Coffee after gallbladder surgery: What you should know

Many people suffer from gallstones, which often require surgery. This usually involves removing the gallbladder.

• What many people don’t know is that coffee helps the gallbladder even before surgery. Drink coffee regularly to keep your gallbladder healthy for longer.
• The caffeine in coffee stimulates the glands in the gallbladder and bile ducts to produce and release more secretions. This allows harmful substances to be transported out of the body more quickly. Harmful particles are no longer deposited so easily in the gallbladder.
• Drinking coffee after gallbladder surgery stimulates digestion. General anesthesia also affects the intestines, slowing down bowel movements. Coffee can help to quickly stimulate the digestive movements of the intestines again.
• The bile produced by the liver is stored in the gallbladder. When you eat fatty foods, the gallbladder releases some of the bile into the duodenum. Since your gallbladder is no longer present, the liver sends the bile directly to the intestines.
• However, since the liver is not able to store as much bile as the gallbladder did before, fat digestion is not as good as it was when you had a gallbladder.
• For this reason, no doctor will advise you against drinking coffee after gallbladder surgery, provided there are no other medical reasons to do so. It aids and supports digestive activities. You should only avoid milk in your coffee for a while after the operation, especially the high-fat variety.