Things to know about gallbladder removal

Things to know about gallbladder removal

“My doctor told me I needed gallbladder surgery.” These were the exact words Sarah, one of my clients used when going through her health history. She was still in shock. Sarah is a 34-year-old, active woman and she was not ready for gallbladder removal. She is a busy working mom of 2 young boys with absolutely no time on her hand to be sick. And she has been sick a lot.

Gallstone attacks

Sarah has battled with frequent gallstone attacks for several months. As time went on, these attacks became more severe and more frequent. She got to the point that she was afraid to eat. Her attacks were excruciating, causing her severe stomach pain, nausea, and heartburn. She felt overwhelmed and desperate. The pain lead Sarah to seek out the opinion of a specialist.

Her ultrasound confirmed the presence of several small gallstones. Besides the stones, no other problem was found with her gallbladder. Her doctor promised he could take all her pain away and offered to schedule her in for gallbladder removal.

Is gallbladder removal the only option?

Sarah felt uneasy about getting one of her organs taken out, but her doctor reassured her that losing her gallbladder wouldn’t be a big deal and called this small, sac-like organ right under her liver nonessential. Considering her level of pain and misery, she made peace with the idea of parting ways from her gallbladder. The promise of bringing all the physical suffering to an end made the surgery sound like logical solution.

What to expect after gallbladder surgery? 

At home, Sarah jumped on her laptop and did some research. She wanted to be prepared and know exactly what to expect post-surgery. After hours of dedicated research, Sarah started having doubts about the decision she made earlier. She read tons of horror stories about how people regretted getting their gallbladder taken out, how their pain never went away, or even got worse.

Thanks to her research, she came across plenty of articles pointing out the role diet and lifestyle play in gallbladder health. As a result, she decided to course-correct and gave herself two months to see if diet and lifestyle-change could save her gallbladder. She figured, if there was a chance to preserve one of her organs, it’s certainly worth taking. She thought that getting nutritional advice from a professional could help. That’s when she contacted me.

What does the gallbladder do?

Before deciding whether you should get one of your organs taken out, it’s a good idea to take some time and understand the main functions of that organ. One of the many roles that the gallbladder plays is in fat digestion. The gallbladder stores the bile produced by the liver and is responsible for supplying bile to the digestive tract. Once the gallbladder releases the bile, it enters the small intestines through the bile duct to emulsify oils and fats. The bottom line, fats cannot be digested without bile or bile acids.

While the liver is responsible for producing bile, it is the gallbladder’s job to store and release it into the small intestine when needed. Interestingly, the bile that is stored in the gallbladder is different than the bile produced by the liver, it’s far more concentrated.

What are gallstones? 

Gallstones are crystal-like particles caused primarily by cholesterol and bile pigments. 80% of gallstones are yellow and white cholesterol stones. The remaining 20% are pigment stones. These stones are small and dark in color and made up of bilirubin and calcium salts. As you can see, the majority of gallstones are cholesterol stones which form when the bile contains too much cholesterol and not enough bile salts.

Besides cholesterol, generally, two more factors may contribute to gallstone formation. First, it is the reduced ability of the gallbladder to contract, and second, the presence of specific proteins in the liver that either encourage or inhibit cholesterol crystallization.  

Gallbladder removal (cholecystectomy) 

Gallbladder removal (cholecystectomy) is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures in the US today. Patients suffering from any gallbladder disease will more than likely be presented with only one treatment option, and that is to remove their gallbladder.

While, in some cases, cholecystectomy is the absolute best interest of the patient, many develop painful symptoms after surgery that are worse than their initial gallbladder symptoms.

Post-cholecystectomy syndrome (PCS)

With over half a million people agreeing to part ways from their gallbladder each year, it is staggering to realize how few have ever heard of the term post-cholecystectomy syndrome (PCS) before choosing to go under the knife. PCS is a blanket term for conditions that can range from bothersome to life-threatening, such as bile reflux, gastritis, liver disease, pancreatitis, and IBS.

PCS, which is the occurrence of new symptoms after gallbladder removal, affects approximately 10-20% of these patients. These people end up suffering from symptoms that are often worse than the ones that prompted the surgery. You can learn more about the prevalence of PCS here.

 

What’s the root cause of gallbladder disease?

According to the World Gastroenterology Organization, gallbladder disease is largely lifestyle driven. It is most common in countries where the typical Western Diet has become the norm. The most important risk factors to develop the disease are:

  • Obesity
  • Type 2 Diabetes
  • Metabolic Syndrome
  • High cholesterol
  • Western diet
  • Sedentary lifestyle

 

The common theme here is: diet and lifestyle. Right? So if diet and lifestyle are so important in the causation of the disease, shouldn’t diet and lifestyle be at least considered as one of the possible solutions? If 80% of gallstones are caused by too much cholesterol in the bile, shouldn’t we take a look at how we could possibly reduce the amount of cholesterol in our body?

Why not examine your diet first to see if you could incorporate more liver and gallbladder-nourishing foods in your diet? Why not eat less processed and animal foods, lose weight, move more? 

