A friend of mine is really interested, but I don't know how she would fare without a gall bladder. Does anyone know? I did some looking on the web, but found nothing that addresses this issue.

Thanks!

There's plenty of us on Atkins or other LC plans that are without a gallbladder (I had mine removed 3 yrs. ago). Do a search on the topic and I'm sure you'll find all the lovely discussions that we've had.

BTW- most (if not all) of the "no gallbladder" symptoms that I had suffered while eating low-fat/high-carb are gone. To think that my former doc said I'd do better post-op on the AHA/ADA diet. I did have some "unpleastness" during the first few days of induction, but that's not uncommon (w/ or w/o gallbladder).

Best of luck to you and your friend!
Nikki

I also had my gall bladder out a couple of years ago.I have had no problems.My doctor told me after the operation to eat whatever i wanted and if I had trouble with a food avoid it.M akes sense.I have found LC very easy to follow and except for induction when I felt tired etc.like everyone else this soon passes.

I had my gallbladder out last year and am in week four of Induction and have had no different responses or reactions as anyone else. I probably eat a little less big bloody cuts of meat and more fish, but I use just as much butter, olive oil as anyone else. There is a whole discussion thread on this Under the General Health part of the forum.
--jas

I don't really think it matters. The gall bladder actually serves no known purpose which in my estimation is why it doesn't matter. Ask any doctor why we even have a gall bladder and they will be hard pressed to tell you. I don't have a gall bladder and the only thing it has done for me is cure the excruciating pain I used to be in. Good riddance to that darn thing.

Just to confirm my own experience:

No Gallbladder No Problem

Actually the gall bladder does do something. It stores bile from the liver which is used to digest fats you eat.
http://www.mamashealth.com/organs/gallbladder.asp

However, the liver will still produce all the bile you need if your storage area is gone - just has to work harder. People who ALREADY have gallstones, sometimes find that they get pain when the fat in an LC diet provokes bile secretion. However, LCing probably contributes to NOT forming gallstones as the bile would be used regularly on a diet with lots of fat. Low fat diets(which would leave the bile sitting there in storage for long periods) would tend to promote the formation of gallstones.

no gallbladder, no problem.. as a matter of fact, my disgestive system is much better on this WOL

I had my gall bladder removed four years ago and have been low-carbing it for 18 months. I have no problems digesting fats. I actually had much more stomach problems when I was doing the low-fat thing.

I have bile salt malabsorption due to having it out. And whenever I have my high fat meals I get sick after. But if you don't have this then you are good to go.

Mine and my husbands both out 3 years ago. Within a month of each other, wierd huh? Same diets I guess! No problems LC'ing!

It seems that although you have had your gallbladder removed, the liver can have gall/liver stones.
Maybe lack of bile salt could be that your liver is gummed up with gallstones.
It can be rectified overnight, you most likely have the ingredients in your cupboard.
Yar

"Cleansing the liver of gallstones dramatically improves digestion, which is the basis of your whole health. You can expect your allergies to disappear, too, more with each cleanse you do! Incredibly, it also eliminates shoulder, upper arm, and upper back pain. You have more energy and increased sense of well being.

It is the job of the liver to make bile, 1 to 1.5 quarts in a day! The liver is full of tubes (biliary tubing) that deliver the bile to one large tube (the common bile duct). The gallbladder is attached to the common bile duct and acts as a storage reservoir. Eating fat or protein triggers the gallbladder to squeeze itself empty after about twenty minutes, and the stored bile finishes its trip down the common bile duct to the intestine.

For many persons, including children, the biliary tubing is choked with gallstones. Some develop allergies or hives but some have no symptoms. When the gallbladder is scanned or X-rayed nothing is seen. Typically, they are not in the gallbladder. Not only that, most are too small and not calcified, a prerequisite for visibility on an X-ray. There are over half a dozen varieties of gallstones, most of which have cholesterol crystals in them. They can be black, red, white, green or tan colored. The green ones get their color from being coated with bile. Notice in the picture (pg. 545) how many have imbedded unidentified objects. Are they fluke remains? Notice how man are shaped like corks with longitudinal grooves below the tops. We can visualize the blocked bile ducts from such shapes. Other stones are composites- made of many smaller ones- showing that they regrouped in the bile ducts some time after the last cleanse.

