Gallbladder Diet 7/15/2016, What About Snacks and Chick Pea, Rice, Spinach Soup and Talk Of Nuts

OK I'm hungry.  Not hungry enough for a meal, but still hungry.  I want a snack.

Gallbladder Diet, Keep GB Friendly, Healthy Snacks Closeby

Ideally once your gallbladder is stable, little meals or snacks throughout the day help you stay in shape and all importantly keep the gallbladder happy.

Snacks should also be healthy, for the most part.

Gallbladder Diet, Always Read Packaged Food Ingredients

One of the very worst times for hunger is when I'm in the van, away from home, with only convenience store food or Starbucks snacks close by at hand.

Feeling your blood sugar crash invites panic and desperation.

Panic and desperation invite giving in to all sorts of bad for your health, inflammation promoting, calorie loading cheap junk food.

Moon Pies used to be one of my favorites.  Of course today, with my gallbladder full of sludge and stones I'd come no closer to eating a Moon Pie than I would swimming with a Great White shark.

Gallbladder Diet, Seaweed May Be An Excellent Gallbladder Friendly Snack

Black coffee was another favorite 'snack' of mine.  Sometimes I'd use those sweet flavored creamers but usually just plain old black coffee would take the edge off hunger and satisfy my cravings for snacks.

In one sense, I should thank my gallbladder for not putting up with me eating Moon Pies or drinking acidic black coffee all day long.  I know my arteries and intestines sure are happier now that I don't eat and imbibe as much oily, fatty 'junk'.

Most of the time l try and remember to pack a few gallbladder friendly easy-eats when going out, foods like;

• Dried figs (Costco has a great brand most of the year and they are organic)
• Kombu sea vegetable (similar to Nori seaweed but thicker and chewier)
• Celery and carrot sticks, fresh cut
• Nori seaweed (important to keep Nori sealed in a bag because it will absorb moisture), and
• Dehydrated apples, mango or papaya with limited or no sugar.

I've tried fat free turkey jerky.  Since I eat mostly vegan I'm not inclined to choose the turkey jerky much but it is a good source off protein.

Gallbladder Diet, Sea Vegetable Is Gallbladder Friendly For Me (Watch the Sodium)

Gallbladder Diet, Ingredients Show Zero Oils

Around the house I keep a jar of marinated mushrooms from Costco.

Gallbladder Diet, Marinated Mushrooms Make the Friendly List for My Gallbladder

Gallbladder Diet, Marinated Mushrooms Contain Zero Oil in This Jar

These tasty, somewhat chewy mushrooms have no oils or fats, except for those found naturally in the fungi.  They are not sweet nor too salty and though they are marinated in vinegar, the taste is quite mild yet very flavorful.

Gallbladder Diet, Figs Are Excellent Source of Energy and Satisfy Hunger

I used to be a big tree nut, seed and rhizome 'nut' fan.  Today, with my overactive gallbladder I can not eat nuts to any degree without risking an attack from the oils and fats most nuts are rich with and full of.

Not eating handfuls of pre-shelled nuts is a good thing too from an overall health perspective and weight control effort also.  Nuts are very high in fats and oils.  Fats and oils typically contain nine calories per gram. Thats a lot of fat energy.

Calculated out, if one eats a cup of salty roasted cashews then they are ingesting over 60 grams of total fat, enough for three days at my current gallbladder diet level. At least three days.

Though some people may be able to handle 60 grams of daily fat intake, remember this is just a snack.  Moreover, the omega 6 to omega 3 ratio in the cup of cashews is about 50:1.

Too much omega 6's promote inflammation according to many studies and inflammation in our bodies is exactly the opposite where we want to be if we are already challenged by gallbladder inflammation.

I'm not knocking nuts.

Nuts are excellent sources of energy for humans and all types of animals.  

My new gallbladder life dictates a different view of nuts though.  

Living by the no nut policy is best in my opinion.  However if one must have nuts then I recommend the 'if the nuts are shelled then don't eat them' policy.

Avoid packaged or canned pre-shelled  peanuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, macadamias, almonds or any other nuts.  Eat only those nuts you shell at the time you are hungry and looking for a snack.

Cracking a nut will slow you down.  Slow is better for the gallbladder and for your weight.  Picking out the shell pieces takes time.  Look for mindfulness and focus on breathing while preparing your nut snack.

Finally, if all else fails and you find yourself at the Seven Eleven, starving with blood sugar crashing avoid the yummy looking, fat laden packages of inflammatory junk and buy yourself instead a V8 juice or other vegetable juice.

No V8?  Convenience stores usually carry it but in the event they don't then purchase a water and a banana from the pile usually found on the check out counter.  No banana?  Go with the water.  It will make you feel better quickly.

Gallbladder life is a new reality.

People who've never experienced the sharp pain of an attack, or the nausea or difficulty in breathing have no idea what living with an inflamed gallbladder and stones is like.

But we deal with the challenges and move on.

Having healthy, gallbladder-friendly snacks at hand always helps.

Cheers, Kevin.