Bewusst
dead inside
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I've been dealing with painful gallbladder attacks after eating meals high in animal fat for six years. Ultrasound scan results were normal and no stones or other gallbladder abnormalities were ever found. These issues first occured when I was severely iron deficient/anemic due to massive blood loss when I was 18. Even after the bleeding and anemia had been fixed, my saturated fat intolerance persisted so I've had to either limit my intake of greasy foods or deal with excruciating biliary colics that would last for 5-9 hours after eating large greasy meals.
Thinking back, there was a time in 2017 when I ate a high fat diet and didn't have any problems with my gallbladder. At the time, I consumed heaps of sugar beet syrup and red meat on a daily basis, both of which are high in iron. I remember my bloodwork prior to eating this diet revealed slight polycythaemia (too many red blood cells, basically the opposite of anemia) characterized by elevated hemoglobin, hematocrit and red blood cell count but MCV and MCH were slightly below reference range whereas RDW was elevated, i.e. my red blood cells were higher in number but smaller in size than normal. This indicated that despite having polycythaemia, i was still slightly iron deficient. When I changed my diet/increased my iron intake, MCH, MCV and RDW all normalized. Polycythaemia persisted but isn't an issue since oxygen transport is actually improved. High testosterone/anabolic steroids, EPO, high altitude and hypoxia for instance all boost erythropoesis and can lead to polycythaemia.
To get to the point, once I increased my iron intake, I no longer had problems digesting saturated fat. The problems crept back in only when I began eating a poor diet with lots of processed foods. Nothing would relieve a gallbladder attack once it started, I always had to sit it out. Dehydration or lack of physical activity would make it worse but moving more and drinking lots of water never stopped or prevented them from happening. As mentioned in a previous thread, I recently found some sugar cane molasses at the grocery store. It's extremely rich in iron and other minerals and I've been eating it a lot for just a couple days. Last night, I ordered a greasy pepperoni pizza and penne bolognese and had a beer with it. Normally, I'd wake up in pain from a gallbladder attack after eating something like that but today I didn't. I slept like a baby for 10 hours, zero pain. Only now did I make the gallbladder iron connection so I looked it up and found that iron deficiency is associated with gallstone formation, altered biliary motility due to diminished gallbladder neuronal nitric oxide synthase and bile cholesterol buildup/impaired cholesterol metabolism due to reduced cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase levels.
It all makes sense now and I'm happy I can finally say goodbye to gallbladder attacks and eat greasy food with no regrets. Molasses mogs yet again. Btw most doctors are clueless and don't know about this. All they do is tell you to restrict your diet, prescribe drugs and remove your gallbladder if nothing else helps. Screw doctors in all honesty
tl;dr: My gallbladder problems were most likely caused by iron deficiency due to bad diet
Thinking back, there was a time in 2017 when I ate a high fat diet and didn't have any problems with my gallbladder. At the time, I consumed heaps of sugar beet syrup and red meat on a daily basis, both of which are high in iron. I remember my bloodwork prior to eating this diet revealed slight polycythaemia (too many red blood cells, basically the opposite of anemia) characterized by elevated hemoglobin, hematocrit and red blood cell count but MCV and MCH were slightly below reference range whereas RDW was elevated, i.e. my red blood cells were higher in number but smaller in size than normal. This indicated that despite having polycythaemia, i was still slightly iron deficient. When I changed my diet/increased my iron intake, MCH, MCV and RDW all normalized. Polycythaemia persisted but isn't an issue since oxygen transport is actually improved. High testosterone/anabolic steroids, EPO, high altitude and hypoxia for instance all boost erythropoesis and can lead to polycythaemia.
To get to the point, once I increased my iron intake, I no longer had problems digesting saturated fat. The problems crept back in only when I began eating a poor diet with lots of processed foods. Nothing would relieve a gallbladder attack once it started, I always had to sit it out. Dehydration or lack of physical activity would make it worse but moving more and drinking lots of water never stopped or prevented them from happening. As mentioned in a previous thread, I recently found some sugar cane molasses at the grocery store. It's extremely rich in iron and other minerals and I've been eating it a lot for just a couple days. Last night, I ordered a greasy pepperoni pizza and penne bolognese and had a beer with it. Normally, I'd wake up in pain from a gallbladder attack after eating something like that but today I didn't. I slept like a baby for 10 hours, zero pain. Only now did I make the gallbladder iron connection so I looked it up and found that iron deficiency is associated with gallstone formation, altered biliary motility due to diminished gallbladder neuronal nitric oxide synthase and bile cholesterol buildup/impaired cholesterol metabolism due to reduced cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase levels.
It all makes sense now and I'm happy I can finally say goodbye to gallbladder attacks and eat greasy food with no regrets. Molasses mogs yet again. Btw most doctors are clueless and don't know about this. All they do is tell you to restrict your diet, prescribe drugs and remove your gallbladder if nothing else helps. Screw doctors in all honesty
tl;dr: My gallbladder problems were most likely caused by iron deficiency due to bad diet
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