At the very center of each stone is found a clump of bacteria, according to scientists, suggesting a dead bit of parasite might have started the stone forming.

As the stones grow and become more numerous the back pressure on the liver causes it to make less bile. Imagine the situation if your garden hose had marbles in it. Much less water would flow, which in turn would decrease the ability of the hose to squirt out the marbles. With gallstones, much less cholesterol leaves the body, and cholesterol levels rise.

Gallstones, being porous, can pick up all the bacteria, cysts, viruses and parasites that are passing through the liver. In this way "nests" of infection are formed, forever supplying the body with fresh bacteria. No stomach infection such as ulcers or intestinal bloating can be cured permanently without removing these gallstones from the liver.

http://www.curezone.com/forums/f.asp?f=293
http://www.curezone.com/cleanse/liver/huldas_recipe.asp

I'm afraid I have to disagree pretty strongly with your information, Yar.

In all my years of nursing, I've never ever heard of anyone having liver stones! I've worked in theatre (aka operating room) and seen gallbladders full of stones removed, but stones in the liver? No.

The gall bladder is a storage receptacle for bile. If gallstones occur, they form in the gall bladder. They can cause infection of the gall bladder - cholecystitis, or they can leave the gall bladder, moving into the common bile duct, causing excruciating pain as they do so - biliary colic.

Please do not ever attempt to flush out gall stones as directed in that website!

Gallstones are usually irregularly shaped and if attempts are made to "flush" them through the bile duct, they can all too easily get stuck, causing not only hideous pain, but they can also rupture the bile duct, which could even lead to death.

Not something to ever fool around with.

Rosebud

I cannot argue with your expertise Rosemary, i also read your post's with great interest and find them very educational.

My wife has had a pain for 18 years on the right side of her body, between the hip bone and the rib cage, it has been suggested that it is stones, although none could be detected. A few weeks ago the pain was the worst it has ever been, so instead of going to the hospital, we did a liver flush, as done on that website, removed 160 stones approx., no pain todate, the longest period of time without some pain, also a nagging leg pain has been relieved.
My brother and i also did a liver flush, it is only overnight, we got about a 100 stones he also found benefit.
If you take time to read some of the benefits, that people have achieved, including not having to have there gallbladder removed, it is very impressive.
There are very many concerns regarding gallbladder removal, colon cancer, 50% of people end up with shocking digestive problems the rest of there lives.

Seeing that this is a low carb website,we had better mention low carb, some people who have had there gallbladder removed, have had benefits with regard to the digestive problems, by following a low carb diet, opposite to what is reccommended.
Some drugs, such as erythromcyin or ampicillin, are reported to cause hypersensitivity-induced cholecystitis. Furthermore, there are reports on the influence of cyclosporin, dapsone, anticoagulant treatment, and narcotic and anticholinergic medication in causing gallbladder disease.

The gallbladder really plays a secondary part in allowing the cholesterol crystals to form a stone. Stones can form in the bile ducts in people who have had their gallbladders removed (cholecystectomy), which proves that the gallbladder is not essential for stone production
............................................

CONCLUSIONS: Cholecystectomy increases the risk of intestinal cancer, a risk that declines with increasing distance from the common bile duct. Changes in the intestinal exposure to bile might be the underlying biological mechanism.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...itool=iconabstr

Here, we present a case of hemobilia caused by liver abscess due to intrahepatic duct stones. Liver abscess should be considered in the causes of hemobilia, especially in areas where hepatobiliary parasitic infection is endemic.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...itool=iconabstr

Yar

Thank you all for the interesting (and controversial!) information. I have lent my copy of DANDR to my friend, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed...she is very interested now.