8 familiar vegetables, useful for people with gallstones

Gallstones are one of the most common gallbladder diseases and are on the rise. The main causes are related to cholesterol metabolism disorders and infections.

Diet plays an important role for people with gallstones (gallbladder stones) because it directly affects the formation and development of gallstones. Patients need to have a suitable diet to control the symptoms of the disease.

People with gallstones should not eat foods high in fat and cholesterol such as red meat, fat, skin, animal organs, eggs, fried foods, fast food, whole milk, cheese, and sausages to ensure good health and limit the development of gallstones.

The importance of diet for people with gallstones

Gallstones are crystal-like deposits that develop in the gallbladder. The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ that stores bile, a digestive fluid produced by the liver. The gallbladder's main function is to store bile, which helps the body break down fats.

Most people with gallstones have no obvious symptoms. However, the longer the stones remain in the gallbladder, the more likely they are to become a problem. This is when the gallstones move and become stuck in a bile duct, causing abdominal pain, possibly accompanied by nausea, indigestion or fever.

Stones can also block the common bile duct, which carries bile into the small intestine, and the hepatic duct, which carries bile away from the liver. Blockages in the bile duct cause the bile duct to become inflamed and infected. Blockage of the common bile duct, which joins the pancreatic duct in the small intestine, can lead to pancreatitis.

Since the gallbladder's main function is to store bile, which helps the body break down fatty foods, when we eat, the gallbladder releases its stored bile into the cystic duct. From there, the fluid passes through the common bile duct and into the small intestine to mix with food.

Research shows that the main components of bile are cholesterol and bile acids. Normally, the concentration of bile acids is high enough to break down the cholesterol in the mixture and keep it in liquid form. However, if a person has a high-fat diet, this balance can be upset, causing the liver to produce more cholesterol than the bile acids can handle.

As a result, some of the excess cholesterol begins to solidify into crystals, known as gallstones. About 80% of gallstones are called cholesterol stones and are formed this way. The remaining 20% are made up of calcium mixed with the bile pigment bilirubin, known as pigment stones. Sickle cell disease and other blood disorders where red blood cells are destroyed can often lead to pigment gallstones.

Because diet has an important impact on gallbladder health, gallstone patients, in addition to following the doctor's treatment instructions, need to follow a scientific diet: eat enough nutrients, balance, increase fiber-rich foods, eat moderate fat, low cholesterol to reduce the risk of forming and developing stones, contributing to increasing treatment effectiveness and improving symptoms of the disease.

Therefore, the diet of people with gallstones needs to pay attention to choosing and limiting certain types of food. The general principle is to avoid foods and drinks that are high in animal fat, cholesterol and stimulants; should emphasize fresh vegetables and fruits rich in vitamins (especially vitamin A) and foods containing a lot of unsaturated fatty acids.

Below are 8 types of vegetables that are good for people with gallstones.

1. Squash

Winter melon is sweet and cool, has the effect of clearing heat, eliminating phlegm, promoting urination, reducing toxins and reducing fat, very suitable for people with cholecystitis and gallstones; used in processed dishes or squeezed for juice to drink.

Winter melon peel also has the effect of clearing heat, diuresis, choleretic and anti-inflammatory. Use fresh peel to boil and drink instead of tea during the day.

2. Carrots

Carrots are sweet and neutral in nature. They help strengthen the spleen, aid digestion, benefit the intestines, nourish the liver and improve eyesight, clear heat and detoxify, and reduce gas and cough. This vegetable is rich in carotene, which when entering the body is converted into vitamin A by the liver, which helps reduce the formation of gallstones.

3. Radish

Radishes are spicy and sweet, cool in nature, have the effect of clearing heat, producing new fluid, cooling blood, stopping bleeding, dissolving phlegm, stopping coughs, promoting urination, detoxifying... and are one of the ideal foods for people with gallstones and urinary stones. The best way to use radishes is to wash them fresh, squeeze them to get the juice to drink.

4. Young tubers of the plant

With its sweet taste and cooling properties, the young tubers of the lotus plant have diuretic, thirst-quenching, heat-clearing, detoxifying, and lactation-enhancing properties. It contains a lot of protein, vitamins, and minerals, making it an ideal food for people with high blood pressure, gallstones, and postpartum women with low milk supply. It can be used fresh and boiled several times a day.

5. The teacher's root

Sweet potato tubers are slightly cold and have the effect of clearing heat, producing new fluid, cooling blood, detoxifying, and eliminating phlegm and stagnation. They can be eaten raw, squeezed for juice to drink, or washed, chopped, and steeped for juice to drink.

6. Corn silk

Corn silk has a sweet taste and neutral properties; it has the effect of clearing heat, diuresis, choleretic and lowering blood sugar, very suitable for people with high blood pressure, nephritis, urinary tract infections, urinary stones, cholecystitis, bile duct stones, jaundice hepatitis, diabetes. Use 40-60g every day to make tea to drink instead of tea during the day.

7. Celery

Sweet and bitter, cool in nature, celery has the effect of clearing heat, calming the liver, promoting bile, promoting urination, improving the stomach, lowering blood pressure, reducing blood fat, is an ideal food for people with high blood pressure, lipid disorders, atherosclerosis, urinary tract infections, cholangitis, gallstones; can be stir-fried in dishes, eaten raw or washed and squeezed for juice to drink.

8. Fish mint

Fish mint has a spicy taste and cold properties; has the effect of clearing heat, detoxifying, diuretic and reducing swelling, very suitable for people with inflammation, cholecystitis and gallstones. Can be eaten raw or boiled to drink as tea every day in amounts of 160-200g./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/8-loai-rau-cu-quen-thuoc-huu-ich-cho-nguoi-benh-soi-mat-post1070006.vnp