The gallbladder is a pear-size organ beneath the liver that stores and concentrates bile. Gallstones are formed when the components of bile such as cholesterol or bilirubin become too concentrated and precipitate out of solution. Gallstones are usually asymptomatic but when they dislodge into the bile duct, they can cause inflammation and produce symptoms such as pain, fever and jaundice. Dietary factors may help to reduce gallstone flare-ups, dissolve existing stones and prevent formation of new stones.
Fruits and Vegetables
Using data from the Nurse Health Study, a multi-centered study conducted since 1976 to assess women health risk factors, researchers at the University of Kentucky Medical Center found that women with the highest consumption of fruits and vegetables had a 20 percent lower risk of gallstones compared with those with the lowest consumption. The study was published in the American Journal of Medicine in 2006. A study published in British Medical Journal July 1985 issue observed a 50 percent reduction in gallstone risk in women who followed a vegetarian diet compared with the non-vegetarians. All fruits and vegetables are beneficial. However, vitamin C-rich fruits and vegetables may provide additional protection against gallstones. Vitamin C is required for the activity of the enzyme 7a-hydroxylase that converts cholesterol to bile salts. Increased vitamin C intake may increase the fluidity of bile and decrease stone formation.
Whole Grains
Higher fiber intake is associated with lower risk of gallstones, according to two separate studies done in Japan and Italy. Each serving of whole grains provides at least 3 g of dietary fibers. The bran in whole grains may be helpful as well. Bacteria in the colon work on the bran to produce chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), which has been used therapeutically to dissolve gallstones. A study published in the July 1976 issue of the American Journal of Digestive Diseases found that wheat bran supplementation for four to six weeks decreases the cholesterol concentration of bile in gallstone patients.
Nuts
Higher intake of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids such as those found in nuts is also associated with a lower risk of gallstones. In the Nurse Health Study, women who consumed five or more ounces of nuts every week had a 25 percent reduction in the risk of having a cholecystectomy, a surgery to remove the gallbladder commonly done for gallstone patients, compared to women who ate few or no nuts.
Cold Water Fishes
A 1992 study published in the journal Hepatology found that including fish oil supplements in a diet for five weeks decreased cholesterol saturation in gallstone patients by 25 percent. Dietary sources of fish oil are mostly cold water fishes, including salmon, sardine, trout, tuna, anchovy and herring.
References
- Am J Med.; Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Risk of Cholecystectomy in Women; Tsai CJ et al.; 2006
- Hepatology; Dietary N-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Decrease Biliary Cholesterol Saturation in Gallstone Disease; Berr F et al.; 1992
- Am J Dig Dis.; The Effect of Wheat Bran upon Bile Salt Metabolism and upon the Lipid Composition of Bile in Gallstone Patients; Pomare EW et al.; 1976
- Jpn J Med.; Clinical and Nutritional Study on Gallstone Disease in Japan; Kameda H et al.; 1984
- Recenti Prog Med.; Influence of Dietary Fiber in the Genesis of Cholesterol Biliary Lithiasis; Scaggion G et al.; 1988
- Br Med J.; Effect of vegetarianism on development of gall stones in women; Pixley F et al.; 1985
