Risk factors such as body weight, using hormone replacement therapy and number of pregnancies are theoretically modifiable. To ensure your gall bladder still contracts and keeps excreting bile, still consume some fat, around 20 grams, each day. This means gallstones are more likely to form.Ĭutting down on foods that contain large amounts of fat is a good idea because you reduce total kilojoule intake as a result and therefore lose weight. Your gall bladder doesn’t need to contract as much and bile salts become more concentrated. When you markedly cut back your total food and fat intake, you need less bile. Losing weight at a rate of more than 1 to 1.5 kilograms a week is considered rapid and increases the risk of gall bladder disease. But it’s wise to drink in line with current guidelines, which recommend no more than two standard drinks on any day.
Having a moderate alcohol intake is also associated with a lower risk of gall bladder disease. However, some studies found this association in women only. There is no need to become vegetarian, but eating more legumes, pulses, wholegrains, vegetables and fruit boosts fibre intake.Ī review of studies involving more than 200,000 people found people who drank a lot of coffee (four cups or more a day) had a a reduced risk of gallstone disease. You could try vitamin C supplements, but studies are inconsistent and taking vitamin C supplements can increase the risk of kidney stones.Ī higher fibre intake is also associated with lower risk. This was not the case for men.įoods high in vitamin C include capsicum, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, green leafy vegetables, tomatoes, citrus fruits, pawpaw, kiwi fruit, strawberries and pineapple. In a US study that followed more than 13,000 adults over ten years, women with higher blood levels of vitamin C had a lower chance of developing gall bladder disease. Having a healthy diet lowers your risk of getting gallstones. Gallstones can also be very tiny, like a grainy sludge. These stones vary in size from single large hard stones about the size of an apricot and made mainly from cholesterol, to small pebble-sized stones made mainly from bilirubin. Gallstones form in the gall bladder when components of bile, such as cholesterol and bilirubin (a breakdown product of red blood cells), aggregate and form stones. This means that fat-digesting enzymes from the pancreas can mix with the fats from foods and break them down into smaller particles that can be absorbed. Bile emulsifies or breaks up the fat in the food we eat into tiny particles, a bit like washing-up detergent.
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