5 Foods to Avoid If You Have Gallbladder Issues

The gallbladder is an organ that sits under your liver. It stores bile, a fluid that helps your body break down fat during digestion. People can develop medical conditions that affect their gallbladder, like gallbladder sludge, gallstones, and biliary colic. Gallbladder issues are very common. 

There are treatments for these conditions, including medications and surgery. But one of the best things you can do if you have gallbladder issues, is follow a gallbladder-friendly diet. Here are the foods you should avoid if you have a medical condition that affects your gallbladder.

How does what you eat affect your gallbladder?

Your diet plays an important role in your gallbladder health. Certain foods worsen gallbladder conditions. Many foods can also increase your risk of developing gallbladder conditions. 

Gallbladder sludge and gallstones

Some foods can increase your risk of developing gallstones and gallbladder sludge. 

Gallstones and gallbladder sludge are often made of cholesterol. Eating foods high in cholesterol — like fast food and red meat — can increase your risk of developing these conditions. Research also suggests that eating a lot of sugary foods can also increase your risk of developing gallstones.

If you have gallstones or sludge, you’re more likely to have other gallbladder conditions, including:

• Biliary colic (gallbladder pain)

• Cholecystitis (gallbladder infection)

• Surgical removal of the gallbladder

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Biliary colic and cholecystitis

Your diet matters even more if you already have gallstones or gallbladder sludge. What you eat increases your risk of biliary colic. For example, eating high-fat foods makes your gallbladder squeeze to release bile into your intestines. This squeezing can move gallstones into the biliary duct, where it might get stuck and cause a gallbladder attack. 

If the stone remains stuck, it can lead to an infection (cholecystitis), which needs immediate treatment with antibiotics and surgery.

Biliary dyskinesia

Biliary dyskinesia is a medical condition where the gallbladder doesn’t squeeze the way it should. This can lead to nausea, pain, and heartburn. It can also increase your risk of developing pancreatitis, a serious medical condition. Certain foods can make biliary dyskinesia worse.

Gallbladder cancer

The link between diet and gallbladder cancer isn’t clear. People with this type of cancer often need to change their diet during and after treatment. These diet changes are very different from the ones recommended for other gallbladder conditions, like gallstones or biliary colic. 

This article won’t go into diet recommendations for gallbladder cancer. If you’ve had gallbladder cancer, talk with your healthcare team about your nutritional needs.

What foods should you avoid if you have a gallbladder condition?

You should avoid or limit certain foods if you have a history of:

• Gallbladder sludge

• Gallstones

• Biliary colic

• Cholecystitis

Here are five foods to avoid.

1. Fried foods

Fried foods are high in fat and can increase your risk of developing more gallstones. They also make gallbladder attacks (biliary colic) more likely. 

Examples of fried foods include:

• Fried chicken

• French fries

• Onion rings

• Donuts

2. High-fat foods

Fried foods aren’t the only high-fat foods to avoid. All high-fat foods increase your risk of having pain or other complications from gallbladder conditions. Limit other high-fat foods like:

• Fast foods

• Red meat (steak, hamburgers)

• Bacon

• Sausage

• High fat dairy (heavy cream, butter, cheese)

3. High-sugar foods

High-sugar foods can also make gallbladder conditions worse. Examples of high-sugar foods include: 

• Sodas

• Energy drinks

• Candy

• Condiments like ketchup and barbecue sauce

• Sweetened yogurts

• Breakfast cereal

• Granola bars

• Protein bars

Both regular and diet sodas increase your risk of developing gallbladder problems. One of the best changes you can make is cutting out all soda from your diet. This can lower your chances of gallbladder problems getting worse. It’ll also lower your risk of developing new gallbladder conditions.

4. Processed foods

 Many ultra-processed foods are high in sugar and fat. In addition to the processed foods noted above, try to limit and avoid these foods: 

• Potato chips

• Doritos

• Cheetos

• Deli meats 

• Hot dogs

• Instant ramen noodles

5. Refined grains

Refined grains can increase your risk of developing gallstone disease. But they won’t increase your risk of experiencing a gallbladder attack. Limiting refined grains can lower your risk of developing more gallstones or sludge. Examples of refined grains include: 

• White bread

• White pasta

• Cookies

• Pastries

What foods should you avoid if you had your gallbladder removed (cholecystectomy)?

You’ll need to make diet changes if you’ve had your gallbladder removed because of a condition like an infection or gallstones.

After gallbladder surgery, your intestines will need to rest for a few days. You may be asked to follow a liquid diet and avoid caffeine. But about 1 to 2 days after gallbladder surgery, you’ll be allowed to start eating solid foods that are easy to digest.

After that, you’ll slowly move onto your post-surgery diet. This is the diet you’ll follow long term in order to avoid unpleasant symptoms that can develop after gallbladder removal.

Experts recommend eating a high-fiber diet after gallbladder surgery. A high-fiber diet improves your overall health. But it also lowers your risk of getting diarrhea, which is common after having your gallbladder removed.

Some experts also recommend eating a low-fat diet after having your gallbladder removed. There’s some evidence that avoiding fatty foods can lower your risk of having nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain after surgery.

When should you seek care for gallbladder problems?

You should seek medical care if you think you could have gallstones. Your healthcare team can diagnose gallstones and help you make diet changes so you’re less likely to develop painful gallbladder attacks. Gallstones that aren’t causing symptoms or cause symptoms that come and go quickly aren't an emergency. 

But gallstones that cause symptoms that don’t go away are an emergency. These gallstones may be stuck and can lead to infection (cholecystitis). Cholecystitis needs to be treated right away. 

Get medical care right away if you have these symptoms:

• Severe pain in your right upper or middle upper abdomen

• Severe pain that doesn’t go away after an hour

• Fever

• Nausea and vomiting

• Yellowing of the skin or eyes (jaundice)

• Grey or pale-colored stools

If you’ve had your gallbladder removed, you should seek immediate medical care if you experience: 

• Fever 

• Bleeding from your incisions

• Warmth or redness around your incisions

• Discharge from your incision

• Severe pain

• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath 

• Persistent cough

• Vomiting or nausea that doesn’t go away

• Inability to eat or drink

• Yellowing of your skin or the whites of your eyes

• Grey or pale-colored stools

Why trust our experts?

Written by:

Amy Walsh, MD, MDP

I have worked as an emergency physician for 15 years, including care at both rural hospitals and trauma centers. I am the former Global Emergency Medicine fellowship director at Health Partners.

Edited by:

Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH

Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH, is a medical editor at GoodRx. She is a licensed, board-certified pediatrician with more than a decade of experience in academic medicine.

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