Diet after cholecystectomy

The diet after cholecystectomy, which doctors prescribe immediately after the operation, is a mandatory condition for ensuring normal liver function. Since in the absence of a gallbladder, all the bile produced by the liver (and this is approximately 700-800 ml per day) goes directly into the duodenum.

This creates certain problems for both the liver and digestion in general. After all, the gallbladder not only accumulates bile and, as needed, supplies it further along the digestive tract, but also brings it to the physiologically necessary condition: the bile thickens and becomes at least 10 times more concentrated. Therefore, following a diet after cholecystectomy is caused by the need for maximum complete restoration of digestive functions in conditions of forced "deficiency".

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What is the diet after cholecystectomy?

According to medical statistics for the last 10-15 years, the number of patients who have undergone cholecystectomy, i.e. surgery to remove the gallbladder, has increased significantly: in the US alone, almost half a million people lose this organ every year. Therefore, the question of what diet after cholecystectomy is necessary for the normal functioning of the body does not lose its relevance.

It should be emphasized that the first meal after the operation is allowed only after 12 hours, and in the medical institution the patient will be offered mashed vegetable soup, liquid porridge on water (also mashed), jelly from non-acidic berries. After 3-4 days, mashed vegetables and lean meat, boiled sea fish (low-fat, chopped), low-fat cottage cheese are added to the diet. And then diet No. 5 is prescribed, which should be followed for three to four months after surgery.

Diet 5 after cholecystectomy

Any diet – including diet 5 after cholecystectomy – involves excluding certain foods from the daily diet, as well as fractional meals, that is, eating smaller portions, but more often – 5-6 times a day. At the same time, all food should be as finely chopped as possible, not too hot or cold.

A natural question arises: what can't you eat after cholecystectomy? Diet No. 5 completely excludes the use of:

• fatty (fatty meat and fish, rich broths, lard, high-fat dairy products, etc.);
• fried (all dishes must be boiled, steamed or baked, sometimes stewed);
• smoked and canned;
• marinades and pickles (including home-canned goods);
• hot spices and sauces (mustard, horseradish, ketchup, mayonnaise, etc.);
• offal (liver, kidneys, brains);
• mushrooms, mushroom broths and sauces;
• raw vegetables (including onions and green onions) and legumes;
• rye and fresh white bread;
• baked goods, pies and pancakes, cakes and pastries with cream;
• chocolate, cocoa and black coffee;
• alcoholic beverages (including dry wine and beer).

Now let's answer the question: what can you eat after a cholecystectomy?

According to diet 5 after cholecystectomy, it is allowed to include in the diet:

• lean meat (beef, veal, rabbit) and poultry (chicken, turkey) - boiled or baked;
• lean fish (boiled or steamed);
• porridges and vegetarian soups with vegetables and cereals (as well as with various pasta products);
• vegetables - steamed or stewed;
• low-fat dairy products (kefir, yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese), but sour cream - only as a seasoning;
• non-acidic fruits and berries (fresh, in the form of jelly, compotes, mousses or jellies);
• yesterday's or specially dried white bread;
• honey, jam, preserves.

Also, diet 5 after cholecystectomy imposes restrictions on butter (no more than 45-50 g per day) and vegetable oil (no more than 60-70 g per day). The daily norm of bread is 200 g, sugar - 25-30 g. And the urgent advice of nutritionists is to drink a glass of low-fat kefir at night.

In addition, you can drink weak tea, non-acidic juice diluted with water, coffee with milk, compotes and rosehip infusion. By the way, about the drinking regime after cholecystectomy. Some nutritionists recommend drinking up to 2.5 liters of liquid per day; others - no more than 2 liters; others claim that the limit of consumed liquid is 1.5 liters (in order to prevent excessive secretion of bile)...

Over time, meat and fish in ungrained form, as well as raw vegetables, are gradually included in the therapeutic diet. In principle, diet 5 after cholecystectomy is followed for about two years.

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Post Cholecystectomy Diet Menu

Despite the restriction of many products, the diet menu after cholecystectomy can be varied and quite nutritious, that is, balanced in calories. It will be much healthier for your liver if you replace the rich borscht with pork with vegetable soup on weak chicken broth or vegetable broth. Here are examples of diet menus that gastroenterologists and nutritionists recommend in accordance with diet 5 after cholecystectomy.

Menu Option I

For breakfast: milk oatmeal, steamed cottage cheese casserole, tea with milk.

Lunch: cottage cheese, baked apple without sugar.

Lunch: pureed rice soup with vegetables, steamed chicken cutlets with carrot and pumpkin puree, jelly.

Afternoon snack: a glass of juice.

Dinner: boiled lean fish with steamed vegetables, tea.

Menu Option II

For breakfast: cottage cheese with sour cream and sugar, mashed buckwheat porridge with butter, tea with milk.

Lunch: fruit puree.

Lunch: vegetable puree soup, boiled chicken breast with vegetables, dried fruit compote.

Afternoon snack: fresh fruit mousse.

Dinner: boiled fish with mashed potatoes, cottage cheese soufflé with raisins, tea.

Menu Option III

For breakfast: mashed rice porridge with milk, tea with white bread rusks.

Lunch: baked apple with sugar.

Lunch: pureed cereal soup with vegetables, steamed lean beef cutlet with vegetable puree, jelly.

Afternoon snack: rosehip infusion.

Dinner: steamed fish balls with mashed potatoes, cottage cheese casserole with pumpkin, tea.

Post Cholecystectomy Diet Recipes

Most of the dishes in the post-cholecystectomy diet are easy to prepare.

For example, to make a tasty and healthy vegetable puree soup, just take a small cauliflower (recommended by all nutritionists), peel it, divide it into florets and put it in cold salted water for 15-20 minutes. Then rinse the cabbage and put it in boiling water (add salt).

The saucepan does not need to be covered with a lid, it should be cooked for about 5 minutes on high heat, and then about 10 minutes on low heat. Use a slotted spoon to remove the finished cabbage from the broth, chop it into a homogeneous mass and return it to the saucepan. Dry a tablespoon of wheat flour in a frying pan (without oil) and dilute it in water at room temperature, stir well (so that there are no lumps) and pour it into the saucepan. Cook for a few more minutes on low heat, season with a teaspoon of butter. Sprinkle the soup in a bowl with finely chopped parsley or dill.

Here is a recipe for steamed chicken or turkey meatballs with added vegetables. You will need 300 g of poultry fillet, 1 carrot, a small onion, 150 g of zucchini, a bunch of dill and salt.

Minced meat and vegetables are prepared (they are chopped separately and then combined), meatballs are formed from the minced meat and cooked in a steamer for about 25 minutes.

The main goal of a post-cholecystectomy diet is to give the liver, which has lost its "companion" - the gallbladder, and the entire digestive system time to adapt to new operating conditions. Follow the diet prescribed by doctors, and everything will get better over time.