Newbie with Gallstones needs Fat Free Cooking Advice

northwest1965

MortgageMamma wrote: »

Hi All

My partner has a problem with gallstones so we can't eat anything fatty - its progressively got worse with 5 hospital admissions in about 3 weeks

MM

I know this doesnt really help, but as a previous gallstone sufferer who had the op 14months ago, I'd say to your OH. Next time, do not leave the hospital until they operate. Thats what I did the last time. Its an awful pain, I really feel sorry for him!

born_blonde

How much fat can your husband have without triggering his gallstones?

When I was waiting for my opp I worked out that as long as I kept my fat intake below 10g I was OK (very bad for hair and skin though).

So I had dry toast and Marmite for breakfast, green salad and dry bread with fat free mayo for lunch and then used recipes from the Top 200 Low fat recipes by Judith Wills such as thai beef salad for dinner(5g fat per portion).

At least I could still drink!

ALIBOBSY

I wonder if it makes a difference which Dr you get as to the advice, or perhaps it is the underlying cause/type of stones that make the difference.

My OH had small stones rather than a large one (although still painful) and didn't require hospitalisation. The underlying cause for him is very high cholesterol and given the fact of how fit he is and his normal BMI (plus his fathers history of problems) it has been diagnosed as inherited high cholesterol and he is on statins and will probably have to stay on them forever.
The specialist said to reduce saturated fat to help, but that the cause of the gallstones was cholesterol 90% of which is produced by the body itself not from the diet.

We have increased the amount of pulses etc we eat and reduced his portions of meat, but have not been obseesive about cutting out fat and he has been fine with his readings coming down as well.

Just interested really as the impression we were given by the Dr's suggests diet only has a small impact? Maybe OH has been really lucky and got it caught early, on his last ultrasound there were no stones to be seen.

ali x

naranja

I know it's not a high fat food but for some bizarre reason oranges and orange juice can trigger an attack so there's another one to avoid.

Diet undoubtably can help prevent an attack but sometimes it just happens even when you've only had water.

CRANKY40

If he wants a sweet treat toast him some crumpets, don't butter them, but put golden syrup on them instead. You don't miss the butter, and it's low enough in fat not to trigger the gallstone pain.

Pink.

Hi MortgageMamma,

There are some suggestions on this earlier thread that may help:

Fat Free diet

I'll add your thread to it later to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

WendysWorld

MortgageMamma wrote: »

hi there

the thing is we are struggling to eat EVERYTHING low fat. he's been in hospital for two days and the kids were delighted when they got home made rice pudding and fighfingers and chips for their tea. I'm trying to get us all to eat the same or as same as possible as I feel guilty about watching him have to do without all the time. I just can't do it

Hi MortgageMamma,
As a previous gallstone sufferer I really feel for your husband. It's possibly the worse pain I have ever had - worse than labour pains! And there's nothing you can do, no painkillers work.
You have to be careful not to reduce the calorie intake too far as that can trigger attacks as well.
To be honest, if he's been in hospital that often I really think diet won't make much difference any more. The gall bladder is so inflamed he should really get it taken out. Is he on the list for the operation? He can just ask for a doctor's referral, he doesn't have to go through this! If his doctor refuses, change your doctor. This can be quite dangerous if left to inflame.
I can honestly say it was the best decision I ever made. i was lucky enough to have private cover so got seen within 10 days but even on NHS it would have been only around 4 -6 weeks.
I had the op back at the end of February and after about a week's discomfort and a bit of diarrhea for a couple of weeks (not too bad, usually after white bread!) I'm feeling great. No worries about having a curry or a chinese any more!
Apart from that I can't really offer much advice really. A little bit of oily salad dressing won't do any harm - it's usually stuff that's deep fried or cakes made with tons of margarine or butter that does the harm. That's why curries and chinese takeways set me off as they use so much fat.

Hope he's OK - I really do feel his pain!

BM

meanmarie

I found that I could keep the pain under check by giving up Fried food, cheese, cream and eggs. Definitely there is no need IMHO to torture yourselves, your partner needs to monitor which foods make him feel even mildly uncomfortable and cut them out.....as in all things I feel that different people will react to different foods.
Ginger is a great aid to digestion....even a ginger biscuit will help, or chopped ginger if you can get it.

Marie

Triggles

I can sympathise - I remember how unbelievably painful it was when I had an inflamed gallbladder. I have to say that the doctor was brilliant and recommended it coming out almost immediately rather than suffer through ongoing attacks. I was told it could be up to a year to get the surgery on the list, however, I specifically told them I would take any cancellation time with only 24 hours notice for surgery in order to get it done sooner and within 6 weeks, I got in (with about 48 hrs notice) for surgery. I lived on steamed vegetables for the most part as the pain was so horrible that I was terrified to eat anything that might cause it to occur.

I guess my point for that is that the best cure is simply to have it removed. The keyhole operation had a quick recovery time for me. There is simply no point in suffering attack after attack.

babyshoes

Stir fries can be very tasty and low fat. I use a mixture of soy sauce and sugar water for the sauce which is usually tastier than a packet of sauce, with a bit of grated ginger and some garlic for flavouring. Use any veg you fancy, and a little bit of low fat meat like chicken breast. You can always add more meat to the children's meals if they want it meatier.

As a variation on this, I often do a mushroom stir fry with just onions browned up and a load of mushrooms, then the same soy sauce, ginger, garlic and sugar for a sauce. Serve with noodles partly cooked so they continue cooking in the pan and soak up some of the juices.