Besides the obvious diet connection, there is another predisposing factor that is rarely talked about.

The gallbladder-hormone connection

It has long been understood that being pregnant increases your risk of developing gallstones and the awful symptoms of pain, burping, gas, and bloating, indigestion that comes with it. So does being on long-term birth control pill and hormone replacement therapy (HRT). But why? This is a fundamental question that should be asked by women considering any hormone therapy.

Unfortunately, no one asks these questions because women aren’t made aware of this often underestimated risk. So let’s take a look at what happens in the bile when estrogen and progesterone are present in excess amounts.

How your birth control pill causes gallstones?

Birth control pills are known to raise the risk of gallstones. They do so by increasing cholesterol levels in the bile. When the bile gets loaded with cholesterol, it becomes sticky and clumps together. The pill also reduces gallbladder movements and the functioning of gallbladder emptying.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and the overabundance of estrogen during pregnancy also increase your risks of developing gallstones.  

Make an educated decision

It’s essential to seek proper diagnosis when suffering from gallbladder attacks. You want to know what causes your pain and discomfort. But it’s also important to dig deeper and try to find the root cause of your gallbladder problems. Take all the possible contributing factors into consideration and understand that in the body, nothing occurs in isolation. So when your gallbladder is forming gallstones, you should consider this as a cry for help, and ask the following questions:

  • Is my diet supporting the health of my gallbladder and liver?
  • Is my diet rich in whole, plant foods or instead, loaded with lifeless, processed and animal-based products? 
  • Am I moving enough throughout the day?
  • Could my birth control pill be contributing to my problem? 
  • Could my hormones be out of whack?

Gallbladder diet

 

While everyone’s situation is different, identifying the root cause of your gallbladder issues is essential for healing. Sarah was able to save her gallbladder by changing her diet, and bringing on board a few herbs and supplements to support the function of her liver and gallbladder. She is committed to making better food choices every day, improving her hydration, and incorporating regular walks into her day. As far as birth control? She even decided to ditch her pill and is now using natural family planning methods.

If you suffer from gallbladder attacks, indigestion, burning in your tummy or gallstones, you will have to make some dietary changes to feel better. If you already had your gallbladder removed but still experience digestive discomfort, you should still follow a gallbladder-friendly diet in order to get well. Food is the most power medicine that can help your body heal. 

3 Ways Diets Make You Fat and Cause Hormone Imbalance

3 Ways Diets Make You Fat and Cause Hormone Imbalance

3 Ways Diets Make You Fat and Cause Hormone Imbalance

With 69% of Americans overweight and 30% obese (1), everyone seems to be on a diet these days. Most people have tried not one but multiple different diets. Dieting has become so mainstream, that many go from one diet to another without even taking a break in-between. But do diets work? Do they really help you achieve sustained weight loss? Or are they just a band-aid that we slap on to help us drop a few pounds, without even noticing that we create even bigger issues in the process? As a Nutritionist, I have seen many women struggle with extra weight. I can honestly tell you, diets do not end the struggle. In fact, a history of dieting often leads to a host of health problems, including hormone imbalances, that we rarely associate with diets themselves. 

Meet Mary

One of my clients, Mary has struggled with her weight all her life. The memories of countless failed attempts to achieve her ideal weight have been haunting her for several decades. She tried many different diet programs with no real results. No matter how hard she tried, extra pounds kept creeping up on her and stuck to her waistline. After all the failures, Mary started to lose hope. Over time she became convinced that her weight issue was beyond her control and that there was nothing more that she could do to fit into her skinny jeans again.

Mary was a hard-working, ambitious executive in a high stress marketing job, with frequent tight deadlines and under constant pressure. She had very little flexibility in her schedule and was stuck behind a desk a large part of the day. As a result, Mary often found herself putting in long hours. It wasn’t uncommon to find her behind her desk at 7 PM even on a Friday night. This type of environment and work schedule did not leave her with a lot of opportunities to change her lifestyle and exercise routine. Fast food, snacks and caffeine-loaded sodas became her crutch to get through the day.

Calories In, Calories Out

We are told we need to move more and eat less to lose weight. It’s that simple. That’s the premise of many of the popular fad diets that severely restrict calories and recommend frequent, intense workouts. But while these programs may deliver results on the short run, on the long run, they are sure to take a toll on your overall health, burn out your adrenals and lead to various other hormone imbalances.

Take Dr Siegal’s famous Cookie Diet from 1975 for example. On the surface, a diet plan that allows six cookies a day may sound like a tasty way to drop some extra pounds. the cookie diet is not a healthful way to reach your dream weight. Putting people on a 1,000 calorie per day diet plan – with or without cookies – is not a sustainable, may lead to rapid weight loss at a pace that is way too fast. The diet promises 15 pounds of weight loss per month, which is unhealthy. Aiming to lose 2-3 pounds a week should is a safe pace for most people. 

– Rate of weight loss promised (up to 15 pounds in a month) may be unhealthy. (Safe weight loss should be one to two pounds per week at most.)

