After Cholecystectomy

General advice

Avoid large meals, preferring small and frequent meals (4-5 per day). In this way you will digest better the food.
Eat slowly and chew well your food.
Avoid exercise immediately after food.
Do not follow any fasting diet or intermittent fasting diet but eat regularly during the day. Please have complete meals with carbohydrates, protein and vegetables.
Please follow the advice for at least 1 week after surgery, then slowly you can start to add slightly more fat and more variety of food.

Carbohydrates

Food allowed	Food not allowed/ to reduce	Tips/other info
- White rice, basmati rice, rice noodles, noodles, pasta, sweet potatoes, potatoes (no skin). - Low-fat crackers or breadstick, Pitta bread, Bread, Low-fat biscuits. - Refined breakfast cereals such as corn flakes or puffed rice.	- Pasta or noodles with eggs as ingredients like fettuccini or tagliatelle or yellow noodles. - Bread with cheese or eggs as ingredients. - High fat crackers, granola-type cereal, muesli, biscuits, pancakes, croissant, muffin cakes, rolls or cornbread. - Brown rice, wild rice, red rice, wholegrains, brown bread, quinoa, buckwheat, bulgur, teff, millet, oat.	- Choose a tomato-based sauce or vegetable sauce instead of cream-based or pesto or Bolognese or heavy sauces. - Avoid wholegrain products for one week because they are not easy to be digested after surgery.

Vegetables

Food allowed	Food not allowed/ to reduce	Tips/other info
- Fresh or frozen: zucchini, carrots, squash (no seeds), pumpkin, beets, eggplants, capsicum, tomato sauce or cooked tomato (no seeds and skin).	- Vegetables prepared with added fat, cream sauces or cheese sauces. - Sauerkraut, pickled vegetables, and others prepared in oil; frozen vegetables in sauces; vegetables seasoned with ham or bacon. - Raw vegetables, skins and pips of all vegetables. - All pulses such as beans, butter beans, kidney beans, peas, lentils, chickpea, peas, soya.	- Prefer cooked vegetables because easy to be digested. - The vegetables recommended are easy to be digested and you will not have any intestinal symptoms after consumption.

Food allowed	Food not allowed/ to reduce	Tips/other info
- Fresh, frozen and fresh fruit juices: banana, cantaloupe, honeydew, apple, applesauce, lemon and lemon juice, papaya, strawberry, pear, orange, orange juice.	- Nuts and seeds, peanut butter or nuts butter, dried fruits, avocado and coconut. - All fruit skins, stalks, seeds and stones.– Smoothies	- Use fruits as a snack: you can bake apple or pear with cinnamon and a bit of honey if you like. - The fruit recommended are easy to be digested and you will not have any intestinal symptoms after consumption.

Food allowed	Food not allowed/ to reduce	Tips/other info
- Avoid till 1 week after the procedure.	- Milk, buttermilk, chocolate milk and cream. Regular and processed cheese, hard cheese, mascarpone cheese, soft cheese, low-fat creamy cheese and sour cream.	- Please don’t add milk, cream and yogurt during the cooking. - In the reintroduction phase, please use low-fat milk and dairy, cottage cheese, low-fat creamy cheese and sour cream.

Food allowed	Food not allowed/ to reduce	Tips/other info
- Skinless lean poultry (chicken or turkey). - Meat only lean cut. Cooked ham and Parma ham (please remove the white fat). - Eggs white. - All fresh or frozen lean white fish (snapper, grouper, dory, toman, cod, trout, etc..).	- All fatty, oily and fried poultry. - Minced beef, pork or lamb. Ribs, corned beef, sausage, duck or goose. Luncheon meats, cold cut (salami, lard, bacon, processed meat, etc..) and meatball, offals, liver etc. - Egg yolk. - Salmon or fatty fish and seafood fresh or fried. Canned fish in water, brine or oil, processed seafood and fish balls or fishcake. - Legumes (beans, lentils, chickpeas, peas, soya, etc..).	- Cook the meats without adding sauces or other fatty gravies. - Remove all the visible fat before cooking and the skin of the chicken or fish. - In the reintroduction phase, please use small amount of salmon or fatty fish and legumes. Continue to avoid processed fish like fishballs or fishcake.

Food allowed	Food not allowed/ to reduce	Tips/other info
- Fat-free broth or clear soups. - Fruits shake and sorbet (no added sugar). - Honey, jam, jellies, maple syrups. - Water (1,5-2 liters/day), including herbal tea, light barley coffee, chamomile, apple juice. - Salt and herbs, vinegar, lemon and lime juice, ginger.	- Sweets and desserts, biscuits, chips, candies, milk chocolate, puddings, ice cream, cream, sugary drink. - Coffee, breakfast or black tea, sparkling water, alcohol (spirits, wine, beer, hidden alcohol in aperitifs or sweets or chocolate), soft drink such as coke and other sugary drinks, cocktails, energy drink, instant coffee and tea. - Avoid MSG and stock cubes. Avoid deep fried food, stir-fried food, and elaborated preparations with fat and coconut milk. - Avoid food and condiments containing bacon fat, bacon bits, and salt pork. - Avoid sauce like soya, fish, oyster, ketchup, mayonnaise or other fatty or salty sauces. - Avoid spices, hot pepper sauce, garlic and garlic powder, onion and onion powder. - Oil, olives, butter or margarine: at least for one week after the surgery.	You can replace oily sauces with the following: - lemon juice and parsley - orange and ginger - fresh tomato blended with basil leaves.

How does my plate look like?

Portion size

Half plate of vegetables

Take 1 portion of vegetables in every main meal
Take 1 portion of fruit for breakfast or as a snack during middle morning and/or afternoon. Prefer the whole fruit instead of fruit juices.

A quarter plate of grains

A quarter plate of protein to choose among:

Eggs

Poultry and meat

Limit red meat like beef, pork, mutton, duck to 1-2 times a week. Prefer chicken and turkey.
You can use cooked ham or Parma ham sometimes (remove the white fat).

Fish and seafood

Dairy Products

To reintroduce after one week from the surgery.
Use 1-2 portions of low-fat milk or yogurt per day (preferably during breakfast or snacks)
Use not more than 1-2 portions of low-fat cheese per week.

Legumes

Please for at least 1 week avoid legumes consumption because they can give you intestinal discomfort.
When you reintroduce them, please start with few times per week.

Healthy fat

For at least one week please avoid any nuts or nuts spread.
Reduce to the minimum the level of oils for at least 1 week after the surgery. If you are anable to cook without oils, you can use maximum 1-2 tablespoons of good oils per day.

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