Gilberts and Diet

Now, keep in mind that everyone is different, and what works for me might not work for you. That said, this diet has genuinely changed my life. As someone who struggled with severe nausea, indigestion, and a variety of other symptoms, this approach has been one of the main things that helped me. I’ve been following it for around four years, and the difference in my quality of life has been incredible. Here’s a breakdown of what I do:

What is a Paleo Diet?

he Paleo diet focuses on eating foods our ancestors could hunt, fish, or gather, while avoiding foods that come from agriculture or modern processing. I’ve adapted it slightly for Gilbert’s Syndrome, and I call it my “Gilbert’s Syndrome Paleo-ish Diet.” Let’s dive into the specifics.

What to eat

Vegetables

Paleo is super dependent on vegetables. I know, everyone tells you to eat your veggies, but no one actually explains why XD. Our ancestors ate tons of different veggies and a LOT more of them than most people do today. Meanwhile, modern research shows that nutrient values in vegetables have dropped over the years due to soil depletion, and that only around 1 in 10 adults in the U.S. gets enough vegetables at all.

Vegetables are important for multiple reasons: they help keep your microbiome balanced, improve digestion and gut motility, provide essential nutrients, and support literally every organ in your body. For GS, digestion and bile flow are especially important, and veggies help with both.

So what vegetables should you eat? Try to get the highest-quality ones you can, ideally avoiding pesticides because we don’t want to put extra strain on the liver. I know veggies can be expensive, which is why I really recommend checking something called the Dirty Dozen for your country — these are the vegetables that are sprayed the most. Buying those organic when possible makes a big difference.

All veggies are great. Aim to eat lots of overground and underground vegetables in every shade and color. I personally eat rocket (arugula for my Americans) with almost all my meals because it stimulates bile flow, and for people with GS that’s a total win.

Fruit

When it comes to fruit, again try to get pesticide-free when possible. In my country, fruit is actually sprayed even more than vegetables, so getting organic fruit helps a lot. I even started growing some of my own food this year :pp.

Now, this part is important: Maria Allerton recently came out with an amazing blog post (highly recommend reading it) about why fruit in high quantities can be harmful for people with GS. I’ve always felt this intuitively, and her post basically confirmed it all. To shorten it for you: fruit is very high in fructose, which drains ATP. ATP is needed to conjugate bilirubin. So if you’re eating tons of high-fructose fruit, it may actually hurt you.

I focus on low-fructose fruits like oranges, kiwis, and berries. Fruit is still important — definitely eat it — but be careful about the amount.

fats

This is where I go slightly off traditional Paleo. Fats are amazing and needed for almost every process in your body. The best types of fats are high-quality unsaturated fats. I’m talking cold-pressed olive oil in dark bottles. Some people also like avocado oil for its neutral flavor. Nuts and seeds are also great sources of healthy fats, although personally, as someone who used to have histamine intolerance, I can’t eat them. But if you can tolerate them — go for it!

PROTEIN

Protein is really important. Always try to get the highest-quality protein possible, and make sure it’s lean. I do NOT want to see fatty cuts. I personally eat a lot of turkey because I can get it high quality here. People majorly underestimate how important protein is for overall health, especially with GS.

GRAINS

This one depends completely on the person. Traditional Paleo doesn’t allow grains, but I personally feel good on them in small amounts. I eat rice, buckwheat, and quinoa — preferably in smaller quantities.

As a teenager, completely cutting out grains is insanely hard, and I honestly feel like I need them for energy and stability. Every once in a while, especially during high flare-up moments, I will go grain-free. I once did three months grain-free and it was amazing for gut and GI-tract healing. You can try going grain-free or just limiting grains, which is what I do most of the time.

WHAT TO AVOID

DAIRY

Dairy is one of the biggest flare-up foods in the GS community. I personally have cut it out completely. Some people can tolerate small amounts, usually in forms like kefir or yogurt because they're easier to digest and probiotic-rich. But for most people with GS, dairy is not the best because bile struggles to break down milk protein.

GLUTEN

Gluten is not well tolerated and highly inflammatory. I, sadly, cannot put this one back into my diet without feeling terrible.

SATURATED FATS

This is because of bile flow. I almost always feel nauseous after large amounts of saturated fats. I can now tolerate very small amounts, but animal fats are still the hardest for me. Back when I was diagnosed, saturated fats were one of the first things I cut out immediately.

EGGS

I personally tolerate eggs pretty well. I’ve heard some people can’t tolerate the yolks — I’m okay with them in moderation. If I'm having a bad day, I’ll just eat the whites and skip the yolks completely. This one, like grains, is very personal. I recommend trying both ways and seeing what works for you.

ALCOHOL

I’ll go into WHY alcohol is so bad for GS in a separate post, but overall: it’s not great. It puts a huge strain on the liver.