– This diet restricts too many calories.

– Eating the same food throughout the day can get boring really fast!
– No scientific evidence that the diet is effective.

 

But deep down, Mary never gave up on her skinny jeans. Her coworker, Jenni knew that and got her all pumped up about a 6-week Biggest Loser contest. Even though Mary was quite skeptical, she decided to participate.

Fast forward a few weeks, and by the end of the contest, Mary lost several pounds. Due to her competitive nature, she put herself on a strict diet to finish among the top losers. And while she felt pretty good about her accomplishment, she knew that her restrictive diet was by no means sustainable.

Her happiness was short-lived, as in a few short weeks, she was back at her pre-contest weight. Reality hit her hard a couple more weeks down the road when she realized that her weight soared to record highs.

Weight Loss Contests Make You Fat AND...

Mary story isn’t unusual. Besides the disappointment that contestants of weight loss challenges frequently experience, there are several additional downsides to these types of programs.

1. Tensions can rise high

While Biggest Loser-style weight loss contests often create a sense of comradery, this positive feeling can quickly dissipate when team members aren’t progressing at the same pace. Criticisms of each others diet and “lack of effort” can induce serious tensions, which in turn can negatively impact the working environment.

2. Contests favor men over women

According to research, men tend to lose weight at a faster pace, which puts women at a disadvantage in contests where weight loss has to be achieved in a few weeks. The reason for this difference between men and women lies in the difference in the ratio of lean muscle. Men tend to have more lean muscle tissue, which burns more calories than body fat. So theoretically, women must cut more calories to achieve the same degree of weight loss. So men have a leg up on women when it comes to losing weight, at least in the short term.

3. Contests can encourage unhealthy crash dieting

The pressure to perform and the incentive to win a prize can push people to take dieting to the extreme. Some might jump on board with dangerous diet programs, or give in to peer pressure even if there were possible health risks involved. Furthermore, just like most diet programs, while participants may see incremental weight loss on the short term, they tend to gain it back shortly after the incentives are no longer there to keep them on track. Employees regularly entering these contests may get discouraged from the experience of losing and regaining weight.

What To Do Instead

The question that employers should ask themselves when considering the sponsorship of such weight loss contest is: What are you trying to accomplish by doing so? If short-term benefits are what you are after, then weight loss contests may suit your needs. On the other hand, if your objective is more along the lines of improving employee health, creating meaningful, sustainable, positive transformations, then you are better off looking into some of these ideas below:

1. Stress Management Training

Obesity is often the consequence of one or more of the following, such as overeating, lack of physical activity or eating the wrong kind of foods. Stress plays a huge factor in all these as it not only reduces our ability to burn fat but also makes us hungry and crave sugar. Furthermore, according to the “Stress In America” survey, conducted by the American Psychological Association, a large percentage of the population admitted to be overeating or reaching for unhealthy foods in response to stress, as a way to calm down. Stress also causes sleep-related issues, which in turn can disrupt appetite controlling chemicals in the body. Stress management workshops, on-site yoga, and meditation classes are all great ways to give employees the tools to cope with stress more effectively.

2. Mindful Eating Programs

Mindful Eating programs are designed to address some of the core issues leading to poor food choices, binge eating, emotional eating, etc. Mindful eating incorporates the fundamentals of meditation, learning to slow down and to be in the present moment. It teaches participants to tune into their sensory experience of the food as well as into their subjective feelings of fullness and hunger. Growing evidence suggests that a more thoughtful way of eating could have a positive impact on weight problems.

3. Make Exercise Accessible

The positive effect of increased physical exercise on weight is evident, yet, finding the time to get into a routine is far less so. Many companies have found that forming walking clubs or having walking meetings to encourage people to get up and move around works well. Offering yoga and other fitness classes can also give employees a nice boost during their workday.

4. Self-Awareness Training

Whether we struggle with obesity, procrastination, lack of discipline, unhealthy eating and lifestyle habits, or a combination of these, without understanding the WHY behind our actions, thoughts, and emotions, the real solution cannot be found. While we all have the inherent ability to be self-aware, most of us never slow down enough to be in the moment and feel the emotions, understand the nature of our thoughts. As it relates to weight loss, often in spite of our best intentions, our own self-limiting beliefs, destructive mental habits may unknowingly sabotage our progress. Self-awareness teaches us to become more aware of what we feed our mind with. Too often emotional eating leads to overeating and to eating the wrong kinds of foods. People often reach for food to comfort themselves for whatever uncomfortable emotions they may be feeling. Self-awareness through meditation can help.

It is time for companies to realize, that there are no quick, easy fixes. There are however real solutions available to those that recognize that weight loss should never be the focus of wellness efforts. Weight loss should be an effortless “side effect” of a culture of health. Commit to your employees, lead by example, provide education and resources instead of prizes for lost pounds. After all, creating a healthier workforce is the only way to increase productivity, job satisfaction, and lower health care costs.

References: 

(1) https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319902.php 

 

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