal?
2. Is this different from the "carbing" population?
3. If so WHY?

DID LOW CARBING MAKE THE DIFFERENCE for ME? I low carbed before, during/after surgery and lost 20 pounds from start to finish. Too much fat = diahrea for me so I keep it to just normal amounts and very low carb with normal proteins now.

Any other ex-galbladder owners, doctors, nutritionists/anyone please chime in!

[Lisa N]

I gained a LOT of weight after my gallbladder removal (70+ pounds), but I attribute it to 3 pregnancies in 2 years and a serious case of post partum depression during which I self medicated with the "great white psychologist" aka the refrigerator. I was also not low carbing at the time, but following the standard ADA diet (high carb, low fat, moderate protein) as I'm also a diabetic. Surprisingly, there are few foods that I can't tolerate after my surgery, popcorn being the only one that I can think of, and I never develped the chronic diarrhea that my surgeon said was inevitable. The lack of a gall bladder has not seemed to affect my weight loss so far, and I can pretty much tolerate any level of fat consumption without any adverse affects. Is weight gain inevitable after a gall bladder removal? Only if you go low-fat/high carb (as they recommend that you do following gall bladder removal) and have a problem with insulin resistance and given that the standard gall bladder patient is "fair, fat and fortyish" as I learned in nursing school, I'd say that most gall bladder patients have insulin resistance. Many people DO have a problem with fat intake following a gall bladder removal, so perhaps they should follow a lower fat version of low carb (or as high as their bodies will tolerate).

[AngelaR]

I lost over 20 pounds in 3 months while I was suffering from gallstone attacks, mostly because almost everything I ate triggered them so I wasn't eating much more than bread and carby veggies. 6 months after surgery I had gained it all back, and then some. This despite watching my fat..no more Big Macs and fries, no bacon, no fatty meat, but lots of carbs to make up for it. I suffered from chronic diarrhea after surgery. I also suffered from "phantpom gall bladder attacks"

I suspect we gain weight after surgery because we are urged to go low fat, and substitute carby foods for the fat to keep from feeling hungry.

Since LCing, the diarrhea has stopped and so did the phantom attacks. My fat intake is higher now than before, without problems.

[Lisa N]

There's an earlier post on this board with some very good information for people who low carb following a gall bladder removal. Check it out! :thup:

[nsmith4366]

just as I suspected...LOW CARBERS!

I was not forty fat , but I am fair. I was 30 and fit and my galbladder came out because I didn't USE it for years due to a NONfat highcarb diet...yep, nuttin but diet coke, popcorn and bagels - you better believe it all through college. Ran 6 miles a morning, weighed 20 pounds more than I do now.

Started low carbing, eating FAT, losing weight - but galbladder TRIED to work/couldn't/it had actually atrophied and developed adhesions inside from non-use! Doc & nutritionist told me this. It only spit out 1/16th bile of what it should. Out it came.

Then, STAYED low carb, continued to lose lose lose.

I think we've found our answer. Thanks all. Don't go high carb low fat after gallbladder out. You CAN Atkins with it out, I just keep my fats to 10-20g per meal...and I'm fine. If I BINGE on fat I get diahrea, but sometimes that's the price I'm willing to pay to have that porterhouse (once in a VERY blue moon!).
:roll:

[Lisa N]

NSmith...

Please don't be offended by my "Fair, fat and fortyish" comment. That's truly what they taught us in nursing school. I myself didn't fit that profile as I had my gallbladder removed when I was in my early thirties as well. I was female and fat, but neither fair nor fortyish. My problem was not a non-functioning gall bladder, but rather one that was plugged with stones and causing me tremendous pain. One bad attack was all it took for me to say "take that puppy out!!"

[nsmith4366]

I am not offended at all - you weren't speaking about ME, just a general saying there.

Anyway, nothing wrong with being fat, forty and fair. There are lots of folks that are and live healthy (though overweight) happy lives... :)

The average size of the american woman is size 14!
(I think I've heard this.)
This however is not based on the bell curve (meaning the most popular size is 14) instead "average" means that almost half of the women weigh more than this and almost half of women weigh less...that leaves how many in a size 14? Uh, very few!

Yikes, I hate stats. Ha ha.

[ancelse]

Originally posted by nsmith4366
less efficient fat digestion = less fat digested (regardless of fat consumed) =weight LOSS in people That would be a low-fat type of reasoning: that dietary fat makes you fat, which is not the case: what makes you fat is the transformation of your dietary carbs into body fat.